Coaching a manager and a novice yacht crew

Colin Woodward

Background and situation

Colin was involved in coaching a manager through the process of terminating the employment of an under-performing member of staff. He also got involved in coaching a novice yacht crew to race competitively in a Fastnet race campaign. Colin learnt to coach through trial and error “ he

acknowledges that his own learning style is reflective and this has supported his learning by these methods . He has also attended some formal training courses.

The process

Colin adopted the same process for both situations and outlines it below:

• Understand the situation from the coachee s perspective and communicate your understanding in some way. This includes what the coachees want to get out of the situation, their motivations, needs, fears etc. It s important to ensure that the coach doesn t see this just as a training event “ it s something that takes place in a wider context and the effect of the activity will have consequences.

• Identify the level of skill and underpinning knowledge that the coachee already has through some sensible questioning “ sometimes it comes out of point 1 above. This helps to pitch the support at the right level, avoids being either patronizing or talking over the coachee s head. However, good questioning skills are sometimes needed in order to get past overconfidence or bluster.

• Assess whether you are the right person to be carrying this out “ do you know enough or have the right level of skill(s) to do the subject justice ?

• Consider how you can carry out the coaching activity “ is it something that you can allow the coachee to do ˜for real straight away or do you need to role-play /practise in a ˜safe environment? (Safe means both physically and emotionally safe. )

• Take into account the coachee s learning style whenever possible. If this isn t apparent before starting, watch for evidence as you are coaching and adjust what you do as necessary.

• Think about whether the task needs to be broken down into smaller elements.

• Collect together what you need to carry out the activity and demonstrate the activity yourself “ try to describe the experience as you carry it out, not just the bare facts.

• Let the coachee try it out for him- or herself, observe and provide honest but encouraging feedback that relates to the individual s needs. If ˜good enough is the standard, don t over-coach. However, if ˜expert status is needed then a more demanding approach may be required.

• Let the coachee ˜own ongoing development “ offer support (if appropriate) but don t force it on the coachee.

Positive aspects of this approach

In the first example, Colin s coaching methods included role-play to enable the manager to practise focusing on the facts during the conversation with the member of staff. The timing of this role-play worked well “ it was carried out immediately prior to the ˜live discussion and could be described as ˜ justin -time coaching. The process focused on the actual situation, not simply generic skill building. Colin was able to be present during the discussion with the member of staff, which helped the manager s confidence level because he knew that, if things should become awkward , help would be at hand.

In the second example, the coaching was more complex because there were eight coachees who all had vastly different backgrounds, skills and expectations. In addition the environment in which the coaching took place was physically threatening . The positive aspects of this coaching experience were that the group identified who would be best in which roles and established a set of core skills for each individual prior to widening their skill base, ie there was a gradual build up of skills and knowledge.

Challenges faced

In working with the manager there was a need to give this individual some background about employment law and the implications of getting the meeting wrong, without reducing the manager s confidence level so that the individual became a nervous wreck.

With the yacht crew it was difficult to give sufficient time and attention to each individual. This was overcome by using those who had grasped a subject quickly to support the development of others. In this situation feedback came, not only verbally from Colin, but also by participating in real races “ this immediately made the crew aware of shortcomings in performance and, in early stages, did have a negative effect upon confidence levels. It was Colin s role to ensure that learning took place and these real experiences made it more obvious when improvements occurred.

Learning

Colin was reminded in working with the manager that what may seem mundane or commonplace to one person can be the ˜equivalent of climbing Everest for the coachee .

In the second example he felt that he learnt the importance of working on the coachee s expectations at an early stage.

Top tips

• Keep in touch with reality “ it s imperative that you do the job/task for real.

• Don t be afraid to pull out if you are not confident of being able to do a good job.

• Understand the coachee as an individual and build the motivation to learn.

• Remain flexible.

Advice for the coachee

Give feedback on your level of understanding and confidence.

Final words

Coaching may well be the primary way in which the coachee is going to develop the skills and knowledge needed. Don t underestimate the value of it.

Authors comments

This case study illustrates the way in which the same coaching process can be applied to vastly different situations. Colin applied his skills to an individual within an organization, and with a team brought together to achieve a competitive, physically challenging task.

Colin points out the importance of the coach putting him- or herself in the coachee s shoes so that he or she can view the situation from the coachee s perspective and thus offer effective support. He demonstrates that a coach, when working with a group of coachees, can use the skills developed within the group to support the process when the coach cannot work with everyone individually.

The case study also demonstrates the role of the coach in building coachee confidence to use the skills or knowledge that the coachee already has in different situations and new ways.

Colin mentions in his process the importance of allowing the coachee to own the process and the coach s role in identifying when the coaching has achieved its objectives “ whether these objectives state that to be ˜good enough or that excellence is required.