COACHING TEAMS
Team coaching helps teams build trust, navigate complexity, and grow together—building awareness while tackling the work that matters most.
What is team coaching?
Team coaching is a dynamic, presence-based practice that helps teams build the awareness, trust, and capacity they need to thrive. Team coaching works in the moment, drawing attention to what’s happening beneath the surface—relationships, dynamics, energy. It’s about helping teams see themselves as a living system and develop the courage and insight to navigate complexity, not just complete tasks. Team coaching supports both the relational dynamics and the real work the team needs to accomplish, helping teams strengthen how they operate together while moving toward what matters most.
What kind of team coach am I?
My goal as a team coach is to create the conditions where the team can do its own most meaningful work. I do that through my presence—who I am and how I show up—and through my practice—the combination of my lived experience and intentional training. This, rooted in my values, shapes who I am as a team coach.
I believe in the overwhelming power of teams. I also believe that highly effective teams don’t happen by magic or accident—they’re built through awareness, intention, and the courage to have real conversations. I see my role as helping teams build their own capacity for reflection, connection, and collective impact. I do this through holding space, naming what’s present, asking powerful questions, making courageous observations, offering experimentation and play and partnering with the team to explore what’s emerging—so they can move forward with greater alignment, agency, and purpose.
What Does a Typical Engagement Include?
Each team is unique, and so is every engagement. That said, certain patterns and phases tend to emerge through this work. My approach is always tailored to your team’s specific context, culture, and goals—but here’s what a typical arc might include:
Phase 1: Getting to Know You
This phase is about listening deeply—to the team, its leader, and the broader system. It includes conversations with key stakeholders to understand what’s working, what’s not, and what each person hopes for from the engagement. Teams often have varying perspectives depending on who you ask and this phase helps us surface those differences and align around shared goals.
Phase 2: Launching the Work
Here we begin building the relationships and psychological safety needed for meaningful coaching. This phase often includes one-on-one sessions with each team member as well as initial full-team sessions to establish trust, context, and shared understanding.
Phase 3: Team Coaching in Action
This is where the core coaching work takes place. Through full-team sessions, we explore patterns, name dynamics, and build collective awareness. The work is emergent, guided by what’s present in the room and what the team is ready for. Often, this phase includes individual coaching for team members and the team leader, as personal growth is inseparable from team development.
Phase 4: Wrap-Up and Reflection
In our final phase, we close with intention—reflecting on what’s shifted and what’s still unfolding. This may include revisiting initial goals, checking in with stakeholders, and naming what the team wants to carry forward. It’s a chance to celebrate progress, acknowledge ongoing work, and leave with clarity and momentum.
“We hired Maris to help us understand how to best work as a team. This included one-to-one coaching and a group deep dive into how we could leverage one another’s strengths. Maris was extremely helpful in enabling us to better understand our potential team dynamic.”
Want to learn more about team coaching?
Every team is unique. I’d love to learn about yours and offer insights on how we might work in partnership.