5 tips to enhance your coaching skills
A definition for coaching in the UK is ‘Asking meaningful questions to raise awareness’. However open questioning alone can often make for a seemingly pointless or unfocused conversation. Try these 5 tips to develop your Coaching Skills.
Diagnose and Match
People go through stages of learning, see Ken Blanchard’s Situational Leadership II. The best coaches will quickly work out the development level of the person they’re working with (on each seperate task), then they’ll wisely choose between coaching and teaching, or a mixture of both. Flexibility is the key and each person you coach will be at different levels for different tasks or goals.
Apply Structure
Study the G.R.O.W model. There must be a clear structure to a coaching conversation for it not to seem pointless, a beginning, middle and end. Establish the (G)oal, work through (O)ptions and test the (R)eality of those options. When you’re happy with the options, establish the (W)ay forward, book a follow up meeting, establish check points and completion dates. Combine G.R.O.W with Diagnosing and Matching and you’re on to a winner.
Listen Empathically
To be good at points 1 and 2 you’ve got to develop the listening skills of a Bat! Great meaningfully questions should roll in off the back of something that has been said, listening well means you’ll not only hear what is being said, you’ll hear the motive and reasons behind the response, equaling well informed and great questioning.
Coaches be Coached
In our experience the best coaches are receiving coaching in both personal and professional life. Part of our recruitment process for leadership coaches and trainers at The Learning and Development Company is that potential associates receive regular coaching themselves. To understand the process, you need to have been through it, and not just once! The most effective managers and leaders we meet are being coached and thus make excellent and well trusted coaches themselves.
Experience
This one’s simple, do lots of coaching, get coached, listen intently, ask great question, be interested in people development and you’ll grow your ability as a strong leader and coach daily. Remember, not all conversations are groundbreaking and some may not go how you expected… that too is experience.
See Coaching Skills for Managers London for training requirements