A coach is someone that sees beyond your limits and guides you to greatness.Michael Jordan
In Course 1 we introduced some ideas related to the topic of Coaching and Mentoring. In this topic we will recap some of the ideas we looked at before and add some new material too.
Coaching involves training learners and encouraging them throughout the learning process. Coaching is offered to individuals and teams with the aim of achieving superior performance or achieving a set goal. It can occur between two individuals or between one individual and a whole team. It is more commonly associated with sporting teams, but it is just as important within the workplace.
Coaching is a beneficial process that can be applied successfully in and out of the workplace to increase the capacity of individuals by encouraging the development of their abilities to a higher level.
Coaching by managers can cultivate employee growth, as well as employee loyalty. The manager who is an effective coach can take people from adequacy to excellence. As self-esteem, confidence, and competence are built-up, so the team creates a more successful bottom line.
With the changes in the boss/worker relationship (reflecting a general movement in society towards greater equality), there is a strong argument for suggesting that a ‘coaching’ style of management is the most effective way to sustain employee productivity and effectiveness.
Of course, coaching is not easy. It is unrealistic to think that every supervisor and manager can become a great coach, but the reward of effective coaching is great: a cohesive, "excited-about-the-future" team which works together towards a shared vision. This is the type of team that keeps a company competitive, innovative and on top in the rapidly changing workplace of today
A hands-on, one-of-the-team style of management provides a climate of trust that is conducive to keeping employees motivated and engaged in their work. There are four parts to understanding the concept and purpose of coaching:
- It is a process which must be applied in a logical , systematic way to achieve results
- The aim of coaching is to improve performance to an agreed level or higher
- Coaching is about securing long-term continuous performance improvement on top of existing performance
- It is focused on the development of positive relationships between people
Coaching as a 6-step process
Coaching consists of frequent, specific feedback intended to raise the level of performance. It is an effective tool to improve performance of a team member that falls below expectations or that deteriorates. It is a guiding process, during which a coach may provide hints, clues, feedback, cues, reminders, practice, problem-solving, exposure to models and demonstrations while the learner is developing the knowledge, skills or attributes required.
These six steps can help you to understand the coaching process:
Step 1 is very important to any coaching relationship. The basis of trust in the relationship must be developed at an early stage and then continue to be built upon throughout the relationship. The coach must possess certain values to achieve a successful relationship. There are six coaching values that stand out as being essential in any coaching relationship:
- responsibility
- honesty
- belief that others want to learn and develop
- interest and respect for others
- showing trust
- pursuit of excellence.
As the coach, the first interaction that you have with the employee requiring coaching should establish the purpose of the coaching. The employee should be approached in a friendly way and all attempts should be made to minimise their anxiety.
If first contact is made over the phone, a sentence should give a brief introduction of what will be discussed at the coaching session. When face-to-face contact is made, the coach needs to restate the purpose of the coaching session to the employee.
This should be done without evaluating, accusing, or threatening the employee in any way
In this step, during the first coaching session, the manager must be able to identify the exact performance issue that has occurred or is occurring. The employee must be made aware of his or her actions and their consequences on others in the workplace. There must be an agreement between the manager and employee that there is a performance concern. The manager must obtain verbal agreement from the employee that the identified performance issue exists.
In step four, the manager and employee look at possible alternatives together that may be able to improve the employee's performance.
For each of the suggestions by the employee, the manager should acknowledge it and then discuss the benefits or drawbacks associated with it. The manager may offer suggestions to expand on what the employee has offered as an alternative. These should then be discussed with the employee to establish how each may or may not contribute to the resolution of the performance issue.
This stage involves obtaining commitment from the employee to implement the strategy/solution that was decided upon. The coach obtains agreement from the employee about what has been agreed. The employee is asked to explain what their role will be in agreed strategy/solution. The aim of this step is to get commitment from the employee.
At the end of the coaching session, you need to reflect on what has been achieved during the session. Emphasise what was achieved and identify what still needs to be done. The employee should then be thanked for participating in the session. It is important the coach arranges for a follow-up session with the employee.
The follow-up session must be done at the agreed time. This shows the employee you are interested in their performance and that you take your commitment seriously. This makes it imperative that the follow-up is adhered to, and the commitment is met.
For coaching to be successful and achieved the desired outcome, the coach needs to use the following coaching skills related to the 6-step process above:
The skill of asking is used to assist the coach to develop information about the issue. This skill requires the use of open or closed questions. By asking effective questions, it is possible to obtain concise and relevant information. The coach may use questions, e.g. what, why and so on, or directives, e.g. tell me about…
Having asked the question, it is important that the coach listens to the answers/responses given. To ensure you have understood the answers/responses, you should:
- Summarise what the staff member has said.
- Ask the staff member to acknowledge that you have restated their answers/responses accurately.
The coaching relationship is dependent on the mutual participation of both parties. This is encouraged by showing respect. Showing respect includes choosing the appropriate physical environment, timing and location, as well as the language and behaviours.
The coaching relationship should not be one sided.
