343: Building Team Cohesiveness: Dr. Ellen Zimmerman, PCC - a podcast by Meg Rentschler

Communication is EVERYTHING, and this applies to every human relationship–not just the field of coaching. When it comes to coaching teams, we know that everyone comes to the table with their own style of communicating, including the motivators and stressors that make them do what they do. How can we, as coaches, help teams learn about different communication styles so they can see through a different lens and be open to collaboration? That’s our topic up for discussion today. I hope you’ll join us to learn more!

Dr. Ellen Zimmerman is the owner of Ellen Zimmerman Consulting, LLC. She teaches graduate and undergraduate human resource and leadership courses at Lamar University. She is a co-lead for the International Coaching Federation’s Executive and Leadership Community of Practice, the vice president of the Texas Coaches’ Coalition, and one of a limited number of Dare to Lead®️ facilitators (selected and trained directly by Brené Brown). Ellen believes that creativity is the key to learning in everything from coaching questions to the development of learning opportunities and strategic planning. “The best way to get unstuck is to do things differently.” In this episode, we are discussing how organizations can change when teams operate more collaboratively and cohesively by communicating differently. Ellen shares the assessment tool she uses to begin the coaching conversation, and she walks us through her process with teams in setting up engagement. 

Show Highlights: 

• How Ellen became hooked on helping teams be more collaborative through better communication
• Why there is a different perspective in coaching a team vs. coaching an individual
• Why it’s important to realize that everyone has different priorities and communication styles–but can still work together
• How Ellen approaches her training process with a new team–and begins with the DISC assessment to set the stage for understanding, identify challenges, and formulate learning activities
• How the DISC assessment sets the stage for understanding, based on four communication styles
• How the DISC assessment identifies motivators and stressors for each communication style
• Examples of an activity Ellen would use with a team to encourage collaboration
• How to deal with conversations that might be heated by using questioning techniques
• Key takeaways from Ellen about our communication and cohesiveness

Resources:

Connect with Ellen Zimmerman: Website and LinkedIn

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