dcs section2 by alan cameron gillies

Developing Coaching Skills for the Workplace: HRP

Section 2 Developing Coaching Skills for the Workplace: HRP Learning Materials

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Developing Coaching Skills for the Workplace: HRP

Developing Coaching Skills for the Workplace: HRP Participant Name My Manager My Mentor My Facilitator My CIPD Number Completion Date CIPD Value

30 hours of workshop time, participant pack exercises, assessment activities, research and reading

Participant declaration: 

I confirm that the work/evidence presented for assessment is my own unaided work.

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I have read the assessment regulations and understand that if I am found to have “copied” from published work without acknowledgment, or from other candidates‟ work, this may be regarded as plagiarism which is an offence against the assessment regulations and leads to failure in the relevant unit and formal disciplinary action.

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I agree to this work being subjected to scrutiny by textual analysis software if required.

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I understand that my work may be used for future academic quality assurance purposes in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998.

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I understand that the work/evidence submitted for assessment may not be returned to me and confirm that I have retained a copy for my records.

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I understand that until such time as the assessment grade has been ratified by internal and external quality assurance verifiers the grade is not final.

Signature: Date:

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Developing Coaching Skills for the Workplace: HRP

Contents 2 Know how to use a coaching style to improve performance in the workplace.............................................................................................. 6 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8

The Coach role .......................................................................................... 6 The performer role .................................................................................... 9 Coaching techniques .................................................................................. 9 Questioning and responding approaches ................................................... 15 Clean questioning .................................................................................... 18 Developing a question bank ..................................................................... 18 Coaching benefits .................................................................................... 19 Links and follow through .......................................................................... 19

Welcome and Introduction Coaching is probably becoming a core skill. Regardless of your role in HR, having the skill to help any learner define their own solutions by raising their awareness and generating responsibility will help you become more successful. To support you in this unit there is a whole workshop devoted to skills development; and a reference book, Coaching for Performance by Sir John Whitmore. We expect that you will read John‟s book and keep it as a source of CPD for yourself for many years. We will direct you to specific chapters or sections as a minimum part of your learning. Enjoy.

According to the Behavioural Coaching Institute, New York (2009): “Because organizations are not investing enough in helping their managers/leaders develop cutting-edge performance coaching skills, there are some significant bottomline consequences. In a recent large industry-wide study it was found that most managers reported that they were confident in their ability to coach. However, the study showed that the managers‟/leaders‟ skills levels as coaches were typically poor and that as a consequence they were not nearly as effective in their coaching as they believed themselves to be. Often times, they believed that coaching consisted of just providing 1-to-1 instructional feedback to their staff members on what to do in a given situation to perform better. However, a well-trained Manager/Leader as Coach also supports their staff by using advanced developmental and learning tools and providing them with personalized self-coaching strategies to achieve sustainable levels of performance.”

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Making best use of your time on this unit Like every unit, approach this one in a systematic way. Here is a suggestion that works for many of our participants. Take 10 minutes to skim read the whole pack from start to finish. This Think gives you a sense of its content, exercises and assessment activities. Spend 10 minutes planning how you will go about the pack and the assessment activities. Plan Commit to an estimated timescale for yourself. Go through the pack completing all the exercises that you can tackle immediately. Do Go back through the pack doing the exercises that you need to research. Now you can approach the assessment activities with confidence.

Main Icons and Your Actions Exercise your brain (time estimate 10 minutes)

  

This image tells you that it is an exercise to help you interact with the unit‟s content. There is also a helpful indicator of the time to spend on it. Obviously people are different, however, this is a useful guide. The shaded area has the exercise information

At the bottom of each exercise, you can download a template to complete, discuss the exercise with your peers in an online forum, and then upload your answer to the system. Click here to download your template Click here to discuss this activity with your peers Click here to upload your response

Assessment activity: (time estimate 90 minutes)

This banner tells you it is an assessment activity. Each one gives advice on what‟s required including a template for your response. When an exercise or assessment activity refers to „your organisation‟ you can chose, your current organisation, one that you know well, the organisation of a friend, relative or client, or even the programme case study company, GDP Ltd.

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Links to CIPD Standards By fully completing this unit‟s Participant Pack and delivering assessment activities that „Meet CIPD Standards‟ you will cover the following learning outcomes and assessment criteria. Learning outcomes You will: 1 Understand the nature and purpose of coaching.

