Coaching with NLP For Dummies®

Coaching Teams to Bond

The preceding sections of this chapter look at one-to-one coaching situations. However, all the principles of coaching individuals apply to coaching teams and groups too – including in business, sport, family or other settings.

Teams often come together to tackle tough issues, and a team that doesn't have strong relationships and communication falls over fast under pressure (see the sidebar ‘Extreme teams’). Conversely, the team that shows its strength in tough times creates powerful relationships to take forward into other situations.

In this section, I show how you support teams throughout all the classic stages of development including forming, storming, norming, performing and finally disbanding.

Extreme teams

In August 2010, the task to free 33 miners trapped one kilometre below ground in a Chilean mine set off the most complicated rescue mission in mining history. The miners faced months underground in an area the size of a small apartment. Initially the only access was via two 8-cm-wide boreholes through which communication and supplies were channelled.

Chile's Health Minister Jaime Manalich said: ‘If they lose their mental balance, it could create panic and violence and that would be a huge catastrophe.’ A diverse team of professionals assembled to assist the miners:

• Emergency workers and doctors concentrated on keeping the miners physically and mentally well during their ordeal. Many of the men were huge soccer fans and watched matches on a live ...