BUSINESS: The Ultimate Resource

February 2004 Upgrade 17

SMALL BUSINESS ACTIONLIST

Coaching
Max Landsberg Getting Started
Coaching has much to do with mentoring and it has a great deal to do with counseling. All three are about supporting an individual to overcome problems, achieve success, and realize their full potential. Coaching relies on the agenda being set by the learners. They should discover their own way forward, and should feel commitment to their course of action because they have been the one responsible for establishing it. Coaching can be seen as having four main phases:

setting goals both for the overall coaching relationship and for the individual session exploring the current position of the learner: the reality of their circumstances and their concerns generating strategies, action plans, and options for achieving the goals outlined above deciding what is to be done, by whom, how, and when

FAQs
What is coaching? Coaching is an integrated set of actions, aimed at boosting the performance of an individual or team. Coaching includes:

a context of trust and understanding asking, not only telling reaching agreement about the goals optimizing opportunities to perform providing ongoing, ad hoc, feedback, and coaching sessions of greater depth as appropriate the line manager recognizing their obligation to coach

Coaching is an integrated set of actions aimed at boosting a coworkers performanceso that the person being coached (the learner) reaches his or her full potential, or even redefines their view of their own potential. Coaching typically aims to build skills in communications (written and oral), problem solving, teamwork, and
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 2004

BUSINESS: The Ultimate Resource

February 2004 Upgrade 17

selling, or even to enhance personal characteristics such as impact. In this section we will examine the very elements of successful coaching.

Making It Happen
Agree Specific Goals Crucial to the coaching process are explicit goals for the learner. This may spring from a recent annual appraisal, from the requirements of a new role, or from some new aspiration by the learner. It is worth remembering that the best goals are specific, measurable, achievable, results-driven and time constitutedthe memorable SMART acronym. Provide Ad hoc Feedback Feedback is one of the coachs most important techniques. Ad hoc feedback means regular constructive and considered comments. Ineffective managers tend to provide feedback using generalities (Your presentations lack impact). Such negative forms of feedback leave the learner feeling blamed, defensive, uncertain, and lacking in confidence and self-esteem. By contrast, constructive feedback focuses on specific skills and improvements needed. It clarifies where the learner stands and what to do next, and leaves the person feeling helped rather than merely judged. With this in mind, effective coaches deliver constructive feedback in three parts.

Firstly, the coach is specific in replaying actions that the learner took. (During your last presentation you avoided answering a direct question and instead presented another chart.) Second, the coach highlights the implications. (This made the audience feel that you were uncertain about your material and uninterested in their concerns.) Finally, the coach suggests a desired outcome. (Next time try to allow time for questions and respond to them clearly.)

This three-part approach (Action, Impact, Desirable outcomeor AID for short), is the key to providing useful feedback. It is particularly effective if the three points can be elicited using ask mode (Which parts of your presentation worked best? Which parts of it worked least well? What was the impact of this? What could you do differently next time?) Even when delivering positive feedback (that is, praise), effective coaches use the first two steps of this approach. By specifically highlighting the Action and the Impact, the coachee can more fully understand why he or she has done a good job. Deliver In-depth Sessions Periodically the coach and coachee will decide to complement ad hoc feedback with a 3060 minute coaching session. To guarantee a relevant focus and clear outcomes, effective coaches typically use a four-step agenda that covers Goals, Reality, Options, and Wrap-up (known as GROW).

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 2004

BUSINESS: The Ultimate Resource

February 2004 Upgrade 17

In the first step (Goals), coach and learner agree on the topic for discussion and the objective for the session (Lets find ways to further develop your presentation skills. Lets find at least three ideas in the next half-hour). They might also review or amend the longer-term goal (Lets establish as a goal that you feel able to present the divisions results to the board meeting next month). In the second step (Reality), the coach and learner take stock of the coachees current strengths and weaknesses. The effective coach invites the learner to do most of the talking, starting with a self-assessment. If the coach does provide feedback, it takes the form of specific examples, either in ask mode (What did you feel about the question-and-answer session at the end of your last presentation?) or in tell mode (You could have allowed more time for questions). In step three (Options), coach and learner both brainstorm ways forward. What can the coachee do to change the situation? What alternatives are there to that approach? Who could help? The coachs role is not primarily to provide answers. It is rather to stimulate creative ideas from the learnerpossible actions that the learner will more naturally buy into. Finally (Wrap-up), the coach helps the learner to choose an option and commit to action. This involves identifying possible obstacles, making the next steps specific, agreeing timing, and identifying any support needed. In subsequent sessions the coach will naturally vary the length of each step as needed. Ask the Right Questions There are many questions that coaches can ask to focus the coaching process. The same questions can also be used for self-coachingall you need to do is consider a major issue or ongoing behavior that you would like to resolve.

What are you trying to achieve? How will you know when you have achieved it? Would you define it as an end goal or a performance goal? If it is an end goal, what performance goal could be related to it? Is the goal specific? In what way is it measurable? To what extent can you control the result, What sort of things wont you have control over? Do you feel that achieving the goal will stretch or break you? When do you want to achieve the goal by? What are the milestones or key points on the way to achieving your goal? Who is involved and what effect could they have on the situation? What have you done about this situation so far, and what have been the results?

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 2004

BUSINESS: The Ultimate Resource

February 2004 Upgrade 17

What are the major constraints in finding a way forward? Are these constraints major or minor? How could their effect be reduced? What other issues are occurring at work that might have a bearing on your goal? What options do you have? If you had unlimited resources what options would you have? Could you link your goal to some other organizational issue? What would be the perfect solution?

Once the position has been assessed, the time comes to select the best option and take action. The following questions may then be useful:

What are you going to do? When are you going to do it? Who needs to know? What support and resources do you need, and how will you get them? How will the above help you to achieve your goals? What obstacles might hinder you and what strategies do you have for countering these?

Common Mistakes
Telling, Not Asking In all aspects of coaching, the effective coach will more often ask questions than provide, or tell, answers. This applies both when providing feedback about the learners prior underperformance, as well as when generating ideas about how to improve that performance. Failing to Build a Context of Trust and Understanding For coaching to be effective, the coach and learner must first agree explicitly on how the coaching will be delivered. A brief discussion will normally suffice if the coach is the coachees line manager. If the coach is an external professional, a written contract is advisable. In addition, however, the coach and learner need to trust and understand each other. Most importantly, the learner needs to trust that the coach is not continually trying to evaluate him or her. In companies or teams in which the culture is highly evaluative, junior people typically do not ask their line managers for coaching supportthey avoid showing weakness or ignorance. Also, the coach needs to understand what motivates the learner to perform strongly in the relevant areasand whether any under-performance derives from a lack of skill, or from a lack of will (since the approach to coaching might differ in these two cases).
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 2004

BUSINESS: The Ultimate Resource

February 2004 Upgrade 17

Finally, the learner needs to understand how the coach most likes to deliver coaching. This topic is often overlookedbut the truly great coach/manager typically helps the learner understand his or her preferences. Not Optimizing Opportunities Practice makes perfectbut feedback alone will not. Central to any increased performance by the learner is the opportunity to confront new challenges in the skill area on which he or she is working. This is why line managers are potentially the best coaches of their team membersthey can directly assign tasks that will allow the learner to hone the relevant skills.

Recommended Link
Coachville: www.coachville.com

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 2004