Think better. Work better.
Together.
Stuck looks the same from the outside
Underneath, it’s either how you work together, or how the work itself is structured, or both.
A team that isn’t working looks much the same whether they are stuck because of people dynamics or because something in the way the work or team is structured isn’t clear. Decisions take longer than they should, the same conversation comes round for the third time, and there’s a flatness in the room that nobody wants to name.
Often when leaders try to fix this they don’t have the information they need to work out how best to intervene. They decide on an awayday, or a restructure that moves the boxes around and they try to fix the symptoms of the problem, because they aren’t yet clear on the root causes. Sometimes that’s exactly right, but often it treats the half of the problem you can see, or acts as a sticking plaster over the deeper challenges.
The difference that matters is whether it’s about how people work together, or about how the work itself is set up: who owns what, what got half-decided two years ago and one person is still clinging to, whose job changed shape without anyone saying so. Those two need completely different things doing about them, and telling them apart is the first thing I do.
Sometimes that means a proper diagnostic, with an anonymous survey and a confidential conversation with everyone. Sometimes it’s a couple of hours with the team and a good look at how the work flows. I’d rather find out than assume, so I can make sure that my recommendations are hitting what is actually going on and can lead to meaningful improvements.
Team Coaching and Development
For a team that needs to work differently, and has the time to actually do it. I use my own SHARP model to find out where a team's strengths and its friction really sit, and build the work from what comes back. It runs from a four-week diagnostic through to a six-month piece of work with a team, depending on what you're dealing with.
Facilitation and Problem-solving
For a team with a hard problem and a date in the diary. A strategy that needs setting, a decision that's been round the houses twice, a group that has to get somewhere by the end of the day. I design the session and run it, so you get to be in the room as a participant rather than chairing it.
Executive Coaching
For a leader who wants to think something through properly with someone outside the organisation. Usually six sessions, sometimes an ongoing arrangement. It tends to be about the thing you can't say out loud at work yet.
Just taken over a team you didn't build?
There's a specific piece of work for that: four weeks to find out what you've actually got, before you've made too many decisions on a shaky read.
Who I work with
Senior teams, mostly. Executive teams, directors and the departments they run, and the HR and People leads who carry the responsibility for how those teams are doing. Organisations big enough that a team not working properly costs real money, and grown-up enough to want to know why rather than be told what to do.The teams I'm best with are the ones where everyone is capable, well-intentioned and exhausted, and it still isn't coming together.here
Who am I?
I'm Kate Nicholroy, a systemic team coach and facilitator based in Brighton, working with teams across the UK. I trained at Henley Business School and the Academy of Executive Coaching, and I'm accredited by the EMCC as a Senior Practitioner and by the ICF. I also co-host Late Night Leadership, a podcast for senior leaders, with Maddie Fox.
Start with a conversation
Most of my work starts with half an hour on the phone. Tell me what's going on with the team and I'll tell you what I'd do about it. If it turns out I'm not the right person, I'll say so and point you at someone who is.
Book half an hour → Book time with Kate Nicholroy: 30 minute meeting
Or send me a message. → Send me a message