Assessment criteria You can: 1.1 Identify and explain different types and styles of coaching. 1.2 Explain the difference between coaching and other learning and development methods. 1.3 Explain how coaching can be used to meet organisational objectives.

2 Know how to use a coaching style to improve performance in the workplace.

2.1 Identify and explain the role of the coach in the coaching relationship. 2.2 Identify and explain the role of the coachee in the coaching relationship. 2.3 Demonstrate a minimum of three coaching models or techniques that can be used. 2.4 Identify and explain the benefits of coaching to the individual and the organisation.

3 Be able to identify the ways in which coaching can be implemented in an organisation.

3.1 Identify ways in which a coaching culture could be developed within an organisation. 3.2 Identify and analyse the advantages and disadvantages of developing coaching inhouse.

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2 Know how to use a coaching style to improve performance in the workplace As we start to get into the detail of the coaching roles and process it is important to know that the competence that you develop through the unit, workshop and throughout the programme will help you in many situations. You can drift into coaching someone as part of another process, such as within an HR event or when a customer has phoned about a personnel issue. You can decide before an interaction to take a coaching approach, you may even ask the other person‟s permission to coach them. The point is that it doesn‟t always have to be a formal process, although I appreciate that this unit does cover the more formal aspects. We end the chapter with a look at coaching‟s benefits for individuals and the organisation.

2.1

The Coach role

The role of the coach in non-directive coaching is as the facilitator of the employees arriving at their own solutions. Students at school learn in chemistry about a catalyst which is, “a substance that speeds up a chemical reaction, but is not consumed by the reaction; hence the catalyst can be recovered unchanged at the end of the reaction it has been used to speed up.” Effective coaching is like this catalyst because, without introducing their own agenda, coaches facilitate the performers‟ ability to find their own answers to their issues. Perhaps being a coach differs from the chemical analogy because the coach will always learn a lot from every coaching experience. They may:     

Discover a new insight about themselves Discover some new questions to add to their growing question bank Use an approach that will be useful in the future Learn something else about the performer‟s subject area Add to their general knowledge.

2.1.1

Enablers

The coach role will initially include taking the lead in developing trust, building the relationship and agreeing the ground rules (like a contract) for the session or sessions.

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Exercise your brain (time estimate 15 minutes)

As part of your development as a coach you have agreed to coach a 15-year old school student. This will be monthly for 45 minutes in the school. The programme‟s aim is to place potentially effective school students with successful business people. What would you expect to agree with your school student in your ground rules? Note your thoughts here: Click here to download your template Click here to discuss this activity with your peers Click here to upload your response

2.1.2

During conversations

Here the coach role will be to follow the performer‟s agenda, ask quality questions to help the performer explore the subject for themselves, and challenge (in a constructive way) the performer to make sure they are clear about what they can or cannot do.

2.1.3

Towards the end

Towards the end of the conversation the coach role is to help secure the performer‟s commitment to actions. This will involve helping the performer get: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Very specific about actions, dates, milestones Clarity over what support they need Confirmation that performer actions are owned for example “I will do x and y” A high confidence assessment of the actions they will have committed to.

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Exercise your brain (time estimate 10 minutes)

Here is an excerpt from a conversation. Read it through, then note what things the coach will need to come back to the performer about before ending the conversation. “Yes so I‟ll progress the new training software by February and we will need to make sure that management are in agreement with this suggestion. I suppose it will be up to me to let my colleagues know what‟s happening and I‟ll do that. Overall I guess it will be OK, I suppose.” Click here to download your template Click here to discuss this activity with your peers Click here to upload your response

2.1.4

Overall

In a positive, supportive environment the coach will have helped the performer to: 1. Improve their contribution to the business 2. Develop their confidence 3. Increase their own self reliance 4. Improve their potential 5. Challenge themselves in a good way. 6.

2.1.5

Wider organisational context Exercise your brain (time estimate 20 minutes)

From a manager‟s perspective, read Coaching for Performance, chapter two, „The manager as coach‟, pages 20 to 26. 1. What‟s interesting in what Whitmore has to say? 2. What connections are there to your organisation or one that you know well? Write a single paragraph about each of these two questions below. Click here to download your template Click here to discuss this activity with your peers Click here to upload your response

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2.2

The performer role

The performers, especially in more formal coaching relationships, take a significant leap at the start by agreeing to be coached. Thereafter, as partners in the relationship, they will contribute to and agree the ground rules, be truthful during sessions and agree to commit to actions that they decide upon, and prepare for coaching sessions.

