Team Coaching for Better Alignment and Collaboration

CONTEXT:

The leader of a regional foods R&D team in a global FMCG company, expressed her need to bring her team together, increase collaboration and synergy to become one team. The team consisted of members from different backgrounds and working from disperse locations. The team members had been working very individualistically in silos with no real team feeling. Additionally, the team had experienced a trauma historically and even though time has passed the effects of the trauma still existed which continued to feed the mistrust in the team.

INTERVENTION:

We worked with the team leader and also measured the team effectiveness through a team questionnaire to identify the specific issues that the team needed to address to be its best. Based on the key areas needing focus, a series of team coaching sessions over 5 months were designed and implemented with the leadership team. During these team sessions the team worked on team purpose, existing conflict areas, increasing collaboration and how to keep each other accountable.

In addition to the sessions with the leadership team, we also facilitated a session with the larger extended team.

We completed the work with an after assessment to evaluate the progress the team has made.

RESULT:

The team was able to establish a common team purpose that supported engagement and alignment of work. The team members were able to connect at a deeper level and recognize its strengths which increased trust in the team. They started to lean into conflict more effectively and hold each other accountable for team results.