setting up

Setting Up

Coaching can take up a lot of time so it is essential that you make sure that you approach the appropriate people that you think will definitely want to be coached.

Try not to approach the people that are suspicious of it or are not interested in it.

There are several aspects that you need to take into consideration at the setting up stage. These are listed below:

Choosing who to coach

Before you even approach potential coachees you need to spend some time thinking about the issues that are likely to arise with that particular individual. There are different types of people that each require a slightly different approach.

Normally, people fall into one of these four categories:

• Day to day coachees

  These people do all of their work very well but you know that they could easily achieve more because they show signs of excellence in some of their work. Your role as a coach would be to work with them to create tasks or projects that would inspire them to put more time and effort into their work, thus, achieve more than what is expected.

• Remedial coachees

  These people tend to struggle with their work mainly because a lack of motivation or interest. It may be the case that they have personal issues or even that they are lacking the skills or knowledge to do their job. Your role as a coach would be to support them so that they can catch up with their colleagues.

• Coachees undergoing change

  These people are doing reasonably well in their current jobs but might be about to undergo a new job role with other responsibilities or increased workload, therefore their performance may deteriorate. As a coach it is up to you to help them retain an appropriate level of effectiveness throughout their job change.

• High-potential coachees

  These people tend to be younger, intelligent,hard working and are driven to succeed in the company by accumulating more responsibilities and climbing up the ladder. However, sometimes these type of individuals tend to think too much about their future aspirations and overestimate their current skills. As their coach you need to help them put together a plan that will meet both the expectations of their current role and also plan their longer term career goals.

Therefore, you need to make sure you know who you want to coach and why. It may be to increase performance levels or to guide the next generation of leaders within an organisation.

Initiating contact

After deciding who you want to coach and why, you need to then make contact with these individuals in an appropriate manner and discuss certain aspects such as:

• Explain to the individual why coaching will benefit them
• Sell the idea of coaching by highlighting the benefits to the individual. Remember not to pressurize them just be enthusiastic.
• Ask the individual if they feel that coaching is he right thing to do
• Individuals will most definitely want you to answer some questions so be fully prepared before hand to answer these questions. Most of these questions will probably be negative for example, some people may ask “why are you picking me out for coaching?” It is essential that you answer the question in a positive way but also in a way that is genuine.

It is important to remember at this stage that many individuals may take a long time to get used to the idea of coaching it is crucial that this stage is not forced and you give them time.

Agreeing on sessions

After initial contact the next thing to do is to agree on when, where and for how long the coaching sessions will take place. You will need to consider the following things:

• Frequency of coaching sessions

  It may be a good idea to have at least a week between each coaching session or even once a month. You will need to take into consideration what type of coachee that they are. For instance if they are a high potential coachee then they may only need to meet up once every couple of months whereas, a remedial coachee may need weekly coaching sessions until specific issues are resolved.

• Duration of coaching sessions

  The duration of the session again depends the coachee's specific issues and what needs to be discussed. If they are under performing then a couple of hours may be needed to fully discuss problems and issues.

• Location and time of coaching sessions

  The location of coaching sessions is normally in the office and the time does not really matter. However, there will be some occasions when you will want to have the session away from the office. For instance, if you have to discuss something with a coachee that is a sensitive issue then you could maybe have it over coffee or lunch.

• Book coaching sessions in

  Once you have decided on dates, time etc then both of you should put them in your diaries and stick to them.

• Be flexible

  When agreeing on sessions both the coach and the coachee need to be flexible . If for some reason one person has a deadline or a busy week at work then you should talk about rescheduling.

Setting Ground Rules

Establish the ground rules that will be associated with the coaching sessions. There are two areas in particular that you will want to discuss:

• Boundaries

  It is essential that you set boundaries over what you will not discuss at coaching sessions. For example, some coaches are not happy about discussing their personal relationships or lives so if you are not then you have to make that clear to the coachee.

• Confidentiality

  It is also essential as a coach to reassure the coachee that anything that is discussed in the coaching sessions will not be passed on to any other colleagues. Even if you think that by telling someone else it will help the coachee you should try not to until they give you their permission. However, if the coachee admits to doing some serious wrong doing then you may be forced into telling someone else to make things right.

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