How to roll out coaching in a company
IN THE BOARDROOM, leaders and their coaches are intently trying to find the best answer to a suite of questions that are being raised: How do we proceed with coaching now? What should the coaching approach be? How do you want to equip your people with coa
What is happening is that the coaches who are engaged to drive the coaching-culture project are working very closely with the ‘coaching culture executive committee’ to seek out the best approach to rolling out their master plan.
These meetings and constant communication between the two parties are very important as they are required at every critical point of the coaching journey – and one of them is to chart out its coaching plan and approach from an operational perspective.
In Part 4 of “Building a Coaching Culture”, let us devote time to discussing the first; that is, coaching in an organisation to support the building of a coaching culture. Similar to many other things, the start is very important as it often influences the quality of results at the end.
What makes this first exercise very important is the fact that there are so many approaches that are available, and choosing the right one that will give the highest impact to the organisation is indeed challenging.
Besides that, there are many factors to consider, too: the current availability of leaders in the organisation who hold the highest potential for leadership development, available resources, learning preferences of the incumbents, best timing, and ‘political’ climate are some of the factors to take into account.
However, notwithstanding the above, we shall objectively consider the various approaches that are available.
Probably the simplest and a very cost-effective approach is to take coaching directly to the senior management. They can either attend short (but solid) two-to-three day coaching programmes to pick up fundamental coaching skills and techniques, or invest in a coach certification programme that is much more comprehensive (and intensive) over a longer period of time – from anything between 60 and 130 hours, or even more.
For those who opt for the short coaching programmes, it is highly recommended that they also attend a series of follow-up sessions – called coaching clinics – over a period of time. The intention is, firstly, to reinforce the ‘message’ of coaching so that it stays alive in the organisation. Secondly, it is to provide the learning opportunity for them to internalise the coaching skills at a much deeper level.
Last but not least, it is to ensure the sustainability of the coaching skills so that it becomes second nature to them when leading the people in their business units.
On the other hand, those who opt for the longer coaching programme may not be required to attend these follow-ups so regularly, as they would have been intensively trained over this longer period of time.
The advantage of investing in a coach certification programme, among others, is to gain the credibility of a professional coach in action. This will augur well for them to be good role models as coach-leaders who are adept in using coaching, and also be able to train others to be coaches, as well.
A key point to note is that, should coaching education be carried out within the organisation exclusively for its leaders, then the curriculum and the subject matter must be well-tailored to meet the needs and address common issues, too.
When such programmes are done in this fashion, I find that it has the ‘magical’ effect of bonding the team strongly together; not only in solving problems together, but they also understand their colleagues more empathetically, as well.
Critically and strategically
This also broadens their mental perspective to think more critically and strategically, which will make them greater thinkers (and doers) – one of the most desired key outcomes of coaching.
More serious-minded (and ambitious) organisations are also known to put the identified top executives in a position to experience coaching first, before they learn about it. In doing this, each of them is given a personal coach to work with over a period of time.
During this time, they work with their coaches to find innovative ways to achieve their goals while at the same time, they observe and experience how the coach supports them through various coaching techniques and protocols that are being used to move them forward.
Even more specific and powerful, these leaders work with their coaches – through a process called action learning – on an identified ‘coaching-culture related project’ for their business unit.
This is another high-impact way of approaching coaching in the organisation, for not only do they learn and experience coaching, but they also gain something more tangible and solid as something developmental is already taking root in the organisation to support the building of a coaching culture.
What’s more, this is a clear proof that there is a return on investment that is showing already!
In Part 5, we shall explore the other approaches that organisations can take to roll out their coaching initiatives that will support the building of a coaching culture.
