What you do

This stage is about organizing and structuring the hands-on experience so that the coachee gets the most from it. It is where the coachee uses skills or knowledge in the way that he or she would in real life. That might mean carrying out a specific task or job (or a part of it) or doing something where he or she can practise applying, or think about applying, some of the appropriate skills or knowledge. This is the experience stage of the learning cycle.

There are two options: either the coachee does it for real; or you arrange a simulation. Both options have advantages but we prefer, wherever possible, getting the coachee to do it in the ˜live environment, either with you observing or with him or her reporting back to you on the experience or activity (see below).

If the subject is about applying a skill, it is about having the opportunity to use that skill in a real life situation (or similar). It is about the coachee demonstrating the knowledge, skill or behaviour so that, working with his or her coach, that individual can reflect upon it and identify where he or she goes to next .

Before the experience or activity takes place, you and the coachee need to:

• Arrange for the experience or activity to happen if it is not a regular part of the coachee s role.

• Discuss how to ensure that performance is as natural as possible.

• Consider how the coachee wants to use the experience or activity, ie what he or she wants to learn from it.

• Decide what help and support the coachee wants to receive during the actual experience or activity, ie define the points at which he or she wants you to intervene, observe or take part.

• Identify potential risk areas, eg ˜What happens if I get this wrong at this stage and if I do, what will be the consequences? What mistakes can I make without causing irreparable damage?

• Establish the starting and ending points for the experience or activity. This is particularly relevant if the activity is part of the coachee s day-to-day role.

• Decide how and when you will review the experience or activity “ this might be immediately after the activity or later, or perhaps both.

Simulation or real life?

The starting point is deciding whether it is appropriate for the coachee to practise in real life “ ie do the activity. Usually the coachee will have already done it for real as this is how a coaching need is identified. At some stage before the coaching relationship ends the coachee should do the task or activity in real life, so that you can really assess whether the coachee has achieved his or her goal. However, early on in the coaching programme, you may want to consider practising via a simulated situation; some of the questions you may want to explore with the coachee as you decide are:

• Is the timing right “ is an opportunity to do it going to occur naturally within the workplace within the time boundaries of the coaching plan?

• Is it safe “ for the coachee and for others involved in the activity?

• What are the implications of getting it wrong, eg lost business or reputation of the coachee with colleagues?

Is the coachee confident and experienced enough to ˜perform in real life?

Using real life

Any experience that takes place in real life offers a more effective learning opportunity than a simulation. Doing a task or performing in real life means that it is impossible to control the environment and situation and therefore provides an authentic experience. When using real life experiences, consider:

• Which part of the experience is important at this stage of the coaching programme “ will you review the activity in totality or focus this time on parts of it?

• Will you observe or not?

• What will you do if the experience doesn t provide the evidence that you want it to?

• What is your agreed strategy for dealing with errors or unexpected scenarios during the event? If you are present, does the coachee want you to intervene or take over if they are getting it wrong?

• Will you explain to others involved that you are using this as a coaching opportunity?

Using simulation

A simulation is the creation of a true-to-life event within a controlled setting. Simulations are used when it is not possible to observe or arrange a real experience for your coachee at an appropriate time during the coaching process.

This technique is very useful where mistakes with the subject being coached have the potential to cause major damage, losses or a disaster; for example, counselling or resuscitation. They provide a protected environment in which coachees can act and discuss their actions without fear of the consequences. The lack of consequences should be considered when reviewing a simulation as this may have an impact upon the way in which the coachee and participants act and react . It may also limit understanding of real life, eg when practising resuscitation, if I do not fear that I may kill someone, I may not fully understand that this could happen in reality.

Each simulation is unique. It is impossible to give guidelines that apply to all situations; however, factors to consider when you are creating a simulation are:

• What equipment will you need?

• What people need to be involved?

• Where will you do the simulation?

• How will you set up the simulation (brief the participants)?

• What background information do you need?

• How much time do you have available for the simulation?

• How can you recreate the real-life situation?

• How can you avoid the ˜It s only make believe reaction?

• How many times will you need to rerun this simulation and, if several times, how many different versions do you need?

• What elements need to be contained within the simulation (what should the content be)?

Collecting evidence

While the focus at this stage of coaching must be on performing an activity, as true-to-life as possible, in order for the coaching process to be effective, the coach and coachee need to be collecting information for discussion once the activity or experience is completed.

