Top Ten Tips for Coaching
1. Coaching isn’t about me – it is about you
Of all the learning and development strategies available, coaching is probably the most effective. A good coach should help the coachee to think clearly, embed learning and make better decisions. It is not the same thing as teaching, telling, advising or counselling.
2. Coaching is not one thing – it is a continuum of activities and approaches
The coaching continuum extends from skills development through motivation and performance improvement to breakthrough thinking and creative problem solving. No ‘one size fits all’ approach will work. The guiding principle should always be to begin where you are at… and work from there.
3. The learning partner (coachee) should ideally be clear what issue they would like to explore
However, it is surprising how often a coachee has no ‘problem’ as such, or even a clearly defined goal. They just want help with thinking, and finding out what they do want to reflect on. Trying to focus on a clear goal too soon can be counterproductive. You may agree to work on something to please your coach, and never touch on the heart of the real issue.
4. There should be a clear ‘contract’ between coach and coachee
The ‘coaching contract’ can be anything from a formal signed agreement to a short list of bullet points summarising ‘the way we want to work together’. It gives clarity and an appropriate degree of formality: this is not chat, but a mutual agreement to spend time together thinking something through, away from distractions.
5. There are many frameworks available to support the process: these should guide, but never constrain, the direction of the session
There are many brilliant frameworks and models available to support the coaching process. However, as soon as you catch yourself thinking ‘that’s all the G questions I wanted to ask… now for the R ones’ you know you have stopped listening properly to them. Use the frameworks by all means but do not be afraid to loop back to earlier themes or move on if the conversation is stuck.
6. Most coaching sessions at work are about improved performance: be creative and devise your own action plans to achieve them
Your suggestions and solutions are doubtless brilliant… but only for you. You are much more likely to implement an action plan if it is one of your own devising. The coach's job is to support that thinking process and challenge the outcome positively, not replace it with his/her own solution.
7. You will need to listen as never before. Quell your own thoughts and concentrate wholly and completely on the other person’s words, thoughts and ideas
This is by far the toughest aspect of coaching; only when you have thought the issue through in depth should the coach offer you suggestions… and cautiously even then.
8. The richest value to you will not be in the answers I give, but the questions I ask… so, think about what you think of what rich, varied and relevant questions are asked
Use a learning diary to record interesting themes for questions and to add new ones to your portfolio.
9. Ensure that, by the end of the session, you should have a clear, relevant and achievable action plan
Question the action plan using the SMART acronym and ensure you have a plan that uses specific language, has measures, is achievable (not wildly ambitious or too trivial), recorded and reviewable and with timescales built in.
10. Make the transition from ‘doing’ coaching to ‘becoming a coach’
Reflect on your own development as coach. Maintain your learning diary and use it to discover more about yourself and your approaches to different coaching challenges. Reflect on your own practice and experience: what went well? And what could you do differently next time?