Expraxis Limited

Despite the compelling reasons we might offer for introducing coaching we can expect to encounter many barriers. We need to understand what the barriers are and how we might help others develop their understanding of coaching so that these barriers may be removed.

"We've got enough on our plate as it is."

Most organizations these days seem to be working at the edge of chaos. Change is abundant and managers are rightly worried that one more change will prove to be 'the straw that breaks the camels back'. Seen in this way, coaching, as just one more stand-alone initiative, is bound to take a back seat. But coaching should not be seen in this way. Coaching can be the glue that binds change initiatives together. After all, we know that all change programmes have a people element and that if staff and other stakeholders are not carefully guided through the changes, failure is quite likely.

Where managers are equipped with good coaching skills they are able to assist their staff in comprehending both the underlying reasons for change and the unsettling feelings that result. More importantly managers who coach will be able to empower their teams to find their own coping strategies rather than crowbar them into prescriptive methods that usually provoke rebellion rather than commitment.

"Now is not the right time."

If people are claiming this then, paradoxically, it is absolutely the right time for coaching. Good, effective coaching raises awareness, generates responsibility and builds trust. There is never any sense in delaying having access to these qualities.

If we leave coaching until 'other things have settled down' it's like saying we'll put the umbrellas up once it's stopped raining.

Our Team Leaders have a high level of skill anyway

No doubt this is true, but skills need to be developed and adapted to emerging trends and changes.

Coaching, it seems, is one of the skills of management that is expected to manifest itself in the manager by some kind of osmosis. In other words the expectation is that of course managers can coach - they're managers! But again this is not the case. Whilst most managers would claim that they undertake coaching, few would be able to offer a precise definition of the term or differentiate coaching from counselling, teaching, mentoring or most other forms of people development. However, as we've seen coaching is quite different; essentially it is about helping people learn rather than teaching them things. Learning to coach requires guidance and practise. It is not difficult but it is a very potent intervention that can cause problems if used carelessly.

We would not let our Team Leaders loose on a new IT system without proper training so why let them loose on their teams?

"It will cost too much."

Much depends on how the costs are calculated. Whilst there is an up front investment of time and money in having managers and team leaders trained as coaches this can be saved over and over again by the consequent improvements in team performance.

Compare the cost of one manager being trained as a coach so that he/she can help the team members become effective at personal organization against the cost of sending the whole team on time management courses.

Deciding whether we should implement coaching in an organization can be compared with clearing a forest. Do we stop from time to time to sharpen the axe and clear the forest more quickly and effectively in the end or do we keep hacking away with a blunt blade so that we can 'just get to the end of this next tree'?

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Matt Somers is a coaching practitioner of many years' experience. He works with a host of clients in North East England where his firm is based and throughout the UK and Europe. Matt understands that people are working with their true potential locked away. He shows how coaching provides a simple yet elegant key to this lock. His popular guide "Coaching for an Easier Life" is available FREE at http://www.mattsomers.com

"Pray for potatoes, but pick up a hoe." Anon.

Despite all the energy we have put into coaching in the first four stages of the coaching ARROW we have so far accomplished very little. In truth we have thought, pondered, intellectualized and navel gazed but changed nothing.

This is why the final part of the model - Way Forward - is so vital, because it's where we turn thought into action.

If we've coached well to this point we should begin to see a rise in energy levels of the people we coach as they realize that they are resourceful and can move their own issues forward and become excited at the prospect of doing so.

It can be really useful if we, as coaches, mirror this excitement to signal our belief and to encourage a definite course of meaningful action.

Many coaches report that this part of the process is largely automatic and it is often simply a matter of making sure people plan their actions in a sensible and logical way.

In many ways coaching for a Way Forward is akin to the kind of action planning that most people are used to anyway. We need firstly to have the coachee outline exactly what it is they intend to do. Detail is crucial here so challenge any vague responses. I also recommend having them state exactly when a planned action will begin and end. Such a date does not have to be considered irreversible; it can be changed as things move on. But without at least an aspirational completion date there can be no real commitment.

