Two Coaching Sessions Analysis - Case Study Example

Coaching Analysis Name Institution Course Tutor Date 1. An overview of two coaching sessions Coaching is one of the best things improving effectiveness in work and also in one’s own life. It is a collaborative relationship that is used by a coach and another individual who is willing (client). In the conversations, a client is helped to achieve a goal or goals. The coach is a skilled person and he lets the client to lead (Donner & Wheeler 2009). To understand it better, comparing two sessions, an effective and an ineffective one can demonstrate it clearly. The following is a conversation where time management is the problem that a client faces. Two models will be provided. The first one is the one of ineffective time management and the other is of effective time management. In the conversation, John’s priority, which is also the goal of the coaching looks towards improved time management. a. Ineffective coaching session John: I have a problem in managing my time. I always find myself doing very little every day Coach: O yes, I also find myself in the same mess. I think this is a problem for many. John: You know, my employer always wants me to have everything done. I have tried talking with him severally but he always tells me that I have to do everything that regards me. For sure, he always makes me fall into the mess every day and I feel very much incapacitated. Coach: Oops! Your employer seems a helpless man. What will you do about it? I think I am embroiled in the same. I actually think that if you get a solution to this you will help me out also from this mess. John: I am looking for a course in time management. Maybe it will place me in a better position to handle my tasks. I am considering it. Coach: Do you have many employees working for you? John: O yes, I have twelve of them Coach: That is too much. Just be hopeful with time. Probably if you take a time management course will help you a lot, but I think another employer would be better for you. b. An effective time management John: I have a problem in managing my time. I always find myself doing very little every day Coach: A time management problem? Can you please talk more about it especially how you have come to conclude it that way? John: I do very little in a day and the more have it done, the more the list of tasks piles. Coach: So, suppose you solve the problem of managing your time, how will you be able to conclude you have successfully solved it? John: I think everything in my list will be done, of which seems unrealistic, because tasks will always surface. Coach: And how can a problem of this nature be solved? Can you think of similar problems that you managed to solve sometimes back. Have you tried talking to someone, made a list of weaknesses and strengths and so on? John: Actually, I have liked a lot to talk to some people about my problems and also listing my strengths and weaknesses. Coach: Do you feel such an approach will be fruitful in a situation like this? John: Yes, I believe it would be. Coach: And do you know any people you can talk to about it for help? John: Well, My employer seems to possess some good advice; in any case, that is what he’s supposed to do. I also have two people in the workplace whom I think enjoy their time management. Coach: Have you tried getting a particular advice at any time you have stayed with them? John: Yes, sometimes back I did, and I think I can ask them still. Coach: In that case therefore, do you think you can get some advice from your boss and those fellow workers, and then we talk about it in a week. John: Yes I can. Coach: Alright then, talk to them and you will tell me what you will specifically do and by when, right? John: Right. Coach: From what they tell, I guess you will be able to tell of a successful management of time, especially on how it is for you. John: That is a good idea, I guess it will work. Coach: Can we talk about it next week a time like this then? I am looking forward to hearing of specific actions that you would take and how their success will appear like. I think that is realistic, isn’t it? John: Yeah. I will try it. Thank you very much. 2. Coaching self-assessment Assessment of two coaching sessions is important for the development and improvement in my coaching skills. There has been a challenge in measuring and assessing the coaching skills due to the use of tools that are not valid and often unreliable. According to Grant et al (2007) it is important to measure and assess the goal-focused skills for coaching since it is a basis for benchmarking the coaching skills in individuals. Goal-focused coaching is a process that brings together two or more parties with the focus of finding solutions in a systematic manner in order to improve individual performance, learning experience and well-being. Before looking at the five goal-focused coaching competences it is important to appreciate the fact that both me as a coach and my coachee were obliged to regulate our thoughts, behaviors and feelings to be able to achieve the goal for the coaching process (Berg and Szabo, 2005). Application of intelligence and emotions really affected the outcome of my coaching process. During the coaching process I was keen to use emotional intelligence, especially in the effective coaching session. It helped me to accurately perceive my own emotions and of the person I was coaching and to facilitate my thinking throughout the coaching process. I was also in a position to understand how John’s emotions kept on changing over time, and hence adjust my questioning so that he did not lose focus on the coaching. Grant et al (2007) identified five important competences that are used to assess the outcomes of coaching. The goal-focused coaching competences include goal setting skills, working alliance, solution focus, managing the coaching process and accountability and the coaching outcomes. These key factors were manifested in my coaching and are to be used a basis for my personal assessment as a coach. Setting goals is