Example The challenging coach. Or were they? My friend told me about a coach who was helping with some performance issues at work. My friend and the coach agreed ground rules and had a productive first meeting. My friend committed to a number of things, including booking her team on a development course with the coach‟s company. At the second coaching session the coach asked my friend to go through her actions. The coach then asked “Why are you not booked on the development course?” My friend replied that she was awaiting an answer from the admin team about the costs. To this the coach‟s response was, ”Why didn‟t you phone me? You committed to that action and it‟s part of our agreement that you will do your actions. If you commit to an action then that is your commitment. I said last time that if you don‟t complete the actions that you commit to then why should I give my commitment to you.” Was this coach being unreasonable or simply being clear about the implications of commitment and showing that the ground rules are important?

2.3

Coaching techniques

Let‟s focus in on the GROW model of coaching to consider what techniques are involved. The short answer is „effective communication skills‟, but let‟s look more deeply to get a sense of what‟s required at each stage of the process.

2.3.1

Coaching aims

Coaching aims to do two things: 1. Raise awareness in the performer 2. Generate responsibility in the performer 9 V2

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It so happens that we are using the GROW model to achieve these. Remember that the model is not as important as the two aims: raising awareness and generating responsibility.

Exercise your brain (time estimate 20 minutes)

Read Coaching for Performance, chapter 4, „The nature of coaching‟, pages 33 to 43. This is a pivotal chapter because it covers raising awareness and generating responsibility plus the qualities of a coach. After reading the chapter, note your main reflections below in bullet points. Click here to download your template Click here to discuss this activity with your peers Click here to upload your response Now we can take each element of the GROW model in turn and explore the techniques within it – remembering that you will not necessarily start at G and work your way neatly round to W. There may be some moving back and forth around the model as the conversation unfolds. But first . . .

Exercise your brain (time estimate 10 minutes)

Read Coaching for Performance, chapter five, „Effective questions‟, pages 44 to 52. We will touch on questions and responses in this pack later, however John Whitmore covers effective questions very well in this short chapter by making further links to raising awareness and additional areas like blind spots. What learning did you take from this short chapter? Record your thoughts below. Click here to download your template Click here to discuss this activity with your peers Click here to upload your response

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2.3.2

Goals Exercise your brain (time estimate 20 minutes)

Read Coaching for Performance, chapter six, „The Sequence of Questioning‟, pages 53 to 57, because it is vital to understand that it isn‟t simply about going around a model. What is the main message of this short chapter? Note this below. Click here to download your template Click here to discuss this activity with your peers Click here to upload your response We need to help performers be clear about their goals . . . and I like to think that there are two: 1. The ultimate: I want to be a lion tamer 2. For the conversation: I want to have at least two clear actions as next steps. This is very important because if, as the coach, I agree to the ultimate objective for our 45 minute session, I have set myself up to fail. Neither the performer nor I can guarantee that the performer will be a lion tamer in 45 minutes. However the performer can commit to the reasonableness of having at least two clear actions for next steps in 45 minutes. By asking a closed question like “Is that achievable for you?” the coach is requiring the performer to think (raise awareness) and say either “yes” or “no” (generated responsibility) Practitioner Tip 21 I always get my performer talking at the start about what it will be like when they have their ultimate goal. What would it give you? What will you feel like, what will you see and what will you hear from others and inside yourself? I do this so that I am clear, and they are clear; and by encouraging them to talk about how great it will be, I am starting to build the resolve needed for the actions later.

You will also notice that it is the performer who has decided – not the coach.

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Exercise your brain (time estimate 20 minutes)

Read Coaching for Performance, chapter seven, „Goal Setting”, pages 58 to 66. Notice how John Whitmore refers to goals and how the example conversation unfolds. What, for you, are the key points of this chapter? Record below a maximum of four key points. Click here to download your template Click here to discuss this activity with your peers Click here to upload your response

2.3.3

Reality

Now, by answering questions, we have the performer explore the reality of the current situation. What‟s happening now?