It is important that data collection does not detract from the activity and the best way of doing this is to consider what data you need and how you will collect it. It all comes back to knowing the objectives for the coaching. If you know what standards the coachee is working towards, you can work out what evidence will tell you how well he or she is doing against these standards and this will tell you what data you need to collect. You can then work out how you can collect the data in as unobtrusive a way as possible. It is recommended that you look for more than one data source.

Observation

Observation, the act of watching the coachee perform a task or activity, can be done in three different ways:

• The coach observes.

• Someone other than the coach is given the role of observer.

• The coachee is video-taped (or audio-taped if appropriate).

In deciding whether observation is the best method to use to achieve the coaching objectives, consider:

• Appropriateness of observing. What is the confidentiality of what you are likely to be observing, eg is it appropriate that you sit in on something like a counselling session or a disciplinary interview? Think about whether your presence will impact the event in such a way that it means it is not a true experience. Whilst the coachee may be happy for you to observe, other people may not be. People certainly should not be presented with a fait accompli; their permission must be sought prior to or at the start of the event.

• Environment. Is there space and is it safe for you to observe? For example, if your coachee is driving a specialized machine or doing something in a confined space, observing him or her will be impractical . Have you got the right equipment to attend the place of work, eg high visibility clothing or safety equipment?

• Time. It might be that the task that you are observing takes several days, so you may agree that you do not watch all of it, only parts. There may be a finite amount of time that has been allocated for the coaching (eg if a coach is being paid for externally or the coach can only be taken out of the workplace for a specific time), so this time may be better spent on other activities such as reviewing performance from recalled events or task outputs.

• Your ability to stay quiet and observe! Are you likely to interfere or take over?

Very few of us can observe an event and keep everything that we have seen and heard in our heads. There is a need to make notes and to avoid subjectivity . When we observe something, our natural response is to interpret what we see and to describe what we perceive is happening. For example: we hear someone shouting and we describe them as being angry and aggressive . We are interpreting their behaviour based on ˜If I was doing that, it would be because I was. . . or ˜In my experience, people do that when. . . . However, in our example, this person could be shouting because the other person cannot hear or because he or she was excited!

We need to ensure that we are objective and that our observations are based on the facts of what we have seen or heard “ ie, to continue our example, we could note that the volume of the person s voice went up.

Tip for effective observation

• Prior to the experience, discuss with the coachee what you will be looking for, including what he or she wants you to look for.

• Write these criteria down one side of a page “ then you can note down what the coachee says or does against the relevant point.

• Think about the key things you might see during the observation. Write down:

  • What you would expect to see.

  • What you would expect to hear.

  • What behaviours you would expect the coachee to demonstrate .

  • What you hope not to see.

  • Tick each time you see or hear each thing happening.

• In identifying what is truly happening, use any or all of your five senses that are appropriate for the task “ avoid interpretation or intuition at this stage. You need to note what has happened not why you think it happened; you will discuss the why with the coachee later.

• If you do see or hear something and you think you know the reason for it happening, you may want to make a note of your thoughts as a memory jog for yourself later. Be cautious that this doesn t colour your impression of what happens next or influences the rest of your observation because you are solely looking for confirmation of your assumptions. Equally, when you come to review the task later with the coachee, remember to get the coachee to tell you why he or she did something rather than assuming your interpretation of the coachee s behaviour is the right one.

• Whenever creating your own shorthand, write yourself a key so that when you review your notes later, you will understand what you wrote.

• Choose a writing tool that lets you write quickly and that will not smudge. Always have a spare pen or pencil to hand.

• Take a note of the time at the start of the activity and the times of ˜events during the activity. Note the time when the activity finishes. This is useful when you are discussing your notes with the coachee as you can explain how long it took him or her to do certain things, you can review the pattern of action, and you can minimize disputes of when things did or did not happen.

• If observing something that involves other people, have a column where you can note those people s reactions or responses to what your coachee said or did.

• Have plenty of paper to hand and use a clipboard if you do not have a table to rest on.

• Keep your notes out of view of other people in the room.

