Coaching
Learning from Success as a team
Activities
What to pay attention to?
Introduction and mapping – 20 min
Agreements
- Agree on the session facilitator.
- Make basic communication agreements to ensure a safe and respectful process.
- Decide which time period’s team successes you will focus on.
3 minutes
- The session facilitator keeps track of time, ensures adherence to agreements, introduces each step, and moderates the flow.
- Pay attention to timekeeping, a respectful and appreciative attitude, and feel free to add further agreements as needed.
Clarify how the facilitator will signal time updates. - Agree on the time frame: Are you focusing on the past week, month, three months, or year?
Mapping Team Successes
OPTION A
Each team member selects one metaphor card to share a meaningful team success story from the previous period.
They briefly share why this success is important to them.
OPTION B
All team members simultaneously write 3–6 team successes from the previous period on the Zoom whiteboard that they feel proud of or energized by.
Then the session facilitator invites each participant to choose one success story that feels most meaningful to them and briefly share it with the group.
15 min
The facilitator chooses either OPTION A or OPTION B to map the team’s successes for the selected time frame.
- OPTION A
Metaphors activate the brain’s right hemisphere and strengthen memory associations — emotional imagery is stored more deeply.
Visual anchors help information stick better and make it easier to link with future actions. - OPTION B
A shared visual field strengthens the team’s collective perspective and sense of “we.”
When people see that there are many successes, it reduces negative cognitive bias and activates a more optimistic view.
Selecting One Success to Explore Deeper
The team chooses one shared success story to explore and learn from.
2 min
- The facilitator asks everyone to write in the chat the success they want to explore further.
- The most frequently mentioned success will become the focus.
Main Process – Learning from Success 35 min
Describing the Success
The case owner shares their success story or achievement with the group.
3 min
- The case owner briefly describes what happened, what brings them joy, what they did, and why it was meaningful to them, etc.
Team members ask and answer coaching questions
Clicking on each card reveals questions.
There are three rounds, each lasting 5 minutes, and each round focuses on a specific theme.
5 min
5 min
5 min
There are two ways to choose questions:
- Blind selection: Questions are hidden. The facilitator clicks a card based on a number given by a participant. The question is revealed only after selection.
- Open selection: All questions are visible. Team members take turns selecting and answering.
- Team members answer one question each, taking turns until the 5-minute round ends.
- The next round begins with new questions and continues in the same way.
Mapping Team Strengths
6 min
Team members share insights about the team’s strengths and success factors.
The facilitator asks everyone to write their reflections in the chat.
- Once everyone has written their thoughts, the facilitator invites each person to say their insights aloud.
Applying Team Strengths – Next Steps
6 min
How can we use this successful experience more often in the future?
What could be the team’s next step based on this success?
- The facilitator asks team members to write in the chat how the team could apply its strengths more intentionally and what the next action step could be.
- Once everyone is ready, each person shares their input aloud.
Closing Circle
6 min
Each team member shares one thought they value about this process.
- The facilitator may offer 1 minute of silent reflection before the sharing begins.
