Team Coaching Drives Innovation
Posted on Mon, May 07, 2012 @ 07:30 AM
In the business world, team coaching is designed to help each 'player' on the team perform at a top level and to bring these individuals together as a cohesive, finely-tuned unit. In sports, the goal is to win the game, have a winning season. In business, the goal is to increase productivity and profitability.
In today's competitive climate, innovation is key to the success. While creativity includes the generation of new, valuable ideas, innovation is what turns those ideas into profitable activities. Every product or service ever brought to market began with an idea in someone's mind of how something could be changed for the better.
Many potentially profitable ideas, however, have died on the vine through a lack of innovation, or a process for bringing substance to that idea. Effective team coaching fosters a culture of empowerment and helps team members perform in unison to translate the vision of the organization into reality. Team coaching can help produce a heightened sense ofawareness of key issues and can speed up the problem-solving process.
Innovation often stalls or breaks down as a result of certain dysfunctions common to work teams. These may include:
- Lack of trust between members
- Lack of commitment toward the mission of the organization
- Fear or avoidance of conflict
- Avoidance of accountability
- Inattention to the results of daily activities
Effective team coaching addresses these dysfunctions by motivating members to honestly confront them and to transform them into team strengths. When done well, team coaching can also improve morale and help increase productivity and profitability and leadership.
