How the Pilot Works
Before we start we have a conversation to check that we are a good fit and that you are able to make space for a coaching pilot in your and your team's work rhythm. From there we work in two phases.
The first phase starts with a couple of coaching conversations with the team leader where the context, goals, barriers and resources are brought into a thinking space. The outcomes of the first conversation are goals for the programme and metrics to measure it by, while the second explores the personal shifts that might be needed for the leader to show up differently in the team work ahead. This phase is private, confidential, and sets the foundation for everything that follows.
As an optional addition, we can include a group coaching session with key stakeholders across other business functions. This is a structured way to bring in perspectives from across the business before the team work begins.
Phase two runs for approximately three months. Each team member, including the leader, completes a strengths and/or values assessment before we start, and receives individual feedback on their results. This creates a shared language before the first session. The understanding is that the leader will be a participant in every team session.
From there, the team sessions work through a sequence of questions: who are we, where do we want to be, what is holding us back, what could we do differently, and what do we need to make that possible. These are not workshops with prescribed answers. They are group coaching sessions that use different formats to support thinking around these questions. The team does the thinking and I hold the process.
Sessions run either twice monthly with the understanding that the team will make space for integration between them, or weekly alternating between group coaching and coach facilitated integration sessions. We agree the rhythm based on what the team can sustain alongside their delivery commitments.
Where structures, policies, or performance processes are getting in the way of what the team is trying to do, we name them. We work with the leader on what can be negotiated with the business and what needs to be worked around for now.
At the end of the pilot, we return to what we agreed at the start. The organisation shares what they observed and measured. Together we assess what worked, what did not, and what the system made possible or prevented. That conversation shapes whether and how the work continues, and what is shared with the rest of the business.
Who Commissions This
This pilot is commissioned by anyone in the organisation who is able to negotiate and create the conditions the pilot requires.
The people who commission this work could be PMO directors, or senior managers or directors leading projects within a function or capability group. They want to invest in testing new ways of working before scaling what works. What they have in common is not a job title, but a willingness to test out conditions of work, responsibility splits, how things are done and what that means for team culture and ways of working.
Teams participating in the pilot may need some flexibility from existing policies, processes, and performance expectations during the pilot period. My background in risk advisory equips me to think through business risks and support you in putting in place an alternate temporary structure. This is necessary because genuine testing and thinking requires a space where thinking beyond current structures is actively supported.
If you have the seniority or relationship capital to create the necessary conditions for the pilot, and the conviction that it is worth doing, this pilot is designed for you. Without these conditions in place, the pilot may surface insights the organisation is not yet ready or willing to act on. That is worth knowing before you start.
If you are with me in wanting to create actual scalable examples of what works, not just for products, but for the conditions in which your team does their best work, then we need to talk.
Use the contact form below to tell me a little about your organisation, the team you have in mind, and the project or change initiative you are working on. I will come back to you within two working days to arrange a call to discuss what is possible.
If you are interested in team coaching that I offer in professional services and accounting or tax practice environments, take a look at my page dedicated to this offer.