Chapter 5: Preparing to Coach

Preparation for coaching will begin before you even have the initial conversation with your coachee to analyse the needs. In preparing to coach, we would suggest that you think about the following points.

Preparing yourself

• Consider who initiated the coaching process “ do you need to consider how to work with third parties?

• Remind yourself of the role and responsibilities of a coach, perhaps by reviewing the coach job description and/or reviewing any documented corporate scheme.

• Get yourself into ˜coach mode “ it is especially important to get yourself into the right frame of mind to coach if you are the coachee s line manager or have responsibilities for training “ it is about ˜ putting on the right hat .

• Put to one side any issues that might get in the way of you coaching someone else, eg your own work frustrations and ˜to do list “ this is about clearing your mind so that you can focus all your attention on the coachee.

• Gather any equipment and/or information that you have or might need, eg brief from the coachee s line manager, coachee job description, company standards and targets, pens and papers.

• Refresh yourself about the coaching process to make sure you are clear about the steps that you will be taking, eg think about some questions that you will ask your coachee, read through the coaching model.