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THE
NEXT LEVEL
Coaching
isn't new ,
but coaching a
virtual team is
By
GREG CRONE
Sheila
Goldgrab is a coach, but
Not the kind that works with a
Hockey or basketball team.
Ms. Goldgrab coaches execu-
tives, business owners and work
teams to help them perform bet-
ter in their jobs.
"Most people think of a sports
coach with a whistle and a clip
board shouting at you and telling
you what to do," she says. "That's
not us."
With the advent of the Internet
And virtual companies, Ms. Gold-
grab is as likely to do her coach-
ing virtually or via teleconfer-
ence, video-conference or email.
Coaching in the business context
has taken off in the 1990s and has
evolved into an independent dis-
cipline. The International Coach
Federation, based in Angel Fire,
N.M., sets professional standards
And certifies members such as Ms.
Goldgrab as professional coaches.
The association, which was
Founded in 1992, has doubled its
Membership in the past year to
About 2,2000 members, including
140 Canadian members.
"Coaching is facilitated learning
with a guide who is interested in
you," says Ms. Goldgrab, who is
based in Toronto. "A coach is
someone to guide and possi-
bly to inspire you."
For example, if a work team is
Suffering from low productivity,
The coach's role is not to solve the
Problem for the team but to ask
Questions to get to the heart of
the matter, thereby aiding the
team in solving the problem.
"Consulting is, 'let me
tell you what to do.' But coaching is not
about telling. It's about asking pow-
erful questins. It's about enabling
and evoking things in people."
Ms. Goldgrab is one of a handful
Who are taking coaching to the
next level with virtual teams.
A virtual team meets and works
most often through such commu-
nications as video conference,
Teleconference or e-mail more of-
ten than face to face.
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Virtual
teams can be more effi-
cient than conventional teams,
Ms. Goldgrab says. A task that
might take three hours for a team
to do in face-to-face meetings can
be accomplished in one hour by a
vitual team using teleconfer-
ences and lots of e-mails, she says.
"That's terrifically efficient. I don't
need you at the other end at your
compuer waiting for my e-mail. I
have the freedom to send it when-
ever and you get it whenever."
Why are
teams going virtual? As
Companies go global, workers
Who are geographically dispersed
May have to work together. An-
Other factor is the telecommuting
Phenomenon that sees people
\working out of their homes.
The best answer may be that
teams are going virtual simply be-
cause they can. Communication
technology is improving to the
point where it is becoming feasi-
ble. Not too far down the road, it is
conceivable that every personal
computer will be outfitted with In-
ternet cameras, making video con-
ferencing as accessible as e-mail.
That will likely spark an explosion
in the number of people seeking to
work together in virtual teams.
Rich Fettke, spokesperson for the
International Coach Federation,
says more and more of his coach-
ing is being done virtually. He is
now coaching a team entirely
through teleconferencing from his
own home in Lafayette, Calif. "I can
work from home with people all
over the country and wear a
bathrobe, "he says, adding he antic-
ipates soon he may do the same job
video-conferencing. "Then I'll
have to get a bathrobe that looks
like a suit. It's changing quickly."
Cathy Walt, who works for An-
dersen Consulting coaching execu
-tives, says the relentless advance of
technology means executives will
have to work harder to maintain
the "personal touch" in their work.
"There are not a lot of executives
who have the capacity to be per-
sonal using technology," says Ms.
Walt. "people have to learn man-
ners on the Internet. People have to
learn manners in chat rooms. In
the
same way, people will have to
learn the manners and principles
by which they will have to dialogue
in an open environment using
technology in the future. Executive
coaching can help them through
that particular skills deficit."
Ms. Goldgrab says working with a
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'THERE'S
NOTHING
WRONG WITH
TECHNOLOGY'
virtual
team presents special chal-
lenges. For example the communica-
tion by e-mail lacks the benefits of
facial expressions and body lan-
guage. Also, e-mail means that tran-
spires, which has advantages and
disadvantages, depending on your
point of view. If you say you will
perform a particular task, there will
be a written record, so you can't say
you didn't make the commitment.
Just as working in a virtual team
Requires new skills, coaching a
Virtual team is different as well.
To help develop her skills, Ms.
Goldgrab tries to communicate
Through virtual means such as
telephone and e-mail as if she is
Coaching a virtual team.
She disagrees with experts who
Say the human element is being
lost through the use of technology.
It just means more attention has to
be paid to preserving it, she says.
"There's nothing wrong with
technology. There's nothing in-
herently wrong with the Internet.
It's like television. There's nothing
Wrong with television, it's what
They put on it. It's just a medium,
So you have to learn to use it."
Todd Smith of New Media Talent
Works Inc., an Internet recruit-
ment firm, was on a virtual team
that organized a workplace con-
ference coached by Ms. Goldgrab.
"Sheila was a flow agent," says
Mr. Smith. She kept us commun-
nicating within the framework
for our conversations rather than
getting off track. People knew
what they needed to have put to-
gether coming into a conference
call. She really greased the wheels
for us to groove along the track."
"Sheila was the rudder of the
planning group," says Pat Foliott, a
marketing communications entre-
preneur who was also part of the
planning group. "While we were
going at high speed in different di-
rections, she ensured there was a
link among the group that kept us
focused on the task at hand."
Financial
Post
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