Fostering strong team connections where team members can take turns to lead and offer their expertise to others on the team is essential in today’s VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) environment. Helping team members improve their coaching skills with each other is an important part of creating a more collaborative environment.
Several of the core skills we want to cultivate in moving to a peer coaching environment are:
Questioning – the ability to ask open ended questions which will hep the other person widen their knowledge, explore options, gain clarity or create assumptions. In boosting our questioning skills it is also important to consider Are you leaving enough time for the person to reflect and then respond?
Designing the conversation – helping peers be in dialogue around what they want to purpose and outcome of the conversation to be is important This could include asking questions such as:
What do you want as an outcome for this conversation?
What would be most helpful to you? To brainstorm? Be asked questions? Consider solutions? Other?
Listening – Being able to listen deeply is important. The ability to listen on multiple levels is key to peer coaching. Listening around
One of the biggest stretch areas for peers is learning not to give advice but lead from questioning and listening
A starting point for peers to experiment with their sills is dedicating 20 – 30 minutes a mot to peer coaching conversations. Pair team members and have them bring a current business challenge or opportunity which they want to explore. Give them one to two minutes to outline what that is to their partner and then provide 7 minutes to coach and then one minute to identify specific next action steps. Rotate to the next person.
Peer coaching can be done virtually with virtual teams as well, using breakouts or separate calls between the session. Consider how you could integrate peer coaching into your upcoming conversations and team development
Several of the core skills we want to cultivate in moving to a peer coaching environment are:
Questioning – the ability to ask open ended questions which will hep the other person widen their knowledge, explore options, gain clarity or create assumptions. In boosting our questioning skills it is also important to consider Are you leaving enough time for the person to reflect and then respond?
Designing the conversation – helping peers be in dialogue around what they want to purpose and outcome of the conversation to be is important This could include asking questions such as:
What do you want as an outcome for this conversation?
What would be most helpful to you? To brainstorm? Be asked questions? Consider solutions? Other?
Listening – Being able to listen deeply is important. The ability to listen on multiple levels is key to peer coaching. Listening around
One of the biggest stretch areas for peers is learning not to give advice but lead from questioning and listening
A starting point for peers to experiment with their sills is dedicating 20 – 30 minutes a mot to peer coaching conversations. Pair team members and have them bring a current business challenge or opportunity which they want to explore. Give them one to two minutes to outline what that is to their partner and then provide 7 minutes to coach and then one minute to identify specific next action steps. Rotate to the next person.
Peer coaching can be done virtually with virtual teams as well, using breakouts or separate calls between the session. Consider how you could integrate peer coaching into your upcoming conversations and team development
Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats.
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Phone: (416)996-8326
You can grab a copy of my new book, Effective Virtual Conversations, at Amazon. You can also purchase a copy direct from our site, signed by me!
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats.
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Phone: (416)996-8326
You can grab a copy of my new book, Effective Virtual Conversations, at Amazon. You can also purchase a copy direct from our site, signed by me!
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