Exercise your brain (time estimate 30 minutes)

Read Coaching for Performance, chapter eight, „What is Reality?”, pages 67 to 79. Here we are compelling the performer to think. What, for you, are the key points of this chapter, especially the example conversation at the end? Record below a maximum of five. Click here to download your template Click here to discuss this activity with your peers Click here to upload your response

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Example Reality Changes Amy came to me with the request for help to get the next promotion. Not being caught out by agreeing to that as our objective Amy agreed that by the end of the conversation she could reasonably have three specific actions that could help her get promoted. What Amy said over the next few minutes was fascinating:     

she would get more money from being promoted she had not succeeded in four previous applications she hadn‟t received feedback as to why she didn‟t get promoted before being promoted meant having staff report directly to her and she wasn‟t overly excited about that she loved her current job.

I asked her if she had more money would she still be as interested in promotion? This question caused a reaction in Amy. I could see her processing what I had just asked her and I noticed a tear welling up in her eye. Amy‟s real goal was to achieve better control of her finances and in the end she moved to a smaller house, stayed in her current role and was much happier as a result.

2.3.4

Options

Here we start to explore possible options. And like great negotiators you do not grab the first option. Instead you bank it and move on to capture other options. Once all options are captured we invite the performer to select, maybe helping them with criteria as a basis for choosing.

Exercise your brain (time estimate 30 minutes)

Read Coaching for Performance, chapter nine, „What options do you have?”, pages 79 to 84. What, for you, are the key points of this chapter, especially the example conversation toward the end? Record below a maximum of five. Click here to download your template Click here to discuss this activity with your peers Click here to upload your response

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2.3.4.1 Resistance Many coaches tell me, and I‟ve experienced it myself, when asked a great question like, “What kinds of things could you do?” performers may respond with: “I don‟t know” “That‟s your job” “I can‟t think” “That‟s why I‟m here because I don‟t know”. The effective coach is able to understand what might be going on here and respond to it accordingly. Let‟s take each one in turn:

I don’t know

Try a conscious mind bypass by quickly saying “I know you don‟t know but imagine if you did know what could you do next?”

That’s your job

“It‟s also my job to develop the people around me and I‟m certain that you have some options we can explore.”

I can’t think

“I know for a fact that that isn‟t true. Of course you can think. What thoughts have you had about how to progress this? Tell me even if you have excluded them for some reason.”

That’s why I’m here because I don’t know

“Ok. How about you start by telling me what ideas you have had.” Then, for each idea that they recall, ask questions about what led them to exclude it.

2.3.5

Will

This is the phase that requires concentration by aspiring coaches as this is where the performer‟s commitment to specific, owned, timed and supported actions comes into play. As coaches, we need the performer to commit so we can‟t afford vague actions involving loose dates, the language of “we” or worst of all, compliance from the performer instead of commitment. So we need to listen out for:  Specific actions  By specific dates  The use of “I” and not “we”. 14 V2

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Exercise your brain (time estimate 30 minutes)

Read Coaching for Performance, chapter ten, „What will you do?”, pages 85 to 92. What, for you, are the key points of this chapter, especially the example conversation at the end? Record below a maximum of five. Click here to download your template Click here to discuss this activity with your peers Click here to upload your response We can then ask about what support they need in order to make these actions happen. We listen to the response and ask questions about it. Finally we ask the performer about their confidence in making the actions happen as a final means of raising awareness and even generating responsibility. Practitioner Tip 98 At the end of coaching I use a tool from therapy: scoring. I ask the performer, for example, “On a scale of one to ten, where 1 is low and ten high, how confident are you that you will be able to implement these actions?” If the answer is 8 or above I might ask what leads them to that score? If the answer is 7 or below I might ask them what needs to be done to increase their confidence score? The act of giving a score means the performer has to think. That means awareness is raised. Contrast this with the closed question, “Are you OK with your actions?” It is always valuable to end on a confidence building note. So ask the performer to reflect on how they got on and what they achieved. Reflect to them what you noticed too, if you think it would be useful.

2.4

Questioning and responding approaches

Within the dynamic of what ought to be a conversation and not a forced flow chart interview there will be a range of techniques that you will use.

2.4.1

Questioning

As coach, your tools are your questions because they need to:  

Gather information Stimulate thought and discussion

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  

Explore attitudes and ideas Solve problems Clarify your own or someone else‟s thinking.

2.4.1.1 Here are some major question types. Open question So the performer can explore facts, alleged facts, etc.

Typical example: „What would you achieve by being a lion tamer?‟ Probing questions These are used to follow on from open questions and explore a particular area in more detail. They can be used to check information and are excellent to get the performer talking about how they feel about a subject. They are useful when you want to focus the person on a more closely-defined topic.

