How to Coach for Effective Teamwork

For any team to thrive and achieve or exceed its goals, it must have an effective leader who inspires, motivates and develops team members. This style of coaching produces effective teamwork and helps team members and the organization perform effectively. A coach's primary responsibilities are to inspire and motivate, instruct and develop, and correct and encourage. A coach can be a school teacher and the team a group of high school students. A coach can be a soccer mom and the team her children. A coach can be a football coach and the team the players. Regardless of the type of team or organization, in order to build a team, a coach must create an environment for team members to excel, manage boundaries and empower the team.

Instructions

    • 1

      A coach creates an environment to excel by doing five things: provide a performance plan, give feedback, develop skills, remove performance barriers, and recognize and encourage team members. Performance planning gives each team member tools to set obtainable goals and, once achieved, to set even more goals. Providing feedback lets team members know how they are doing. Developing skills helps them learn new skills and improve existing ones. Removing performance barriers, such as archaic technology, burdensome processes, and unobtainable goals, makes it easier to perform. Giving recognition and encouragement lets team members know they are appreciated.

    • 2

      Great coaches also manage boundaries, which allows team members to focus on their responsibilities and goals. To effectively manage boundaries, a coach must act as a buffer between the team and organizational pressures to fulfill expectations and meet deadlines. This is achieved when a coach helps team members resist unobtainable goals and unrealistic deadlines. Effective coaches judiciously manage conflict between teammates, build effective communication and sponsor developmental activities such as training programs. To coach for effective teamwork, a coach must reach out to higher levels of management for needed resources the team needs to succeed. Football teams need helmets and pads, schools need books and computers, clinics need beds and medicine. The coach must help obtain them.

    • 3

      A team is only as good or great as each team member, and each member can only reach his or her full potential when empowered by the coach. To effectively empower a team, a coach must provide five things to each player: a clear understanding of the team's mission, vision and values; appropriate knowledge and skills; clear guidelines and expectations; trust; and the freedom to not always succeed the first time. A team is able to excel, achieve its goals and reach its full potential when coached in a non-punitive and non-threatening manner.