(Organization and Relationship Systems Coaching)
Coaching with more than one person usually involves one of two types of situations; people who are working together to CREATE something, or people/teams who are at odds with each other and need help resolving conflict (Then they can work together to CREATE!).
This could be a personal or professional relationship; married couples, family business members (the ultimate in personal AND business), a director and her team, an owner and his staff. Some situations are proactive and truly just require coaching or something like a Peoplemap workshop. Other situations require a strong relationship facilitator who can help the team work together again (see The Poorly Functioning Team, below). Once that is achieved, amazing things can happen.
Facilitate: To make easier, to witness with objectivity and solutions, to keep the emotional energy in a positive range, to raise awareness, and to guide the conversation toward selected goals.
A coach working with a pair or team of people, is able to facilitate change by helping to set the ground rules, or “design the alliance” with all those present. With this established, everyone is clearer on the objectives and desired outcomes. Great work can then follow. It takes a lot of the drama, judgement, or negative emotional energy out of the equation by having an impartial facilitator in the mix.
Monica is trained in Organization and Relationship Systems Coaching and has a passion for facilitating growth in Emotional Intelligence and raising Positivity in Relationships. When coaching a team, Monica is coaching the team’s relationship, always seeking what is best for and agreed upon by the team. This avoids favoritism for any individuals in the relationship, while offering tools for personal growth for each member of the team and a common vision for desired results.
The Poorly Functioning Team
If you’ve ever had a conversation that felt like a struggle, where it felt like "the other side" wasn’t listening or there was an imbalance in power, you may have wished there was a referee reminding people of the rules or helping to keep everyone cool.
That is one of the roles of a facilitator; to guide crucial conversations and keep the clients focused on the outcomes they want, while also releasing the problems that are getting in the way. In addition, a facilitator or coach creates a learning environment that shifts the emotional energy toward a positive one and reveals not only the strengths of the relationship system (the team) but helps identify what is trying to happen- what changes are necessary to bring the system back to equilibrium.
A poorly functioning team is often focused on the problems and inadequacies of the team (with lots of internalized drama and finger pointing). The inner and outer dialogue of the team members can be negative, judgmental, or pessimistic. Emotions flare easily as a result, and productivity and team cohesiveness is at a minimum. These team members may lack the Social and Emotional intelligence to turn things around on their own.*
Team Coaching will not only raise the awareness of the team to what is working or not working for them individually and as a team, it will also raise the Social and Emotional Intelligence of the individuals on the team, effectively channeling their emotions and energy toward the greater good of the team. The team will establish primary and secondary goals to work toward, and with proper expectations in place, crucial and effective conversations will result in a more unified team and better productivity for the company. Clients can expect personal growth for the team members, as well as improved results for the whole relationship system.
Deep democracy, or a chance for every voice to be heard, is an important aspect of team coaching and is especially facilitated by having an outside coach.
The Well Performing Team
Even fully functioning teams can benefit from taking proactive steps, including hiring an outside coach/facilitator to lead coaching sessions. A coach can bring a new perspective, re-energize the team, offer an innovative approach, prevent the team from getting too complacent, keep them on the cutting edge of their industry, and challenge the team to get to the next level. These teams are always thinking, “How can we make it even better.”
Summary
No matter the pair or team’s starting-off point, a combination of programs can be offered to meet the needs of the team at any given time; facilitating conflict resolution, coaching toward goals, and learning together through workshops, off-site retreats, or Peoplemap™ Programs such as personality styles, leadership training or conflict resolution.
A few examples of clients include...
Both personal and professional relationships, including couples and families working together. The examples below are written for business scenarios.
- A husband and wife team working on a major real estate project together. They have opposite personality and conflict resolution styles, different priorities, many trigger topics that cause emotions to flair, and underneath it all, a great love of each other and a passion for the project they are working so hard to bring to life. Asked for some recent feedback on a coaching session- Monica: "What was the most helpful today?" Response in unison, "Everything!"
- A company owner with 20 employees, two first-line managers, and many new employees in a quickly growing company. Policies, procedures, roles and expectations are changing quicker than the team can manage.
- A manager and her team are lacking team unity and cohesiveness. There is a lack of communication which is causing a low morale, role confusion, and low productivity.
*As reported by The Center for Right Relationships:
"Emotional Intelligence works with an individual’s ability to access, express, and use emotions in a productive way. It involves emotional self-awareness and the capacity to manage or leverage feelings by channeling them appropriately toward goals. It also addresses the ability to motivate oneself, suppress impulses and delay gratification in service of the achievement of goals."
"Social Intelligence builds upon Emotional Intelligence. It is the capacity to accurately identify others’ emotions, empathize with them, and to see things from another person’s perspective. It is the ability to leverage that awareness in an effective way to cooperate in the pursuit of goals and the creation of positive relationships."
"Emotional Social Intelligence (a key component of Relationship Systems Intelligence™) seems to be the best determinant of one’s level of achievement and success in most professions and in marriage; (Goleman 2006, Shoda, Mishel, & Peake 1990, Durlak & Weissberg 2007, Gottman 2002)."
For their full article by The Center for Right Relationships on Social and Emotional Intelligence, please contact Monica.