Next we should encourage the coachee to consider whether anyone else needs to be aware of their plans and how and when they will inform them. We should also invite them to think about any other resources that may be required and create a plan for getting them.

Throughout the Way Forward stage the emphasis is on what they WILL do rather than what they COULD do.

Towards the end of this part of the conversation it's wise to check that the course or courses of action decided upon will deliver the aims established at the start of the session. Any assistance that we feel we can provide as a coach should be offered rather than imposed.

I like to end by asking the person being coached to rate their commitment to taking the course of action they have thought out on a scale of 1-10. We might think that because we have gone through the model thoroughly and carefully that the answer here will always be ten but this isn't necessarily so. Sometimes a person will be reluctant to move forward despite a well-constructed coaching session and when this happens it is usually because of a barrier somewhere.

Perhaps it's because the person believes that other parties involved in the issue will not play their part in moving things forward. Sometimes it's because people are absolutely clear about what needs doing and certain it will work, but lack the courage to put the plan into action. Generally speaking, if we get an answer to the final question of anything less than 7, then the chances are that the person will not take action and our coaching session will have proven ineffective.

We need to discover what the barrier is by asking a further question - "What would make it a 10?" In answering this question the person being coached will come to understand what's preventing full commitment and we will perhaps have uncovered a more deep-rooted coaching issue. Sometimes by the time we get to Way Forward we find that the person has articulated the same solution two or three times in the session. This is perfectly okay and suggests that such a solution is one to which the person will be most committed. In this way, going through the coaching ARROW is rather like going up a spiral staircase. We will see the same things each time we go round but always from a slightly new perspective and so we build a more complete picture.

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Matt Somers is a coaching practitioner of many years' experience. He works with a host of clients in North East England where his firm is based and throughout the UK and Europe. Matt understands that people are working with their true potential locked away. He shows how coaching provides a simple yet elegant key to this lock. His popular guide "Coaching for an Easier Life" is available FREE at http://www.mattsomers.com

We now need to help our coachees think through the various options they have in dealing with their issues and moving towards their aims.

The greatest pitfall here is for the person being coached to grasp the first idea that comes to mind. It may well be that this proves to be absolutely appropriate but the good coach will encourage their people to be highly imaginative and creative in considering options and to be constantly alert for new insights.

'Stuck' thinking

Most days I walk into my office via the front door and take the same route to my desk. I have done this for years and it can be evidenced by the carpet between these two points being markedly more worn than elsewhere. Imagine I was being coached on how I might arrive at my desk more alert and stimulated for the day's work. It would be very difficult of me to think of any alternative to my tried and tested route of the straight line from the door to the desk. In fact if any one suggested a different route to me I would be likely to say "It would take to long" or "it's a waste of time" or "I've never done it that way before" or "that's just not how it's done here". All of which may or may not be true.

But if my coach encouraged me to think creatively I might consider walking round the edge of the office past the window. As I thought about it I might realize that this would give me an opportunity to look at the river which I always find stimulating. In other words I will have hit upon a novel approach to achieving my aim.

Similarly, because I'm enjoying the coaching session and feeling free to allow my thinking to run a little wild I might think about moving from the door to my desk in a figure of eight. As I thought about that option I might realism that this would take me right past the table where I keep the books and articles I keep meaning to read but forgetting about, past the kettle which I could switch on as I went and finally past the computer printer which I don't normally pass and end up having to get up again to switch on later in the day.

In other words I have developed fresh insights and found new benefits just by unsticking my existing thinking.

New thinking almost always leads to new benefits:

In the early 70's Art Fry a technician at 3M wanted a bookmark that would neither fall out nor damage his book. He knew that a colleague, Dr Spencer, had developed a glue that could stick to most surfaces but that left nothing behind after removal. Art applied a little of this glue to a piece of paper and the Post-it note was born.

Breaking assumptions

Similarly people labour under certain assumptions about what is actually possible within situations at work and we tell ourselves that "there isn't enough time" or "we haven't got the budget" or "I don't have the authority".

