Exploring the perceived impact team coaching has on a team’s ability to be mindful

Teams play a crucial role in organisations, facing the challenge of delivering high performance in an environment of perpetual change and increasing disruption and complexity. These fast-paced environments can cause stressors which can impact how teams function, and how team members interact together. Team coaching is increasingly used to support teams, yet empirical research in this area is limited. Additionally, although mindfulness in the workplace has been extensively researched, demonstrating various benefits for individuals, research on team mindfulness is limited. This is surprising as teams are deemed to be a valuable asset to organisational structure. Team mindfulness is a relatively new construct. Current studies suggest that high team mindfulness can reduce team relationship conflict and improve cohesion, but little is known about its development or the impact of team coaching on enhancing a team’s ability to be mindful. This study aims to address this existing gap by exploring the perceived impact team coaching has on a team’s ability to be mindful. This study focuses on the team members’ and team coaches’ subjective experiences, exploring any perceived changes that are associated with team behaviours and team member interactions after participating in a team coaching intervention. These perceived changes are then aligned with current knowledge of team mindfulness attributes. The study adopted a social constructivist perspective and employed a qualitative methodology, utilising semi-structured interviews with ten team members and ten team coaches. This enabled the data to be collected from two participant groups from different workplace environments who had completed team coaching. This approach gave depth and breadth to the data and subsequent findings. The data was subsequently analysed using thematic analysis. The findings indicate that engaging in team coaching is a catalyst for cultivating team mindfulness. Both participant groups viewed the team coaching intervention as an opportunity for teams to step away from the busyness of their normal working environment, creating a space to pause and establish how team members interact as a team. The findings identify the perceived shift in team behaviours that aligned with team mindfulness attributes. The interviewees cited many team benefits, including deeper relationships between team members, more open and respectful communication, enhanced harmony and compassion within the team, and improved emotional maturity. Furthermore, the findings point to two critical factors that might hinder the development of team mindfulness during the team coaching intervention: the behaviour of the leader and the experience of the team coach to successfully manage the process. As perceived by participants, the team coaching intervention demonstrated a practical approach to developing progressive behavioural changes among team members, ultimately supporting the team in becoming more mindful. The study contributes to understanding the potential of developing team mindfulness through a team coaching intervention and the perceived benefits of a team being more mindful. It contributes to literature across the fields of psychology and team coaching. Practical suggestions are made for team coaches to help them better support teams that are functioning in complex and constantly changing business environments.

Grantor dc:publisher

Oxford Brookes University

Author dc:creator

• Brodie, (Lesley)

Contributors dc:contributor

• Iordanou, Ioanna
• Ciuk, Sylwia
• Gannon, Judie

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved

Language dc:language

en

DOI dc:identifier

https://doi.org/10.24384/62c7-tz30

OAI identifier oai:identifier

tle:0439bb87-cfcd-44e2-a613-14b8f3e85a60:d6bd9758-527a-46cd-bfe2-c433766e8fca:1