What could go wrong

You don t feel that you are the right person to coach.

You feel that you do not have enough knowledge of the subject matter.

Depending on what you are coaching, it is not essential that you are able to perform at the level that the coachee is attempting to achieve. You need enough experience and knowledge of the subject matter to be able to help identify where the coachee could do better. A more valuable asset is the ability to facilitate the coachee s learning and to explore options for improvement. Bearing this in mind, if you still don t believe that you are the right person, after tactfully explaining why to the coachee , help him or her to find someone else.

Time frames are too short.

Having got a better feel for the development needs you are aware that the time frames that you have been given are too short or other things will take priority. At this point you will need to renegotiate the time frames or do whatever is necessary for you both to free up the time for coaching. Alternatively, consider reducing the number of objectives.

It is a training issue not a coaching issue.

Let s go back to our definition of the difference between these two activities “ it is a training issue if there is a gap in the skills and or knowledge required to carry out the task; it is a coaching issue if the skills or knowledge exist, but the individual cannot implement them fully to achieve the required level of performance. In this case you can either stop coaching and begin training or have the training need met from a third party (training course, distance learning etc). If you choose to train, be clear both for yourself and the coachee which hat you are wearing and when, to avoid any confusion about method and approach.

You have not allowed enough time to complete this meeting.

You may find that your discussion with the coachee about his or her needs and the subsequent objective setting is going to take longer than you thought. The best thing to do in this situation is to end the meeting once you have analysed the needs and to set another time where you will discuss objectives. As soon as you are aware that time is running out, you should start to renegotiate how you will complete this stage.

You are unable to get to the bottom of the needs.

You find that you are unable to really identify the difference between the current and the desired position. Your questions do not provide you with the information that would enable you to see what needs to be changed in order for the coachee to perform better. In this case perhaps the coachee could return to his or her workplace and get feedback from colleagues and line manager. Alternatively you could volunteer to observe the coachee and give some feedback yourself. The real need might be around self-confidence “ the coachee may be

performing to a high standard, but be self-critical or unsure. It might even be that there is no development need and that this conversation has been enough in itself to bolster the coachee s confidence.