program selection system

Relationship systems coaching is a new and emerging discipline—embodying “systemic” coaching methods—that provides Agile Coaches a new model to work with the whole system, not just individuals. By cleanly standing outside the team, we help reveal the system to itself, leading to greater team self awareness, higher cohesion and more conscious self-organization. Moving beyond the right and wrong of individual issues, we facilitate long-term persistent changes which benefit the whole system. We will demonstrate three techniques with the audience as participants to demonstrate this exciting new approach.

Background
A new and emerging discipline arising from the confluence of the individual coaching tradition and systems theory is that of relationship systems coaching. Coaching relationships as systems (teams, partners, organizations) shifts the focus from the individuals to the relationship system itself: an important player called the “Third Entity” (http://www.therelationshipcoaches.com/thought-leadership.html). This so-called Third Entity is more easily felt or sensed than directly perceived. It is related to the “feel” of a team, whether they are fiesty and challenging, warm and supportive, or alternatively playful then confrontational.

Systemic coaching methods can provide Agile Coaches with a model to work directly with the system rather than merely doing individual work with members of the group. It involves skills that may be new such as “reading the emotional field,” standing outside the system, and so-called metaskills such as Inquiry/Awareness, Playfulness, Respect and Deep Democracy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_democracy).

System coaching is a way to cleanly stand outside the team and help reveal the system to itself, which leads to greater team self awareness, higher cohesion and an increased ability to meaningfully self-organize. The question we ask teams from this perspective is not, who’s right and who’s wrong, but rather…what’s trying to happen here?

This workshop will introduce coaches to relationship system coaching methods as a new way to both perceive and coach teams. Three specific systemic techniques will be run as exercises with members of the audience as participants to demonstrate this approach, including: evoking the Third Entity, Lands Work and Constellations.

Intended Audience
This workshop is designed primarily for experienced Agile coaches.

Benefits of Participating
This workshop will help participants to:
+learn a very powerful way of seeing teams, as the ‘third entity’ that lives between the members of the team
+experience three different techniques for working with teams from this new perspective