Action, reflection and learning in team coaching

Abstract

The aim of the chapter is to examine the role of a coach in supporting reflection, learning and taking action in a team or a group. The chapter will begin by exploring the role of a coach or adviser in learning groups such as action learning sets where the role of the coach is to ask questions to encourage the team to consider and reflect on their current situation. (Marquardt et al., 2009). This is compared and contrasted to the role of a team coach working with a team to achieve common team outcomes in a way that combines performance and processes (Hackman & Wageman, 2005). The concept of learning as a social process in both interventions and the role of the coach in supporting the process of reflection and dialogue for the purpose of gaining new insights are explored. Hence, one of the purposes of the chapter is to develop a sharper understanding of what distinguishes action learning from team coaching, as well as some of the overlaps between them. It must be noted that as the action learning facilitator is commonly referred to as the ‘coach’ this term has been used here interchangeably with group coaching. The distinction between the two interventions are addressed later in the chapter.