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What is coaching?
To me coaching is many things, and I adapt each session to what the client wants.
To help explore different types of coaching I will share a few case studies with names changed.
A Career Coaching Conversation
I was approached by Anna, she was working for a national organisation on a year contract which was due to finish. Anna wanted help with getting her next job.
Talking and Listening is Important
Anna and I chatted about her past jobs and what she hoped for the future. This was a good time to explore dream jobs and suggest research on what did the dream job description ask for. Anna wanted to develop her skills and get a more senior position.
Lets be clear here, Anna was highly motivated to get what she wanted and was open to working on areas in between appointments.
I asked Anna to complete a strengths and areas for development analysis which she would send to me for review. I also asked Anna to bring a copy of the dream job description.
Dream Job is Achievable with Help
Session 2 Anna and I reviewed the dream job description and identified the skills that she already had and picked out skills that were similar and therefore transferrable. This left a small number of areas that were developmental I asked Anna if she had capacity to start working on these.
Network and Develop
One interesting aspect was encouraging Anna to start networking with the people she wanted to work with. Informal chats with the new employer show a level of keenness that is remembered at interview.
I was greatly encouraged by Anna’s attitude, she demonstrated a joy for life and learning, our conversations saw her build up her recognition of her wide range of skills and competency.
Anna was pleased to see that she had a large proportion of transferable skills which she was able to demonstrate in her job application.
Provide Structure in Development
What was I doing in all of this? I was providing structure in Anna’s job quest. I was allowing Anna to explore her dreams and realise they were achievable with some research and a few coaching exercises.
In later sessions Anna fed back her interview preparation and we talked about her informal meetings and fact gathering.
A Wonderful Outcome
Anna sent me a very excited email to let me know she had been successful and was to start her new role in management in the area she had aspired to work in.
On Reflection
I reflected that Anna’s enthusiasm to adapt and learn was key to her success. Anna booked weekly sessions for one hour and she always identified tasks from her own notes,
We spent six weeks of meetings which allowed regular check ins. Anna and I also communicated via email.
Scenario Two
Grace was a team leader who was struggling with a member of staff who did not appear to be following the rules and was causing friction amongst other team members. Initially I listened to Grace as she explained what had been happening at work. Grace reflected that Amy did not work well with emails and often did not respond within a appropriate time frame. This was causing a communication breakfown with her colleagues. One of the questions I asked (because I know many people become overwhelmed by the sheer number of emails received) was is email your only method of communication? There was also a team WhatsApp. I asked next whether Amy replied to text messages and Grace confirmed that Amy did. Grace considered whether Amy was struggling with using the email system and decided she would discuss with Amy allocating time for email activity. Grace also considered it was worth finding out if Amy needed any extra training to help her manage the administration tasks.
There were some ongoing issues with staff, who had been irritated by Amy ignoring their requests, which Grace identified that she needed to smooth over. The team was struggling to gel, and it appeared that there was a lack of empathy towards each other as individuals. I asked Grace what she normally did to encourage team building. Group projects and team development days were popular. Grace discussed bringing the team together to allow them to become more familiar with each other.
Listening
Coaching involves a good percentage of listening and reflecting key points back to the client. It is essential to hear what the client is saying clesrly before asking specific questions. It might be necessary to ask additional questions about the situation to ensure that a clear understanding is achieved.
Curious about coaching why not contact me for a chat.
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