About the ICF Team Coaching Competencies
Team coaching is unlike any other coaching modality. It requires a different approach, mindset, and level of expertise. To co-create impactful results, you must navigate many dynamics, including:
- Understanding the drivers of high-performing teams.
- Building team cohesion.
- Resolving conflict.
- Encouraging full participation from every member.
- Promoting team autonomy and long-term sustainability.
ICF’s Team Coaching Competencies were developed to better prepare you for this complex discipline, ensuring you have the knowledge and skills to empower teams and cultivate unity in pursuit of shared goals. It also serves as the foundation for the ICF Advanced Certification in Team Coaching (ACTC).
The team coaching framework builds upon the ICF Core Competencies by introducing unique sub-competencies that are tailored specifically to the tasks, skills, and knowledge needed for effective coaching. It also provides a clear, concise definition for team coaching, and it addresses the unique concerns regarding ethics and confidentiality in team coaching. When you follow this competency model, you can be confident that your team coaching aligns with the ICF Code of Ethics.
Development of the Model
The ICF Team Coaching Competencies model is the result of a rigorous, evidence-based research project. Relying heavily on participation and input from expert team coaches, we completed the following activities to help define team coaching competencies:
- A comprehensive literature review.
- Workshops that explored tasks and knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAO) needed to be an effective team coach.
- Semi-structured interviews.
- A global survey to determine the importance of specific team coaching tasks and KSAOs and their relationship to facilitation.
- Competency model workshops to review the job analysis data.
Application of the Model
In practice, you can use the ICF Team Coaching Competencies to deliver coaching interventions that address the unique dynamics of each team, support their development, and drive sustainable success. Here’s a few ways these competencies can be used in practice:
Facilitate Team Learning and Growth
Implement processes for learning from experiences, including after-action reviews or retrospectives to help the team evolve based on lessons learned during each phase of work.
Promote Systemic Awareness
Encourage the team to recognize how external factors influence their performance and how they can better navigate these systems. You may facilitate discussions about organizational culture or external market forces, and how these impact the team’s functioning and decision-making.
Integrate Multiple Coaching Approaches
Draw from various coaching methodologies to provide a more tailored coaching experience related to the team's maturity and specific challenges. Adapt your coaching techniques to match the team’s evolving needs.
Team Coaching Competencies
Looking for a deeper understanding of the Team Coaching Competencies and how to apply them in practice? Check out our video.
The ICF Team Coaching Competencies Model
Team coaching empowers teams to work toward continued high performance and ongoing development — requiring innovation, flexibility, adaptability, and goal alignment — all traits that the original ICF Core Competencies help support.
The ICF Team Coaching Competencies outline the unique knowledge, skills, and tasks essential for coaching teams, building on the foundation of the ICF Core Competencies. Each aspect of this model aligns with the Core Competencies, incorporating specific nuances and dynamics tailored to team environments.
Translations of the ICF Team Coaching Competencies Model
The ICF Team Coaching Competencies are available in more than 10 languages, ensuring that coaches from around the world can gain a deeper understanding of the distinct knowledge, skills, and tasks required for working with teams.