With individual coaching becoming commonplace in business, many organisations are starting to realise the value of investing in team coaching. Not only does this type of coaching benefit individuals it can also raise the performance of the team and ultimately the business.

“Focused team coaching makes the difference between muddling through or performing as one – the team as a whole is the key, not the different egos. We all know the old ‘sum of the parts’ sentence which is more important than ever.” Says Dr Uwe Napiersky from Aston University.

Dr Napiersky, who spent more than 20 years in international consultancy explained that coaching has become a “ billion-dollar” industry and was one of the “newest kids in town”.

He added: “my motto for team coaching is “team excellence doesn’t come by itself”.

“One of my slogans is ‘innovation is a team effort’. Many leaders still believe in this model of the 20th century, but it’s more about the 21st century, leadership more in a team direction.”

Together with his colleague Dr Elinor Vettraino, who incorporates team coaching into her consultancy work, he has devised a new team coaching course with the aim of ‘upskilling’ the business leaders of tomorrow.

“Organisations make an assumption that people know how to work together in teams and actually that’s often not the case.” Said Dr Vettraino.

“While employers tend to have team building activities, they don’t address the day-to-day challenges and benefits of working in teams the way a coaching process can.” She added.

Dr Vettraino explained that team coaching can lead to increased motivation for staff, enabling innovation and creativity to grow, along with collaboration – which she said was “a key to surviving in industry nowadays”.

She added: “Being supported by a team coach adds tremendous benefit to an organisation.”

Due to launch October 2022 and delivered part-time over a nine month period the Postgraduate Certificate in Team Coaching is a new learning programme at Aston University that enables you to build knowledge, skills and attitudes based on established team coaching competences, to enhance your and your organisation’s performance.

The programme prepares participants for supporting innovation and purposeful change in teams and organisations. This is done through a carefully structured programme of practice and applied theory.

Participants will learn to.

• Develop inspirational team coaching approaches to work in different settings.
• Enhance personal and interpersonal effectiveness.
• Be grounded in evidenced-based practice and real-world application.
• Generate a positive impact on organisational performance.

The programme runs over nine months using a blended approach of on-site face-to-face learning, and on-line activity. We make use of real-world case studies and client challenges, as well as creative and practical tools, techniques, and strategies.

To find out more about the new postgraduate certificate in team coaching email e.vettraino@aston.ac.uk or u.napiersky@aston.ac.uk.

▪ Listen to the Aston Means Business podcast and hear why team coaching is so important to modern day businesses https://www.aston.ac.uk/bss/aston-business-school/aston-means-business-podcast