Praca u NAJLEPSZYCH

Twoje plany zawodowe na 2012:

Coaching – from confusion¹ to clarity²

Coaching is a word that’s been around in business for over 30 years, yet the understanding of the term³ still varies⁴ and leads to confusion about what it’s really all about. BEM's George Sandford explains.

One explanation for this may emanate from⁵ the strong association with sport. When thinking about an athletics or football coach⁶, it may bring to mind an instructional and possibly authoritarian⁷ approach, which does not sit comfortably in the modern coaching context. Furthermore, the word coaching is forever finding more and more distant cousins with whom to collocate⁸ and the extended family⁹ now includes fitness coach, diet coach, life coach, career coach and even coaching coach. No wonder¹⁰ it’s difficult to see the wood for the trees¹¹ in this forest of coaching family and friends. So, to restore some order¹² and lay a clear path¹³ to follow, here are some simple but effective work-based coaching guidelines¹⁴, starting with a definition.

Coaching is an approach to management that promotes¹⁵ learning and development opportunities in the workplace which lead to improved¹⁶ performance¹⁷ and increased employee capability¹⁸ and confidence¹⁹. To be an effective coach it is more important to have good coaching skills than to have specific subject knowledge²⁰.

Some key attributes of a good coach are:

• Positive regard for²¹ coachee
• Desire²² to help but not take over²³
• Enabler²⁴ rather than provider²⁵
• Good questioner²⁶
• Sets challenging²⁷ goals²⁸

• Allows coachee to make decisions and mistakes
• Is a good role model³¹ and ‘coaches by being’
• Is proactive
• Sees coaching as a core part of the manager’s role
• Can let go³² and wants the coachee to be self-sufficient³³
• Yet, at the same time, is assertive and able to express³⁴ own needs within the work context

If companies wish to instil³⁵ a coaching culture within their organisation, they need to train managers to understand that their role will be fundamentally³⁶ different, moving from managing and supervising³⁷ to facilitating³⁸ and enabling. This also means letting go and, rather than being the holder³⁹ of power, to be the giver of power. Managers will also need some basic coaching techniques⁴⁰. Here are three:

Ask an employee what his or her objectives⁴¹ are and you are likely to get an answer like, ‘phone Frank’ or ‘email Mary’ but in fact⁴², these are not goals but tasks. Managers can help employees to become more goal-oriented⁴³ in terms of performance objectives and developmental aims. Short but frequent goal-defining conversations can be very effective in encouraging this approach.

A more elaborate⁴⁵ and detailed process is called scaling. One of the most useful aspects of this is that it stops the negative and black-and-white thinking of can or can not do something. In scaling, the employee is asked to consider a current ability⁴⁶ on a scale of 1-10, where one is complete novice⁴⁷ and ten is master (or any other words to describe that scale). Say, the employee rates⁴⁸ him or herself as four, a discussion can be developed regarding⁴⁹ what five might look like and how it might be reached. In this way, continuous⁵⁰ improvement is made possible through many small, achievable⁵¹ steps. This will also build self-belief.

An important managerial and coaching skill is giving performance and behavioural⁵³ feedback, however, many managers avoid⁵⁴ doing this either because of a lack of time, technique or courage. The DESC technique described in the previous edition of BEM provides a simple but effective process which helps to remove⁵⁵ emotions and concentrate on actions.

A common complaint⁶¹ of managers on coaching courses is that this is all very nice ‘in theory’ but in the ‘real world,’ people are just too busy to take time out⁶² to coach their staff⁶³. To some extent⁶⁴, this is true and managers will always be overstretched⁶⁵. They will spend roughly⁶⁶ the same amount of time at work each day, so it is simply a matter of how they perceive⁶⁷ their role and what activities they prioritise⁶⁸.

Coaching needs to be seen not as a ‘nice to have,’ bolt-on⁶⁹ task but as the primary⁷⁰ mechanism for delivering⁷¹ managerial excellence⁷². Once managers recognise⁷³ the importance of coaching, they will develop a confident, empowered⁷⁴ workforce that will liberate the manager from⁷⁵ the shackles⁷⁶ of supervision and progress chasing. They will clear space to think about developing people, the department and services and no longer focus on short-term⁷⁷ deadlines⁷⁸ and firefighting⁷⁹. Finally, an employee who has been brought up within a coaching culture is likely to take on a coaching role when appointed as⁸⁰ a manager, making coaching a valuable⁸¹, long-term investment for any organisation.

Tekst pochodzi z dwumiesięcznika „Business English Magazine” nr 27.