Again these thoughts may or may not be true but it is very useful in a coaching session to allow people to be free of these constraints to see what other options might become available. So we might ask "What if you had more time, what could you do?" or "What if you had more money...?" and so on.

Of course we cannot pretend that there aren't any barriers or restrictions but what we're really trying to discover through coaching is whether these barriers are genuine or just assumptions. It's even possible that what was a restriction some time ago may not be the case any more - we just assume it is.

A distribution manager wanted to reorganize the routes his company used to supply dairy products to a number of grocery stores in their region.

He was told his new routes would not work because the stores furthest out wanted their deliveries on a Monday and would not accept any other day.

However, the distribution manager spoke to the storekeepers and discovered that, although they wanted a fast reliable service, they were not concerned about which day of the week their deliveries took place.

Sometime later, at a social event, a retired delivery man explained that deliveries to the outermost stores had always been made on a Monday because the horses were fresh after their Sunday rest!

In my next article I will examine how we decide which option to pursue as we map out the Way Forward.

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Matt Somers is a coaching practitioner of many years' experience. He works with a host of clients in North East England where his firm is based and throughout the UK and Europe. Matt understands that people are working with their true potential locked away. He shows how coaching provides a simple yet elegant key to this lock. His popular guide "Coaching for an Easier Life" is available FREE at http://www.mattsomers.com

The reflection part of the coaching ARROW provides the person being coached - often called the coachee - with an opportunity to reflect on what's been discovered so far. Depending on the underlying issue and how much time is available for coaching in one session, Reflection may prove to be a major or minor piece of the whole process.

It is often in this part of the coaching process that true enlightenment happens; what some have described as 'ah-ha' moments.

Time can often be useful here and some coaches have had great success in stopping a coaching session after Aims and Reality and giving the person being coached certain Reflection questions to think about before they meet up again to explore Options and the Way forward.

It's important to realism that the coaching ARROW is simply a questioning framework, and it is not possible for us to coach effectively simply by reeling off the questions. The model must be used flexibly and at all times the needs and agenda of the person being coached must take priority.

We must use the Reflection stage particularly carefully, as it may be that the person being coached has already reflected subconsciously as they have answered the questions under Aims and Reality. In truth, it is worth encouraging the people we coach to reflect continuously throughout the session and if necessary refine their aims or review the reality of the situation. Reflection is conveniently located between Reality and Options because it helps spell ARROW, but reflecting, revising, going back over and jumping forward are perfectly reasonable and indeed essential steps of working flexibly with ARROW or any other sequence.

Let's now consider the sorts of things coaches can encourage their coachees to reflect upon. When using Reflection as a defined step in the sequence I like to ask my coachee to consider how big a gap there is between their Aims and their Reality. It may be that the Aims now seem over optimistic or equally a little conservative. A new timeframe may need to be decided upon or some shorter term, milestone type aims generated. Similarly Reflection may expose a lack of detail in appreciating the current Reality. It is at this stage that awareness is most raised so it can be worthwhile to reflect and understand Reality more vividly.

I find the Reflection stage is also a good time to explore any assumptions the coachee is making. Comments like "I've tried that before and it didn't work", "senior management will never agree" or "I'm just not able to do that" need challenging because they are not facts. Just because something was unsuccessful previously does not render it impossible for ever more. Senior management may not sign off the proposal but if we don't ask them the answer is already no. Nobody can know for certain that they are incapable of anything until they try. Remember the old saying; to assume makes an ASS of U and ME.

Coaches that allow their coachees time to reflect create an opportunity for a greater degree of honesty to emerge. If I ask you "Are you being totally honest with yourself?" I am not really accusing you of lying rather I'm encouraging you to go deeper. People who are unused to answering coaching questions can give superficial or lightweight answers in the first two stages (Aims and Reality). Here we can provide permission and encouragement to give more.

