Coaching is a major part of personal development, and is often linked to the training part of a development programme.
With the best will in the world, participant intentions are very positive at the end of a learning intervention, and then after a few days or weeks the day job gets in the way and sustained change can be harder to achieve.
With implementation coaching, often by telephone or video link, the training consultant can ‘check in’ with the participant and support them with what they are trying to accomplish. A gentle ‘tap on the shoulder’ to remind through coaching questions of the positive intention and positive outcome of taking the action can be all that is needed to get back on track.
It is no more or less than the famous W. Edwards Deming cycle of PDSA (Plan, Do, Study, Act). The coachee plans to take an action that will have a positive impact on her/his environment; they then take the action; they then study or review (with the coach) the way the action was taken and the impact for all concerned, and finally plan a further action to continue the journey whilst putting a concrete date in the diary with the coach to review using the same process.
According to Jean-Marc Soulas (NGA Senior Associate Consultant) this process can dramatically enhance not only the speed, but the quality of implementation of an organisational change.
“It is very important to hold regular implementation coaching sessions with the delegates” he says. “Whether run by an external consultant or facilitated in house, they really give stage posts and checkpoints that the coachee knows will not be ignored. This subtly helps them find the time and motivation to implement actions for change in a thorough way working on the old adage of ‘what gets inspected gets respected’”
At NGA we also use 1-2-1 coaching as a methodology to drive personal reflection and behaviour change. We focus on helping you unlock your potential by helping you concentrate on what you already do well. We work with you on defining your core strengths, and how they can become a pitfall if overdone (Daniel Ofman – Core Quality Matrix), and how to get mastery of whatever you want to get mastery of in your life.
By asking you the right questions, giving you space to decide what to do, and then holding you accountable not only for taking action, but for the quality of that action, we know you can achieve anything you set your mind to.
Contact us about coaching, or take a look at our Personal Development Club and explore what you are capable of.
