Coaching in Team Science can be instrumental in multi-disciplinary science teams being healthy, high performing, and impactful.

This panel will address two types of coaching:

International Coaching Federation (ICF) One-on-One Coaching (“ICF Coaching”) – “Someone who partners with another person in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires the other person to be their best personal and professional self. It’s a process that often reveals hidden sources of imagination, productivity, and leadership — things the other person may not even know they have.” (ICF)
Team Science Content Coaching (“Content Coaching”) – An instructor, adviser, or facilitator in Team Science best practices, methods, or systems
The objectives of the panel (with session participants) are to:

Understand the unique impact that ICF Coaching can have on Team Science
Understand these two types of coachings and the synergy/continuum between the two
Discuss opportunities to implement both types of coaching and the continuum into science teams
Discuss potential research questions and studies on both types of coaching and the continuum
ICF Coaching is relatively new to Team Science. In working with clients one-on-one, ICF Coaches use the skills of 1) active listening and 2) evoking awareness in others by asking powerful questions. These skills are key to the client discovering hidden imagination, productivity and leadership. Members of science teams are not expected to be certified coaches, but they can use these skills in their interactions with one another that leads to Otto Scharmer’s Generative Listening where “we listen for the highest future possibility to show up while holding a space for something new to be born.” Here is where breakthrough ideas can be generated that solve the most challenging problems in the world. In addition, use of these ICF Coaching skills could be important Team Science Competencies. They could be instrumental in developing other competencies such as Team Bonding, Communication, and Problem Solving.

Though the definitions of Content Coaching and ICF Coaching are different, the reality is that the two work synergistically to realize the full impact coaching can have on multi-disciplinary science teams. There is a continuum between the two where the role of the coach and the team members can vary with team members becoming more part of the coaching process - to the point of using coaching skills themselves (as described above).

From the Content Coaching end of the continuum, coaching processes have been used to help launch and support science teams. One key challenge is balancing guidance and facilitation across the coaching continuum. Another is designing empirically grounded interventions while recognizing that much of their value is designed emergently from team dialogue. Finally, content coaching faces legitimacy challenges from potential coachees, which will only be resolved by expanding empirical research connecting team science coaching with measurable performance outcomes.

The panel will expand on the above and lead a discussion with the audience primarily aimed at the above objectives.