The beginning of any coaching interaction must begin with a clear purpose. To be an effective leader, there are certain steps you can take if you train others at work. These 7 training steps are shown in the following model and will give you a good structure to become an effective coach and, as a result, a more effective manager. So let's review the model below.
The first thing to keep in mind, when looking at the 7 steps of the training model that I created earlier, is that the steps go in a spiral. The steps of coaching can be traced following a spiral because progress, as we shall see, is not necessarily linear. The first step is to help the coachee identify what result they want to see. They can be creative imagining what they would achieve in an ideal situation.
This step is about aspiration and challenge. A challenging result is more inspiring. Another way to make the result inspiring for the coachee is to frame it in a positive way. You want to focus on the positive aspects.
For example, which result is more inspiring: “We want to make a product that won't break after the first use” or “We want to make an indestructible product”? The first result is self-limiting and implies that the coachee is not confident in their ability to manufacture a durable product. Last but not least, the coachee must be the owner of the result. As a manager, it can be very tempting for you to impose an outcome on employees. For example, if you think that the result is not ambitious enough, you may be tempted to override it and impose your own aspiration.
However, this attitude will be counterproductive because employees will feel compelled to accept the chosen result and will work to achieve it half-heartedly. As a result, your motivation and performance will be lower. This is where you help the coachee assess the current situation. This is the step where the coachee needs to generate as many options or choices as possible to find solutions.
Every course of action will present obstacles, but the key is to find ways to overcome those obstacles later on, rather than letting them stand in the way. For example, ask: “What if money were unlimited?” , “what if we had time?” , etc. You can also ask them what a person they admire or a superhero would do. For example, “what would Super X do in this situation? Once the coachee has created a wide range of options, he can map them out by placing them side by side.
Avoid creating a list, as a list involves a hierarchy, although you'll want all the options to be the same to begin with. Next, the coachee must list the pros and cons of each option, before finally choosing the most viable options. First of all, wait until the coachees have exhausted their list of options. Trainers will need to create an action plan.
However, it's helpful to set a series of goals first. The coachee can start with an overall goal and then, if it's too much, break it down into smaller goals. At this point, coaches are encouraged to draw up an action plan by dividing their objectives into smaller steps, where they can take action. This is when the coachee starts to take action.
As employees take action, they'll see how things go. Everything can go as planned or even better, or there can be unexpected failures or obstacles along the way. During the review phase, the coachee will monitor the situation, reflect on it and review it as necessary. As their coach, you'll facilitate this process.
Have you noticed the arrows in the diagram, from point 7 (“Review”) to the other six steps? The review step can affect all other steps. Based on their observations, the employee may decide to return to one or more of the previous stages and change their approach. For example, they may decide that the current situation has changed and they need to reevaluate it, or that they have not taken into account some elements. They can decide to reevaluate an option they had previously discarded; they can modify their ideal outcome, and so on.
This model is flexible and it is possible to go back and forth between steps. So, for example, let's suppose that the result, the aspiration, of the team is to become the largest seller of organic coffee in Europe. After analyzing where they are at the moment (the situation), they assess that their organic coffee is only selling well in Italy and Spain for the time being. One of the options they chose to improve their position across Europe is to approach the German market.
Have a 50-page site in German about our range of organic coffees before the end of this fiscal year. The objective is SMART, because it is specific (the site must be in German about a range of specific products), measurable (50 pages), reachable (they consider that creating such a site is within the scope of their possibilities), relevant (conquering the German market is important for them) and limited in time (they want to have the site ready by the end of the current fiscal year). Let's say this goal is limited enough that they don't need to divide it further into smaller goals. If they had a bigger goal, they might have to break it down.
For example, let's imagine they said: “We want to launch a 1 million euro online marketing campaign aimed at German customers in the next two years. Let's return to the goal of “creating a 50-page site in German about our range of organic coffees by the end of this fiscal year”. They now have to plan the steps they must take to achieve this goal. For example, finding and hiring a web designer (if you don't already have an in-house one); finding out exactly what content they want for the site, etc.
Now they're ready to take action, so they assign a to-do list to each member of the team. They demonstrate their responsibility by letting you know exactly what they are going to do, when, and by planning follow-up meetings with you. You might be wondering if this same 7-step process is feasible for informal coaching. In an informal situation, a few orientation questions will most likely be enough to help the employee find a solution and take action.
In addition, the steps can be adapted to fit an informal conversation. In this case, it may not be necessary to insist much on the situation, except perhaps for things like whether they have all the data they need and where they can get it. As for the options, you can ask them a couple of questions and they may come up with ideas to add graphics or create a database, instead of a spreadsheet if there is a lot of data. However, there shouldn't be a lot of options.
You may not need to cover the objectives, as it is clear that, in this case, the goal is to set up a spreadsheet at the end of the working day. Similarly, steps and actions can be simple. Therefore, for an informal conversation, you can adapt the steps on a case-by-case basis. If you think the situation is such that it cannot be resolved with a quick conversation, you can always schedule a meeting later to discuss.
As for the review phase regarding informal coaching, ask a question such as “How did it go?” (the next day or later that same day) should suffice. The key is that getting used to this process takes practice. The more you do it, the more natural it will be for you. In addition, you can always adapt the process to suit individual situations.
The process is not rigid and, as we mentioned, you can go back and forth from one step to the next. Symonds Research, 11 Hermitage Street, Crewkerne, Somerset TA18 8ES, United Kingdom. If, instead, the coach appeals to the player's background, he may be able to speak the player's language and thus motivate him better. Either you're training them to improve (or because they're doing something wrong); or you're training them in a new process or topic that requires training.
Unlike formal coaching (which takes place during assigned meetings and is formally followed up), informal coaching is carried out as part of daily work activities. SPECIAL BONUS: If you want to get step-by-step plans to generate massive income with high-paying coaching clients, I invite you to request your FREE ACCESS to the “Life Coach Salary Secrets” video toolkit. .
