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COAC H I N G F O R T H E IN-HOUSE TEAM The popularity and prevalence of coaching has risen exponentially over recent years, but the actual task of engaging a coach can be confusing and often perplexing. If done well, the benefits of coaching can be transformative for wellbeing and productivity.
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mbarking on the coaching journey for in-house lawyers is particularly challenging. Being a cost centre, it can often be difficult to raise the requisite funding to support a coaching program, whether for team or one-on-one coaching. In-house legal budgets are traditionally focussed on engaging external providers for specific technical advice or during periods of work overflow and, more recently, investing in technology to assist lawyers in doing more with less. In these times of change and uncertainty, and the challenge this brings to mental health and overall wellbeing, there have been significant impacts on organisational productivity. Coaching may be seen as a privilege just for senior executives, but it is increasingly becoming a necessity to support the development of the mindset and capacity to remain productive and innovate during times of change. If planned and managed well, coaching has the capacity to pay dividends long after the coaching program has ended.
What is coaching? So, let’s be clear at the start what coaching is and isn’t. Coaching is essentially a conversation that influences goal-directed behavioural change. It is not therapy, counselling or an open-ended excuse for a talkfest. It is invested in the process of expanding perspectives, learning and behavioural change. Each session should end with clear actions that are aligned to meet the stated goals. Goals need to be agreed upfront as these are important for the team or individual and can cover a wide range of priorities such as improving productivity, performance and team dynamics, managing difficult situations or building a better work/life balance. Unlike other forms of training or development, coaching is tailored to the individual or team and their unique situation and specific requirements. Therefore, better outcomes are more likely if you structure your coaching engagement with clear objectives.
Where to begin? Before diving into developing a business case, I suggest reaching out to a range of coaches asking for detailed proposals to get a feel for what they offer, cost structures and an overview of their coaching approach. You need to feel comfortable with who you plan to work with and have confidence that they will deliver on your objectives for the coaching. Having completed a Master of Science in Coaching Psychology, I would lean towards engaging a coach who adopts an evidencebased approach to their practice. This means techniques and methodologies are used that have been proven effective scientifically through clinical trials. Using techniques that have been shown to work will help you measure the potential success of the program and bolster your business case when seeking resources to fund coaching.
When to bring in a coach Often it is hard to know when the conditions are right to bring in a coach, as not every scenario or event will be a suitable trigger. In my experience, the best outcomes for individual coaching have been achieved when working with people who have had specific feedback that they are motivated to work on. Coaching is fundamentally about growth and change and can be quite challenging. Making sure you are ready to embark on this journey and are committed to following through with the agreed actions are key for a successful engagement. I have found great progress when working one-on-one with lawyers who are seeking to expand their perspectives to help deal with work situations that are confronting, or when they are seeking to improve their performance in a world that is constantly changing. When coaching a team, I find it most useful to start with introducing the team to current concepts that help build team performance and engagement. This is usually followed by more specific facilitated discussion on issues of concern, which often functions as a springboard for deeper discussion prompting an environment of collective problem solving and discovery. Some of the most successful team coaching in my experience has been working with teams going through organisational change and disruption. By directly addressing and naming the challenges they are experiencing and describing how they are playing out in their day-to-day interactions develops shared ways of understanding and working together. This has positive flow-on impacts on team problem solving and productivity.
Building a business case for coaching – Benchmarks for success In our current environment, there are the natural benefits of embracing a conversation to help support team health and wellbeing. The immediate effect of coaching is the best place to start, where specific goals and behaviours can be agreed on and worked towards, which is the baseline impact of coaching. Additionally, investing in coaching conversations assists both the team and its members to open up, vocalise and identify emotions and reactions to stressors. These factors have beneficial impacts on team cohesiveness and mental wellbeing by helping develop broader perspectives that support different approaches to problem solving. At the personal level, coaching can assist you in learning how to leverage your strengths, understand yourself and others more clearly, and develop new ways to work with and respond to others that help you achieve your goals. Research has shown that skills learnt through coaching can unexpectedly emerge in other areas of life, meaning the positive effects have a broader impact and have been shown to be evident up to a year after the end of formal coaching. There is further evidence at the systems level of the ripple effect of coaching. Research from the University of Sydney has shown VOLUME 30, ISSUE 4 – SUMMER 2020 |
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