ABSTRACT

This chapter describes a dialogic approach to team coaching, based on the pioneering work of W. Isaacs. The approach appears to sit well with generic team coaching frameworks and is consistent with contemporary theories of organisational development and change. The primary task of the dialogic team coach is to facilitate the work that needs to be done: in preparing to build the container; in building and maintaining the container; and in exiting the container. The dialogic coach enables the team to notice patterns of conversation and, talk about those patterns, by providing it with a language. Teams are dynamic entities, with the dynamics between team members, and between team members and people outside the team, in a state of constant flux. The dialogic team coach pays attention to the presenting purpose, and the extent to which the underlying purpose is likely to have become evident.