ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the outcomes of a research study, the primary purpose of which was to explore which models, tools and approaches are used by experienced team coaches. It focuses on the outcome of interviews with 36 team coaches, the majority of whom were practising in Australia. Participants were asked to identify which theories and models informed their practice, and to describe their approach to team coaching, bringing those approaches to life through stories of successful and unsuccessful assignments. Differentiating team coaching from training is relatively straightforward. Training in organisations is usually aimed at enhancing individual skills and competence, whereas team coaching for most practitioners includes helping team members to learn together in the service of achieving a collective task. The different philosophies of team coaching are reflected in the different definitions offered by the writers, and they imply different criteria by which to differentiate team coaching from other disciplines.
