How can coaching help you navigate and change negativity in teams?

Groups and teams are the places where we all live

Being part of a group or a team is as natural to the human condition as breathing. We grow up in families, learn in classes, socialize in peer groups, play in teams and work in team environments. Like breathing, we rarely think about it when things are going well, but when things go wrong, we may find ourselves thinking of little else.  

If you have ever found yourself wondering about any of the Why’s concerning a team you have been a member of, managed or led, you have experienced the negative face of team life?

• Why do I feel anxious, tired, sad, depressed, angry........(the list goes on) when I am here?

• Why do I get a headache, feel ill.........(again the list goes on) when I am here?

• Why am I thinking and saying things that don`t feel or sound like me?

• Why do we keep going off topic?

• Why do good ideas keep getting ignored or shot down?

• Why don`t we achieve anything?

• Why do team meetings feel like therapy sessions?

• Why is one person (or a couple of people) driving everything?

• Why is this team so hostile towards other teams?

• Why do I feel like a parent and or a child in this team?

Or if you have taken up a leadership role in a team.

:-) I am happy here; the team really like and respect me:

And after a short while

:-( Why do I feel isolated and why are the team frustrated with me, what`s gone wrong?

The impact of negative experiences in teams or groups can lead to feelings of frustration, confusion, loss, vulnerability, inadequacy and loss of confidence. At worst, lasting damage can be done to a person's wellbeing and self-esteem.

How can coaching help?

Working with a qualified coach will give you a safe space where you can explore the dynamics and impacts of the team situation you are in. New understanding can be gained and new ways of acting in a team can be developed and tested. Like individuals, all teams are different and unique. Your coach sees you and the team you are in as unique, so what you bring is you.

So:

If you are curious about the situation!

If you have wondered about any of the Why`s, it is likely that you are curious about what i s happening to you and others in the team. Even if there are very strong feelings present for you, curiosity opens the pathway to change.

What can coaching do?

Your coach will open a safe space for you to explore with a curious gaze what`s happening for you and others in the situation

It’s hard when you are on your own!

A group is a powerful and dynamic space where the intellects, emotions, experiences, conscious and unconscious thinking and wider worlds of every member are present and active. What happens in a group is experienced on emotional, psychological, intellectual and physical levels.

Finding the head space to think about what has happened to you in a group situation is exceptionally difficult. Pondering on things on your own can be a confusing and distressing and can often make things worse

What can coaching do?

Working in partnership with a qualified coach offers the opportunity for you get out of your own head and gives you space to pause and consider, explore and begin the work of understanding what`s going on.

If you understand it, you can be a part of changing it!

No matter what role you hold in a team, understanding the dynamics of the situation you are in will help you navigate the choppy waters you find yourself in.

What can coaching do?

Working with an experienced coach will help you reach an understanding of the why`s and how`s that are active in your situation. People tend to take up roles in teams. The coaching process allows you explore why this is and why and how a team enables or pushes someone into a role.  

Coaching will build on the insights you gain and will open a space for you develop strategies and actions to change situation.

It is often said that one person can`t make a difference. In team situations this trope rings hollow. The act of working in partnership with a qualified coach places the negative experiences in an objective space that will allow your curiosity to thrive. From there you will gain insight, develop strategies and move past the immediate situation and ultimately sow and grow the seed of change.