The impact of observation

As coaches, we should be aware that some people will perform better because we are observing them, while some people s performance will worsen. The impact of observing your coachee will probably lessen the more you do it and the more the relationship develops “ as long as the relationship is developing positively of course! This is known as the Hawthorne Effect, which originated from a series of experiments carried out within a factory setting. The researchers found that the act of simply observing workers at work had an impact upon their performance. In some instances this impact was positive and in some it was negative.

Another point to consider is that some people will perform, in the sense that they will ˜act for you in the way which they think they should act, rather than the way which they would normally act. We also need to remember that our impact may be upon others involved in the ˜activity not just on the coachee.

You can minimize the impact that you might have by reminding the coachee that you are not observing him or her in order to criticize “ observation is a tool for gathering information which you will both discuss later. Stress to the coachee that mistakes are OK, so long as they do not put anyone at risk (see later in this chapter for more discussion about risks and when to intervene).

You will also need to explain to other participants in the activity exactly what the purpose of your observing the event is, how you will be doing it and that you need them to behave as normally as possible. Finally make yourself as unobtrusive as possible “ do your best to blend in with the background by positioning yourself as much out of view as possible, without compromising your view of the coachee or causing a distraction.

Intervention “ when and how

People learn from their mistakes and therefore we should not try to shield them or prevent them from making mistakes. There is a difference between helping somebody and taking over “ however frustrating it may be to see someone struggling, you should resist the temptation to leap in saying ˜No, no, let me do it .

You must agree with your coachee, during the planning stage, the boundaries for the activity and the times when you will intervene. The times when it is appropriate to intervene fall into three broad categories:

• The coachee is going to harm him- or herself (either physically or mentally).

• The coachee is going to harm another person (either physically or mentally).

• The coachee is going to compromise the business or organization in some way.

You may also agree with your coachee that you will intervene if you see him or her exhibiting a certain behaviour that he or she is trying to work on and wants to receive feedback about immediately. The following are useful statements to use when intervening :

• ˜I need to stop you there. Before you move on we need to discuss what s happening.

• ˜Stop now. (Use in dangerous situations only).

• ˜Before you do that, tell me what you are hoping will happen as a result of doing it.

• ˜You asked me to tell you if I saw you. . .

• ˜What you have just done is an example of what we talked about when. . .

You may ask someone else to do the observation. This is especially useful when you are an integral part of the process or activity, or when you are unable to attend at the time that the coachee will be doing the task. The same guidelines apply and you may want to run through these with the nominated person beforehand.

Using video and/or audio tapes is useful when you can not attend or it isn t appropriate because of the nature of the job for you to be there “ eg, your presence would change the relationship between the coachee and others involved. All participants should agree to be filmed or taped, and they must be informed about what will happen with the tapes. Another advantage is that you can re-play all or some of the tape to examine specific behaviours. However, on the down side, not many of us like to be video-taped, and this may have an adverse impact on performance. Audio tapes have the obvious difficulty that you can not see what has happened, so we prefer only to use these when coaching on telephone techniques or other situations when non-verbal behaviour is not involved.

Getting feedback from others

Third-party feedback can be very useful for coachees “ how have others reacted to their behaviour and what impact has it had? We feel it is important that third-party feedback is always given directly to the coachee by the person that observed him or her and not given to the coach to ˜pass on . Feedback needs to be detailed and owned by the person giving it. Feedback that is passed on by another person can often be watered down or misinterpreted and there is no room for the person receiving it to ask for clarification or further detail. You may need to help your coachee ask for feedback and/or help the third party think about how he or she will give it.

To help your coachee ask for feedback, the two of you could role-play the situation until the coachee feels able to ask the other person, or help the coachee construct a questionnaire, which they discuss with the giver of feedback.

To help the third party give feedback, discuss why it is beneficial for the coachee to receive it at this time (without breaking confidences), explore why the third party prefers not to if this is the case and offer him or her guidelines to follow. (See the model for giving feedback in Chapter 10).

Sometimes you may plan to ask others involved in the activity for feedback. There is an argument for telling the third party beforehand that you will be asking. This will prepare him or her for your questions. However, we can also see that this could have a detrimental effect on the activity, because the third party is so busy assessing the performance of the coachee that it affects his or her behaviour.

Output data

Output is something you can physically see as a result of a task being completed. Most processes or tasks will have some form of output whether it be a report, a letter or a physical object such as a cake or brick wall. Wherever appropriate, arrange to receive a copy or sample of the output and use it to review against performance standards.