My personal favourite Reflection question is "What's really going on?" I have lost count of the number of times I have asked this and been greeted with a coy grin or a shake of the head. The answer that follows is invariably a more truthful, emphatic and revealing answer than what has come before.

My next article will build on this step by exploring how coachees can generate options.

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Matt Somers is a coaching practitioner of many years' experience. He works with a host of clients in North East England where his firm is based and throughout the UK and Europe. Matt understands that people are working with their true potential locked away. He shows how coaching provides a simple yet elegant key to this lock. His popular guide "Coaching for an Easier Life" is available FREE at http://www.mattsomers.com

The most important thing we must recognize as we coach people through the Reality stage is that it is all a matter of perception.

We are all constantly interpreting our environment based on our own experiences. As a result we construct our own unique model of the world which then serves to guide us through life without having to deal with every interaction we have as if it were a new experience.

Our model of the world gives us patterns so that we can recognize familiar objects or events. So that having seen a tree in England we can recognize the same thing if we encounter one in Switzerland. However, not everything will be interpreted the same way by different people. Draw a curved line on a piece of paper. Is the shape is concave or convex? Of course there is no right answer; it's all a matter of perspective. Some will see the shape as convex others as concave.

What has all this to do with coaching? The important perspective in coaching is that of the person being coached - it is their version of reality that counts. I have a story that illustrates this point: John was a sales person who was seeking some coaching on how he might better answer customer objections during the sales conversation. He approached Mary for some coaching on this and having discussed his aims they began to explore the reality of John's situation. John was very concerned about this aspect of his sales technique and rated himself as one of the poorest in the team in this regard. Mary disagreed. She insisted that John was one of her best performers as far as handling objections was concerned and suggested that John should think of another performance area on which to be coached. John thanked Mary for the encouragement but explained once more that this was his number one issue effecting his performance overall. He instinctively knew that if he could get over these feelings his performance would really soar. Mary became so irritated with John for failing to see what she saw as the reality of the situation that she ended the coaching session and suggested that John might like to return when he had something sensible to discuss. She had failed to help John raise his awareness, she had reclaimed the responsibility for John's learning and she had shattered the relationship of trust. Needless to say, John did not seek her coaching again. So we can see that we need to be alive to the possibility of different perceptions and perspectives.

Draw a picture of a square. Divide it into quarters by drawing a line down the centre and a line across the middle. Similarly divide each of those squares into quarters. How many squares can you now see? The correct answer is 30:

1 whole square

16 individual squares

9 squares of 4 units

4 squares of 9 units

Look again until you can see all 30. This gives us another important lesson when we're thinking about reality. Namely that the true picture of reality often only emerges after we've looked several times and that it is worthwhile spending some time in a coaching session on the Reality stage.

We should welcome the fact that the people we coach may see things differently to us. It creates a sense of diversity and can throw up all sorts of new ways of taking a situation forward that would never have been uncovered if we all thought in the same way. Coaching is a powerful tool for improving performance in any area. In an organizational setting we should never use it only as a means of addressing poor performance. Sometimes even the best performing team members are still operating below the level of their potential and they too deserve to benefit from coaching and see how much better they might become.

However, coaching is also a valuable tool for problem solving and dealing with difficult issues and it would be true to say that the majority of coaching that goes on at work is used for these reasons.

As such, it is possible that when we are coaching someone through the Reality stage that things may get quite downbeat as they come to realize how big a task or challenge they face. It may be necessary to encourage them to think through all the things that are going well in a situation - there will always be some! - to help them get a balanced picture.

This is not the same as imposing our view it is simply encouraging the other person to recognize that an accurate view of reality includes acknowledging what's going well. More importantly, it sets a positive tone for discussing solutions later in the coaching session.

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Matt Somers is a coaching practitioner of many years' experience. He works with a host of clients in North East England where his firm is based and throughout the UK and Europe. Matt understands that people are working with their true potential locked away. He shows how coaching provides a simple yet elegant key to this lock. His popular guide "Coaching for an Easier Life" is available FREE at http://www.mattsomers.com