As part of ICF Coaching Week, myself and coach / action learning trainer, Fiona Scrase, opened up the conversation around Coaching vs Team Coaching and Action Learning.
What we found were many similarities, as well as differences.
Similarities:
- Confidentiality is key to creating a safe space for all participants (we often say: the conversations are confidential and stay in the room, but the learning can leave the room).
- Skills development is at the heart of all, with an expectation that the team or participants deepen their learning and move into action.
- All are on the receiving end of coaching by the coach or facilitator, with one to one coaching at the core of the experience.
- Time commitments are similar, though Action Learning tends to be run for 6 sessions, whereas Coaching and Team Coaching can be from 4 to 6 sessions, depending on the individual or team, and the current need.
Differences:
- Who decides the topic with both Coaching and Action Learning is an individual choice, based on each participant’s current challenge or focus. Whereas the topic is created by the team both prior to the session and in the moment.
- Group formation in Team Coaching tends to be made up of a senior team, whereas Action Learning are either peers at the same level, or a group of people with something in common (role or sector).
- Structure vs Flow. In Action Learning, there is a specific structure to follow, whereas in Coaching and Team Coaching, the direction of conversation is determined by what shows up.
- Group vs individuals. Team Coaching is made up of a group of leaders who know and work together on a daily or weekly basis. In Action Learning, participants can be strangers at the start of the process.
How do you decide which is right for you?
We often use Team Coaching to help teams focus on the right things to do and to discover how to do it even better. Some teams may not be working well, sometimes it’s used as part of a commitment to team CPD, or as a way to fine-tune how they operate cohesively.
Individual Coaching can often come before, during, or after a Team Coaching process. And as we know, coaching can support any manager and leader anytime during their career.
Team Coaching can be a substitute for individual coaching, exploring what gets in the way of being an effective team, and what quick wins are possible.
We often use Action Learning to support training programmes, giving time to embed some of the key learning. Or as a form of reflective practice for individuals, either across departments, locations or even wider sectors.
Action Learning is a great process to follow on from coaching programmes, such as our Curious Conversations training.
Team Coaching vs Group Coaching
Now, just to throw in something else into the coaching conversation mix – Group Coaching.
This can be made up of both peers and individuals from outside the organisation. It is often used as a way of learning together, often following a clear process, just like Action Learning, but incorporating a wider range of facilitation tools.
At Kapow Coaching, we tend to use Group Coaching as a more creative way to deliver training, with individual and group reflective practice included.
If you’d like to find out more about Team Coaching, Action Learning or Group Coaching, then we’d love to chat. Get in touch for an informal blether, and let us help you ‘inspire small radical change, one conversation at a time.’