ICF Team Coaching Competencies - International Coaching Federation
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ICF Team Coaching Competencies

Team Coaching is one of the fastest growing disciplines in the coaching profession and is becoming increasingly important in organizations, including private corporations, government agencies and non-profits. 

To define and guide this growing discipline, ICF Credentials and Standards has developed the ICF Team Coaching Competencies model. This model sets the standard for team coaching practice and serves as the foundation for the ICF Advanced Certification in Team Coaching (ACTC). This certification enables team coach practitioners to independently validate their knowledge, skills and competence in this important discipline of coaching practice, setting themselves apart as an advanced practitioner in an increasingly crowded marketplace, and demonstrating their value for organizational purchasers of team coaching services.  

Team Coaching empowers teams to work toward continued high performance and ongoing development, requiring innovation, flexibility, adaptability and goal alignment – all traits that coaching helps support. 

ICF’s Team Coaching Competencies model provides a clear, concise definition for Team Coaching – partnering in a co-creative and reflective process with a team on its dynamics and relationships in a way that inspires them to maximize their abilities and potential in order to reach their common purpose and shared goals. This model is designed to build upon and integrate with the ICF Core Competencies in team coaching contexts. 

Download the ICF Team Coaching Competencies

  • English

  • French

  • German

  • Hungarian

    This translation was produced by ICF Hungary. It can be downloaded from the chapter’s website by clicking the button below.

  • Italian

    This translation was produced by ICF Italy. It can be downloaded from the chapter’s website by clicking the button below.

  • Korean

    This translation was produced by ICF Korea. It can be downloaded from the chapter’s website by clicking the button below.

  • Latvian

    This translation was produced by ICF Latvia. It can be downloaded by clicking the button below.

  • Portuguese

  • Spanish

  • Turkish

    This translation was produced by ICF Turkey. To download a PDF version, visit the ICF Turkey website by clicking the button below.

Video Walkthrough of the ICF Team Coaching Competencies

To help support the understanding of this model, ICF Credentials and Standards has created a pre-recorded webinar that walks through the ICF Team Coaching Competencies. Click the button below to watch on Vimeo, or click “play” on the video below.

Watch the Q&A Webinars

On December 7 and 8, 2020, ICF hosted two webinars to review and answer live questions about the newly released ICF Team Coaching Competencies. Both sessions were recorded and are available to view below, or on the ICF Vimeo page.

December 7, 2020 Q&A

December 8, 2020 Q&A

More on the ICF Team Coaching Competency Model’s Development

ICF is leading the way in defining the knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics (KSAO) needed to be an effective Team Coach. No other coaching organization has undertaken this rigorous, evidence-based approach to defining Team Coaching competencies. ICF accomplished this with an extensive research project, relying heavily on expert team coaches for the following activities throughout the process:

  • A comprehensive literature review
  • Task and KSAO workshops
  • Semi-structured interviews
  • A global survey to determine the importance of specific Team Coaching tasks and KSAOs and their relationship to facilitation
  • Competency model workshops to review the job analysis data

The result is a model that provides a clear, concise definition for Team Coaching, and is designed to build upon and integrate with the ICF Core Competencies in team coaching contexts.

While no new competencies are required for Team Coaching beyond the eight ICF Core Competencies, several unique sub-competencies necessary for effective Team Coaching are outlined in this model.

Also addressed in this model are the unique concerns regarding ethics and confidentiality in Team Coaching. ICF’s Team Coaching Competencies model provides clear guidance for Team Coaches to carry out their work in accordance with the ICF Code of Ethics.

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