Typical example: „Tell me more about the financial and time commitment required to train as a lion tamer?‟ One of the problems with probing is that when we use it without care the receiver can feel under interrogation and become closed and hostile. Hypothetical questions This is useful for exploring potential scenarios and identifying difficulties before they occur. They work by putting the person in a situation and asking them to speculate on what they would do next to resolve it. When used in this way they can be useful for getting the person to think through problems or identifying how they would transfer their knowledge to new situations.

Typical example: „Let‟s say you were to embark on becoming a lion tamer, what would that mean for your family situation?‟ Too many hypothetical questions may lead to unpredictable answers, as you get further away from reality. Closed questions Can be useful for fact finding and confirming what you have heard. They are questions for which there is only one answer, for example, „yes‟, „no‟, „42‟, etc. They can be useful for regaining control from a talkative performer or to change the subject to another topic.

Typical example: „How much was the average training fee for lion taming?‟

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If overused, closed questions will also turn the discussion into an interrogation. The questioner will only receive answers on the topic that they want. It leaves little room for the receiver to feel they are jointly contributing to the conversation.

2.4.2

Responding

Active listening is not a passive activity. As coach you can use lots of responses to explore the subject. Here are some examples:

Technique

Description

Restate in your own words the basic Paraphrasing themes involved in what they have been saying. Use fewer words than the original – aim for a précis of what‟s been said.

Reflecting

Clarifying

Echoing

Put back to the performer what you have picked up of what they are feeling about what‟s going on. Reflecting is often about sharing your hunches about what is being felt but not expressed.

Openly put your doubts about what is being said to the person.

This simple technique is excellent for prompting further discussion on one of the points that has been raised. It involves picking up and repeating a key word with a slight questioning tone.

Example So what you are saying is…‟ „If I understand correctly, you want to be…‟ Sounds like you are really keen on this?‟ „My guess is that you were upset by his approach?‟

„I‟m not too clear about this. Could you tell me a bit more? Take care when phrasing. ‘So what you are trying to tell me is…’ may be implied as criticism by the person.

„Your promotion …?‟ „Always late …?‟

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Technique

Silence

Description

Example

Not saying anything can be an active response. It allows the performer to think, and demonstrates that you really want to hear what they have got to say. If you find silence uncomfortable, try using an encouraging sound.

„Then he stormed into my office and demanded the figures‟

Pull together all the facts and ideas that have been covered so far in the Summarising discussion. Summarising is usually easier if you have made attempts to paraphrase earlier. Again, you are not after a verbatim recall. Focus on the main themes.

2.5

„…‟ „Uh-hu‟ or „Uhmmm!‟

„So what you‟ve identified so far are three main reasons for wanting to be a lion tamer. One …‟

Clean questioning

This is a specific questioning approach that you can use to develop your coaching competence. A web link to a short article on the subject follows at the end of the section.

2.6

Developing a question bank

While there isn‟t a formula to use in every situation, the more you practise coaching the more your questioning will improve. Here are some examples:

From

Do you think that is achievable? (closed) Is he too busy or stressed?(narrow choices) That‟s a great suggestion. (coaches agenda and statement) You feel XXXXX about the situation. (coaches agenda)

What makes that achievable for you? What might explain how he behaved toward you? What are the merits of that suggestion to you? Tell me what feelings you had about the situation.

Why did you think that? (why question)

What led you to think that?

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Practitioner Tip 33 Think about starting your own questions and responses bank perhaps in a coaching diary or your CPD Record so that you consciously reflect and see your library of great responses and questions build.

2.7

Coaching benefits

By now you will have explored the research and had an insight into how non-directive coaching works through the GROW model.

Exercise your brain (time estimate 20 minutes)

Thinking about the benefits of coaching note your thoughts here. Coaching benefits to the organisation

Coaching benefits to the coaches

Coaching benefits to performers

Coaching benefits to HR professionals

Click here to download your template Click here to discuss this activity with your peers Click here to upload your response

2.8

Links and follow through

http://www.businessballs.com/clean_language.htm An introduction to clean language. Notice in particular â&#x20AC;&#x17E;the basic clean language questionsâ&#x20AC;&#x;.

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Want to stretch yourself? Pick two of the later chapters in Coaching for Performance and write up a short review.

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