Coaching for teams:
We help good executive teams get better.
New teams sometimes need help to get off on the right foot; existing teams sometimes need help embracing a new leader. Teams sometimes find themselves needing to resolve a crisis; other times they are seeking developmental feedback. Whatever the need, consulting to teams can get complicated because there are so many moving parts--the cast of characters, the relationships, the critical business/functional interfaces, the pressures from outside. We see ourselves as supporting the team’s leader as he or she leads the improvement effort. As a result, team assignments often include one or more of the following goals:
- Improve a senior team’s effectiveness. This includes an up-front assessment, both qualitative and quantitative. We offer a Team Versatility Index. Using data, we help the leader—along with the team—take account of the team’s purpose, structure, and operation, and then map out a plan and act on it. The leader’s own leadership is always part of the equation.
- Help a CEO and COO build a relationship and function effectively—in an arrangement that is a delicate balance at best. Working with “two in a box” is one of our specialties, helping the two individuals define their respective roles and forge a viable relationship. We have worked with several such pairs over extended periods of time. The same approach applies to a three-person office of the CEO or Chairman.
- Work with the management team to improve the organization’s effectiveness. Through quantitative and qualitative assessment, we identify imbalances and pressure points The research helps distill the essential character of the organization, suggests how the organization needs to change, and then helps introduce the change. This process is particularly useful when integrating the different cultures of merged companies.
- Define the balances. We find it useful to define a team’s functions in terms of the balances it needs to strike. Some of these balances apply to all teams, such as the capacity to talk candidly yet constructively, respectfully, and supportively. Another is to find the quantity of strategic work vs. operational work required for good execution of the team’s goals. Every team has its own unique tensions. We help identify points of stability and instability, so the group can strike the right balances.
- Effectiveness. We create a baseline measure of team effectiveness and then change from time to time.