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I think I'm missing out. I'm guessing a lot of managers, who could benefit from developing good coaching skills, self-select and decide not to attend my training. I'm further guessing that this may be because their perception of coaching involves two cosy chairs facing each other, soft lighting and a couple of hours spare to really get stuck into some deep rooted psychological cause behind certain difficulties that occur at work.
It is easy to understand where this view comes from and the coaching profession doesn't help because it welcomes and indeed encourages this perception; it makes it seem as if coaching must ALWAYS occur at this level to be helpful, but it doesn't. A trained Life or Executive coach may well work at this depth to bring about the significant and permanent change for which they have presumably been hired but the coaching manager is less concerned with causing tearful epiphanies and more concerned with restoring focus and improving performance on the job. This can be done far quicker.
Most coaching is supported by a questioning framework. I devised the coaching ARROW and although this comes with a wide range of sample questions, it can be boiled down to five:
A - Aims - What do you want?
R - Reality - What's happening now?
R - Reflection - How big is the gap?
O - Options - What could you do?
W - Way Forward - What will you do?
These five simple questions give us an opportunity to coach at great speed. They will not, on their own, create fundamental change or improvement but they will create focus and mobility. These being, in my view, the desired outcomes of any coaching conversation in a work context. Imagine you wanted to add a little coaching to a conversation with a colleague who was about to make an important business pitch. Asking 'What do you want?' could really get them focused on a positive outcome and ready to bring it about. It's not dissimilar to an athlete mentally rehearsing the race in their mind as they settle into the blocks. Imagine, talking to another colleague who had just returned from a meeting that had gone spectacularly well, but they were unsure why. Exploring 'What's happening now?' immediately afterwards could really bring some insight and learning to bear.
When our team members become used to being coached in this way, they often come with Aims, Reality, Reflection and Options already thought through. They just want to check things out with us and get some 'permission' from us for the way forward.
I think of this technique as Martini coaching: 'Anytime. Anyplace. Anywhere' I have taught the technique to managers who hardly ever see their team, but can still do some good coaching around the coffee machine, in the lift or on a car journey. Another tip is to have the questions to hand on a small piece of paper so that you can self-coach before you settle down to tackle an important task. G o ahead and order the cosy chairs and soft lighting for the major conversations, but there's plenty of coaching that can be done in the meantime.
Matt Somers is a leading voice on coaching in the UK where he writes, presents, trains and consults on all aspects of Coaching at Work. An author and regular conference speaker, he is currently producing a range of resources to help with the people side of working life; many of which can be accessed for FREE at http://www.mattsomers.com
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