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Coaching
"If you want 1 year of prosperity, grow grain. If you want 10 years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want 100 years of prosperity, grow people.”
Why Coach?
Coaching for performance is a part of effective delegation. In a working world where there is often more to be done with fewer people, delegation is a necessity rather than a luxury. Effective coaching should release more time to do other things.
Coaching also allows individuals to realise potential that they may have previously been unaware of. This means they can progress towards being multi-skilled more readily if it is appropriate.
The philosophy of coaching encourages awareness and responsibility. This attitude will permeate other areas of the individual’s life as they learn to make more choices and take responsibility for decisions. This in turn improves the individuals’ sense of self-worth.
Coaching aims to improve performance and heighten awareness so that fewer mistakes will be made, and less time will be wasted in minor enquiries being addressed to managers.
Coaching builds on success, and therefore maintains good performance, creating a more successful and productive work place. Individuals have greater confidence in themselves. There is always something new to learn. If people are used to learning, enjoy the process and see it as a part of life, they will develop learning skills that will enable them to take on board more quickly new systems, technologies and skills as a natural aspect of their working day.
Generally, people respond well to being given responsibility, even if there are some fears around accepting it initially. If there are new changes in Culture and therefore in the expectations of employers and employees, both sides need to develop new attitudes and behaviours to accommodate this. Change is at once painful, but also immensely creative and progressive, if handled well. Coaching is part of developing for change, which always requires some learning.
The Coach
The Coach is not a problem solver, an instructor or even an expert: he or she is a sounding board, a facilitator, a counsellor and an awareness raiser. The role of coach is to stimulate ongoing learning for the individual and in so doing, to enable them to maximise their own performance and contribution to the business. Relationship between the coach and individual must be based on mutual trust, respect and support, founded upon constructive feedback and dialogue. Our coaches are therefore patient, supportive, detached, good listeners, perceptive, attentive and self-aware.
How we work
The initial coaching session is designed to help you to understand the role of the coach, which will be to develop your skills and knowledge, help you to achieve your potential, help you to achieve a better job performance, help you with your organisational objectives and perhaps how coaching can help you with your private life. The coach will achieve this by acting as a sounding board, facilitator, awareness raiser and by helping you to find your own solutions; not by acting as a problem solver, instructor, teacher. The coach will aim to establish a relationship based on trust, respect and support, disclosure and confidentiality. They will ask you what you would regard as successful outcomes to the coaching. You will discuss how to start that journey and at the end of the session agree an action plan. The action plan will be used as guidance for the coming sessions. To aid in this work we may use metrics that you already have in your organisation such as staff appraisals or in-house psycho-metrics, these will be enhanced by appropriate tools which the coach can contribute.
There will then be a short break. It is suggested that the gap between this session and the second should be about 2 weeks although this is very flexible according to need. All subsequent sessions will follow the same approximate format: if you have been working on a specific area we will review this together. Having done this, we will move to the next stage in the progression, setting goals for the intervening period until the next session, and so on.
The total number of coaching sessions is very flexible and will depend very much on need. It is suggested that a reasonable period of at least 3 months is allocated in order to ensure that the impact of the coaching is given time to emerge.
Coaching for performance is a part of effective delegation. In a working world where there is often more to be done with fewer people, delegation is a necessity rather than a luxury. Effective coaching should release more time to do other things.
Coaching also allows individuals to realise potential that they may have previously been unaware of. This means they can progress towards being multi-skilled more readily if it is appropriate.
The philosophy of coaching encourages awareness and responsibility. This attitude will permeate other areas of the individual’s life as they learn to make more choices and take responsibility for decisions. This in turn improves the individuals’ sense of self-worth.
Coaching aims to improve performance and heighten awareness so that fewer mistakes will be made, and less time will be wasted in minor enquiries being addressed to managers.
Coaching builds on success, and therefore maintains good performance, creating a more successful and productive work place. Individuals have greater confidence in themselves. There is always something new to learn. If people are used to learning, enjoy the process and see it as a part of life, they will develop learning skills that will enable them to take on board more quickly new systems, technologies and skills as a natural aspect of their working day.
Generally, people respond well to being given responsibility, even if there are some fears around accepting it initially. If there are new changes in Culture and therefore in the expectations of employers and employees, both sides need to develop new attitudes and behaviours to accommodate this. Change is at once painful, but also immensely creative and progressive, if handled well. Coaching is part of developing for change, which always requires some learning.
The Coach
The Coach is not a problem solver, an instructor or even an expert: he or she is a sounding board, a facilitator, a counsellor and an awareness raiser. The role of coach is to stimulate ongoing learning for the individual and in so doing, to enable them to maximise their own performance and contribution to the business. Relationship between the coach and individual must be based on mutual trust, respect and support, founded upon constructive feedback and dialogue. Our coaches are therefore patient, supportive, detached, good listeners, perceptive, attentive and self-aware.
How we work
The initial coaching session is designed to help you to understand the role of the coach, which will be to develop your skills and knowledge, help you to achieve your potential, help you to achieve a better job performance, help you with your organisational objectives and perhaps how coaching can help you with your private life. The coach will achieve this by acting as a sounding board, facilitator, awareness raiser and by helping you to find your own solutions; not by acting as a problem solver, instructor, teacher. The coach will aim to establish a relationship based on trust, respect and support, disclosure and confidentiality. They will ask you what you would regard as successful outcomes to the coaching. You will discuss how to start that journey and at the end of the session agree an action plan. The action plan will be used as guidance for the coming sessions. To aid in this work we may use metrics that you already have in your organisation such as staff appraisals or in-house psycho-metrics, these will be enhanced by appropriate tools which the coach can contribute.
There will then be a short break. It is suggested that the gap between this session and the second should be about 2 weeks although this is very flexible according to need. All subsequent sessions will follow the same approximate format: if you have been working on a specific area we will review this together. Having done this, we will move to the next stage in the progression, setting goals for the intervening period until the next session, and so on.
The total number of coaching sessions is very flexible and will depend very much on need. It is suggested that a reasonable period of at least 3 months is allocated in order to ensure that the impact of the coaching is given time to emerge.
"Steve has worked with myself and the Work Programme Team at Prospects for over a year in a coaching and development capacity. I would have no problem with recommending Steve and have found that he quickly identifies crucial issues, challenges appropriately and guides suitably. Steve has a proven skills set that includes communication, planning and delivering management support programmes. Feedback from team members regarding support received includes 'empathic', 'gets to the heart of the matter' and 'provides a way forward'".
Regional Director, Prospects.
"Steve is an excellent Trainer/Mentor/Coach; Steve worked with me on a number of staff projects as well as providing for myself some sound business coaching. I would highly recommend Steve."
Quality Manager Colchester
"GrassRoutes have coached and worked with my senior and middle managers to effect change; encourage strategic thinking; develop innovation and greater depth of understanding of collaborative management across a complex contract. Steve is knowledgeable, skilled and applies a flexible approach to tailoring solutions."
Regional Director