ABSTRACT
This chapter explores what it means to become a team coach by drawing on theories of organisation learning and development, systemic thinking and practice, psychodynamic theory and action research. It addresses the difference between one-to-one coaching and team coaching, highlighting the extensive and additional skill set and knowledge base that a team coach needs. The chapter argues that team coaching serves a distinctive purpose in the service of performance improvement. The coaching relationship and the contract play a key role in enabling the coach to work ethically and manage the multiple relationships present in the organisation system. P. Senge’s approach to organisational learning serves as a foundation for the subsequent discussion of group and team dynamics and the work of the team coach in promoting dialogue and inquiry skills. The protocol for dialogue includes ensuring that everyone gets an opportunity for their voice to be heard, thereby enabling difference and diversity of thinking to emerge.