very important in coaching as observed by Locke (1996) and it gives direction to the coaching process. They are the basis upon which the participants in the coaching process evaluate how they perform in the coaching. My goal as a coach in both the sessions was to find out how John managed his time, and how he could possibly improve time management. Although the goal was not achieved in the ineffective coaching session, it really worked well in the second coaching session. The goals set should relate to the values, level of achieving goals, well-being and personal satisfaction (Sheldon and Houser-Marko, 2001). I referred John to his friends to learn from them how to manage time, and this really impressed him since he realized that he was not the only person with time management problem. As a coach, I gave John a realistic solution to his problem, which could easily be achieved, in fact he left very excited. Creating a strong relationship with the coachee was one of my approaches to the coaching process. How the trainer relates to the trainee determines the respond he or she will get from the trainee. In the first coaching session, I realized that there was no strong connection between me and John and as a result, his response was not good. Building a strong working alliance requires a coach to show high level of empathy and understanding to the person being trained so as to establish a good environment in which the coachee can feel at home to express his or her ideas freely (Evers et al, 2006). Many coaches have a challenge of maintaining strong working relationships, which often leads to poor coaching or training outcomes as it can be seen in my first coaching session. I managed to maintain good rapport in the second coaching session that is why John was able to express to me what he went through, and what he wanted to do in order to improve on time (Ambler et al, 1992). Another goal-focused competence in coaching is solution-focus, which the coaches should put in practice to make the coaching effective. This competence helps the coach to understand that the main goal of coaching is to provide lasting solutions to the prevailing problems and not to dig into the past of the coachee (Whitemore, 2004). In the first coaching session I completely failed to provide solution to John’s problem of keeping time. I indicated to him that failing to manage time was not a big issue and that it should not bother him as such. Contrary to this, in the second session, I demonstrated solution-focus competence and John was satisfied with the advice I gave him. When coaching individuals, the coach should focus more on providing solutions to the problem facing the coachee and nor mere giving advice, and this was reflected in my interaction with John in both session of the coaching. Managing the process of coaching and being accountable is another goal-focused coaching competence identified by Grant et al (2007). It is important that the coach ensures that the coachee goes through all action steps agreed upon between them, and should hold the coachee accountable for what he or she does in performing the actions. In the second session, I promised to meet John the following week so as to monitor his progress on managing time, which implied that I was concerned about him improving his performance. The coach’s work of coaching should have consistent progress, and should be in a position to help the coachee check and assess his or her performance (Kilburg, 2001). During the next session, I would expect John to explain to me what really conspired when he discussed his problem to his friends, and whether or not his problem had come to an end. By doing this, I would be assisting him monitor and evaluate his performance. Lastly, helping the coachee achieve outcomes is an important competence of goal-focused coaching. These goals according to Grant et al (2007) have to be of value and meaningful to the coachee. In the first coaching session, I did not help John solve his problem as he expected. However, in the second session, John was convinced that his problem would come to an end after he talked to his friends who had the same problem. The ultimate goal of coaching is for the coachee to realize his or her goals so as to perceive the coaching process to be valuable (Peterson and Miller, 2005). 3. Balanced discussion From the two sessions above, a difference is seen in the handling of the problem in question. In the first discussion, the incompetence of the coach is seen from the way he handles John the client. He shares his own problems and does not make any positive suggestions to the client except wanting to him to share with him any successes he makes. Furthermore, he advises him to quit his job for another instead of helping him to face the problem in question. In the second session, John feels discouraged about the way he has been unable to accomplish his duties and has made a decision to seek assistance. The coach asks him expound on what he really thinks success would look like. This means he has to have a goal in mind, a kind of ideal time management through comparison of what he does and what he wants to achieve (Brittain & Potter 2009). This is not noticed in the first ineffective conversation. In fact the coach does not have any idea of the goal which the client wants has to be set (NCIC 2010). In the effective session, John is asked to choose between alternatives of solving the same problem, that is, making a pro and cons list or consulting people who have been successful. In the ineffective session, the client (John) is not given any alternativees; in fact the coach seems to have the same problems and cannot offer any helpful advice or support (NCIC 2010). The client in the effective session is helped to look for places where he can get important advice and he positively assents to seek the help and improve his weakness from various options presented by the coach. This shows that he is willing to cooperate with the coach and ready for any advice and that is why coaching requires willingness to take action (NCIC 2010). For an effective coaching as noticed from the above conversation, it should focus on several things. First of all, it should focus on skills and more so specific skills. This helps in leading to specific outcomes (Brittain & Potter 2009). Time management skills can be wanting in anyone because they may be ignored by an individual as long as he/she never challenges himself. John represents a worker who has just realized this challenge while he is already an employed worker. He thus seeks to change this lifestyle to handle his tasks effectively. Coaching can be done to improve performance. It focuses mostly on the performance of a role. It is useful because workers are helped to become more effective and it intervenes when there is a struggle on the part of workers (Driscoll & Cooper 2005). John is also in this stage and needs to improve his performance. Most of the time he is unable to do enough work in a day and he finds that he spends time poorly leading to poor performance. In this case, he does not want to give up, he seeks ways of improving his time and to handle enough work per day. Coaching is also developmental in that it challenges ones growth in various areas where excellence is wanting. The coach in this case challenges the client to develop a deeper way of thinking critically. Such thinking can involve assimilation of theory, researching and putting things into practice (NCIC 2010). John in the conversation above seeks ways of handling his time creatively to make sure that he handles his tasks systematically. Driscoll & Cooper (2005) have purported that development coaching can be used for workers who are already seasoned because their expertise can be broadened contributing to more opportunities. Coaching should be improved by a number of ways in the case above can be improved by a number of ways. The first one is the giving of clear and engaging directions (Brittain & Potter 2009). This ensures working purposely for the aim of helping the client reach the goal which is mentioned at the beginning as the case of John above in the second conversation. Secondly, it is good to set rewards for any excellence that is to be exerted in the process of coaching (Brittain & Potter 2009). The coach should also exhibit characteristics of being diplomatic and patient. Diplomatic as in being tactful and sensitive to the issues raised by the client and patient in bearing with the extremes that the client may move. Still, he/she should be encouraging and supportive, rather that adopting an external position of just listening and letting the client struggle in looking for ways that are unproductive (NIRN 2008). A coach should also be committed to the job, be flexible in his/her thinking to allow for any useful opinions. Finally, respect for a person’s challenges along with enthusiasm to encourage should always be manifested to raise the hopes of achieving the set goal is important (NIRN 2008). From the above discussion, I realize that coaching is an important thing in a person’s progress towards realizing personal goals. Furthermore, a person will once in a lifetime be involved in some organization as a member of that very organization. Engaging in coaching helps a person to work effectively for that organization and improve the productivity of the organization. It helps me to be ready also in helping people who find themselves in challenging situation which need someone to journey with them in a coaching session, either technical or casual. Conclusion Having explored the nature of coaching and its various dimensions, it is clear that it carries with itself various benefits that cannot be overlooked. There is therefore a need for at least everyone who desires to perfect his/her personal skills to seek this special exercise of coaching. It would be recommendable therefore that coaching be taught in various institutions as well as implemented in various organizations for effective results in the performance of such organizations. References Ambler, T., Roberts, A., & Vagneur, K. ( 1992). Developing international marketing managers: Getting out of the boxes. European Business Journal, 4 (2), p.40. Berg, I. K., & Szabo, P 2005 ‘Brief Coaching for lasting solutions’ ( Vol. xvi). New York: Nortion & Co. Brittain, C & Potter, C, (2009), Developing Worker Competence. In Potter, C. & Brittain, C, (Eds.) Child welfare supervision (262 -295). New York: Oxford University Press. Donner, G, Wheeler, M.M, 2009, Coaching in Nursing: An Introduction. Sigma theta tau international, honour society of nursing 1-36. Driscoll, J, & Cooper, R. (2005), Coaching for clinicians. Nursing Management , 12(1) 18 -23. Evers, W. J., Brouwers, A., & Tomic, W 2006 ‘A quasi-experimental study on management coaching effectiveness’, Consulting Psycholgy Journal: Practice and Research, 58 (3), pp.174-182. Grant, M. A,. & Cavanagh, M. J 2007 ‘The goal-focused coaching skills questionnaire: Preliminary findings’, Social behavior and Personality, 35 (6), pp.751-759. Kilburg, R. R 2001 ‘Facilitating intervention adherence in executive coaching: A model and methods’. Cosulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 53(4), pp.251-267. Locke, E. A 2002 ‘Setting goals for life and happiness’. In C.R. Snyder & S. J. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology. Oxford: Oxford university press. PP. 299-312. Northeast and Caribbean Implementation Centre, 2010, Basics of Coaching: A Brief Review of Recent Literature, March 2010. Web: Accessed on May 29, 2013. Peterson, D. B., & Miller, J 2005 ‘The alchemy of coaching: “You’re good. Jennifer, but you could be really good”. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 57 (1), pp. 14-40. Sheldon, K. M., & Houser-Marko, L 2001 ‘Self-concordance, goal attainment, and the pursuit of happiness: Can there be an upward spiral?’ Journal of Personality and social Psychology, 80 (1), pp.152-165. Whitemore, J 2004 ‘Something really has to change: ‘Change management’ as animperative rather than a topic’. Journal of Change Management, 4 (1), pp.5-14. Read More