This skill involves the coach focusing on a specific way to improve the performance. The coach and the employee need to develop an understanding of what is being discussed.
To do this, the coach needs to give recent examples of the staff's performance. By being specific about the problem, both parties are better able to find solutions..
This skill involves both parties stating what has been agreed and making a commitment to the agreement.
Positive reinforcement is used to confirm that the coach believes that as a result of the coaching session, the employee will be committed to the agreement and follow through on what has been agreed upon.
Activity
Think about your own workplace and your own coaching skills. Reflect on a situation where you have aimed to improve the performance of an employee or a group of employees in achieving a particular outcome. Compare the skills you employed with the list provided above and comment on the discussion forum. Be sure to comment on at least one other learner’s forum post in return.
Course 1 introduced information about the GROW Coaching Model. It is a widely-used framework for guiding coaching conversations which is useful to look at further. It can also be helpful in facilitating personal and professional development.
GROW stands for:
- Establish the GOAL
- Examine the current REALITY
- Explore the OPTIONS
- Establish the WILL
In this model, the coach helps the coachee to clarify their goals, to understand their current reality, explore various options or strategies to achieve those goals and to define a specific plan of action to move forward. The model encourages self-reflection, problem-solving and accountability to foster a supportive and collaborative coaching relationship.
First, with your team member, you must define and agree on the goal or outcome to be achieved. Help your team member define a goal that is specific, measurable and realistic.
Useful questions to be considered are as follows:
- How will you know that you have achieved that goal?
- How will you know the problem is solved?
Next, ask your team member to describe their current reality. This is a very important step as people try to solve a problem without fully considering their starting point. This can mean they often are missing some important information needed to solve the problem effectively. The solution may start to emerge as discussions take place.
Useful coaching questions to be considered are as follows:
- What is happening now?
- What, who, when how often?
- What is the effect or result of that?
Once you and your team member have explored the current reality, it’s time to explore what is possible – meaning, all the many possible options you have for solving the problem. Help your team member generate as many good options as possible and discuss these. Let your team members offer their suggestions first and let them do most of the talking. Typical questions used to establish the options are:
- What else could you do?
- What if this or that constraint was removed?
- What are the benefits and downsides of each option?
- What factors will you use to weigh up the options?
By examining the current reality and exploring the options, your team member will now have a good idea of how they can achieve their goal. Your final step as coach is to get them to commit to specific actions which will help them establish their will and motivation. Useful questions to ask include:
- What will you do now, and when will you do it?
- What could stop you moving forward?
- How will you overcome this?
- Will this option address your goal?
- How likely is this option to succeed?
- What else will you do?
Watch
Introduction to coaching the GROW model
Introduces the GROW model to instill confidence in employees through use of a methodical approach. The GROW model helps you to organise your coaching process in a flow that identifies the goal first and ends with a plan.
Duration: 27:03
Questions
Pre-Watch Question: Re-watch this YouTube video of using the GROW method in coaching.
Mentoring is a mutually-beneficial relationship between a mentor and a mentee which aims to support the mentee’s personal and professional development. It differs from coaching, which typically focuses on specific goals and tasks, as it encompasses a wider range of guidance and advice and knowledge-sharing. Mentors depend on their own experiences, expertise and wisdom to provide guidance to the mentee and help them to work towards achieving their goals.
Mentoring relationships often involve regular meetings or interactions where the mentor offers insights, feedback, and encouragement tailored to the mentee's needs and aspirations. Mentoring goes beyond simply imparting knowledge; it fosters trust, empathy, and rapport between the mentor and mentee, creating a safe and supportive environment for learning and growth. Through mentoring, mentees gain valuable insights, perspectives, and skills that contribute to their personal and professional success, while mentors experience fulfilment and satisfaction from making a meaningful impact on someone else's life and career journey.
Mentoring may be a solution for a team member whose performance was previously promising, but who has suffered a “performance slip”, perhaps because of boredom, a perceived lack of development or career opportunities or personal problems. A mentor is generally someone other than the employee’s immediate supervisor and who may be older and more experienced in the organisation or profession.
Workplace Employee Assistance Programmes provide free, professional, confidential counselling for employees and their families to assist when personal or work-related problems are affecting work performance. This service may be provided internally by a dedicated EAP unit within your HR department, or externally by providers such as Industrial Programme Service (IPS).
EAPs also organise practical assistance in addition to counselling for employees with problems such as drug and alcohol abuse, occupational trauma, communication difficulties, organisational change problems, redundancy or retirement.
In addition to providing assistance that addresses performance problems, EAPs help to ensure that an organisation’s legal responsibilities in relation to occupational health and safety are fulfilled, as physical and mental health are now covered by this legislation.
For an example of a New Zealand EAP service provider, look at this website.
In this topic we reviewed the key points around
- The difference between coaching and mentoring
- 6-step coaching process
- Coaching skills
- The GROW model of coaching
- Mentoring.
- Employee Assistance Programmes
You’ve come to the end of this topic, well done! Before moving on to the next section be sure to complete all the exercises.
