11 Challenges to Team Building and How Coaching Addresses Each

Whether a work team functions effectively or is problematic has an impact on individual and organizational success.  The challenges are many and the good news is that the answer is simple: team coaching.

What gets in the way of a team working together effectively?  Here are a few things:

1. Miscommunication – unclear objectives
2. Missed communication – lack of access or simply not reading the information
3. Misunderstanding – different interpretations
4. Conflict – wanting different processes, roles, or outcomes
5. Competing priorities – placing different levels of importance on tasks or outcomes
6. Personality differences – introverts versus extroverts, doers versus thinkers versus feelers
7. Ineffective leadership – lack of direction
8. Poor management – ineffective planning or oversight
9. Inequities – biases or unfair treatment that devalue and disengage
10. Lack of accountability – whether something is completed doesn’t seem to matter
11. Lack of incentives – no motivation to collaborate

What does coaching offer to help in the workplace with team building? A coach will work with a team to:

1. Create the space to clarify objectives
2. Hold the space for clear communication
3. Ensure common understanding
4. Work through conflicts with a proven process
5. Develop shared priorities, define tasks, and clarify desired outcomes
6. Recognize different personalities, adjust to them, and draw on each person’s strengths
7. Ensure a common understanding of direction
8. Design their plan and oversight
9. Create awareness of biases and inequities plus plan for how to create change for diversity and inclusion
10. Plan their accountability
11. Explore and develop motivation for working together effectively

A team coach is a powerful ally for each person on the team and supports team efficacy and organizational success.

For easy access to a team coach, the Center for Coaching Certification partners with Coach 123.