The Art of Coaching

The challenge facing organizations is to help managers at all levels of the organization translate the theories of coaching and development into practical actions.

The Art of Coaching Workshop

The world of work is undergoing dramatic change. There is a “new game” being played–a game that challenges the basic assumptions about the way work is accomplished. The emphasis is on:

Doing more with less
Breaking down functional walls
Empowering and involving individuals
Building high performance work teams
Attracting and retaining talented employees

Most managers acknowledge the need to play a different role in this new environment. They need to learn how to:

Use coaching as a practical leadership strategy
Help others grow and develop their skills

Managers must see compelling reasons to try to coach, have practical tools to do so, and most importantly, believe they can coach successfully.

Our The Art of Coaching workshop takes a practical, hands-on approach to coaching and development. The workshop provides participants with:

Clear and compelling reasons for assuming the coaching role
A set of tangible skills
An opportunity to practice and plan for back-home application

Coaching is presented as an ongoing process, not a sporadic event or a technique for “fixing” performance problems. Our workshop model consists of the following specific elements:

Our operating assumption is that coaching is a natural process. Many people do it quite well outside of work. We want to transfer this intuitive ability to the world of work. Therefore, we utilize a variety of simulations and unique learning experiences to gain buy-in and commitment from participants for making coaching a central element of their management strategy.

How The Process Works

Pre-Workshop Assignment: Approximately three weeks before the seminar, participants and their direct reports complete a Work Climate Survey and a Coaching Skills Survey. The input from this assignment helps ensure that the coaching priorities that are identified during the workshop are relevant to the current situation.

Sample Coaching Survey
Sample Climate Survey

The Workshop: The emphasis during the seminar is on practical and valuable skills and tools, not esoteric concepts and theories. Participants learn to:

Link developmental opportunities to the business strategy
Define the essential steps in the coaching and development process
Create a climate of trust
Observe current performance
Provide developmental feedback
Build relevant development plans
Monitor progress
Reward success

During the workshop, participants receive computerized feedback profiles that compare and contrast their perceptions of the work climate and their coaching skills with those of their direct reports.

Presented in a safe and confidential format, the feedback:

Identifies personal strengths and development needs
Serves as a non-threatening way to open up the lines of communication between managers and direct reports
Focuses development on the skills which will have the most impact back on the job

Sample Coaching Feedback Report
Sample Climate Survey Report

Back-Home Application

The true value of any training program comes in the participants’ ability to successfully transfer the concepts and skills back to the job. A central focus of the workshop is helping participants create specific actions for implementing what they learn.

Participants build action plans to create an overall climate that supports learning and development and helps individual team members enhance their skills and abilities. They are directed to conduct an overview meeting with their direct reports to introduce how they believe coaching can improve the department or the team’s operating effectiveness and to discuss the highlights of their skills feedback. Candid and non-threatening, this discussion can serve as an important vehicle to open up communication regarding performance feedback.