Surveying team coaching supervision

At the recent EMCC Mentoring and Coaching Research Conference, David Clutterbuck and I presented the latest results from our survey into team coaching supervision (pictured above).

To our knowledge, this is the first survey of its kind in this young, emerging field of coaching and supervision. We had 55 respondents to our online survey from several countries across the world. The survey explored the experience and needs of team coaches and team coach supervisors.

The survey results show that team coaches really appreciate the complexity, demands and diverse skills they need to do their work. They need not only excellent coaching skills, but also an appreciation for and capacity to facilitate group process. Alongside all this, they have to meet the challenges of diverse organisational systems and cultures.

Most respondents agreed that supervision is vital in this domain because it enables them to develop self awareness and understand how groups may impact on them; and also because it allows them to stand back from the systems in which the work is taking place to notice what is happening in the client system.

Team coaching supervisors need and want not only the knowledge and skills of supervision, but also an understanding of team coaching, the psychodynamics of groups and group process, as well as an appreciation of systems theory.

At this stage, there is no one model or approach that meets the needs of the individual team coach. Group supervision may be the most effective method for supervision, as participants in the group gain multiple perspectives.

Our paper will be published soon in the 2017 EMCC Research Conference Book, which will also include previous conference materials. See the EMCC Bookshop.