Coaching On The Job

It’s easier just to tell them

Slam went the front door…slam went his bedroom door. “What’s on earth the matter with Lewis?” I asked Claire as I recovered from the whirlwind that was my 14 year old son.

“I only asked him to cut the grass this morning” explained Claire “I wish I hadn’t bothered now. Can you do it darling?”

You see it’s often easier to do jobs yourself rather than delegating, although my wife is a dab hand at delegating.

I looked outside and saw the lawnmower had been dragged from the shed and lay motionless on the grass. I quickly put two and two together and realised that Lewis had tried starting the old beast, failed and had given up in a teenager style.

Yes it would have been easier to just do it myself but wait…let’s try out some workplace coaching on my son and see if I can use a new model called COACH which works really well in “on the job” coaching. COACH works when something has happened at work, maybe you’ve observed someone doing some activity or someone has come to you for advice and help in doing something.

Many of us slip into telling the person the answer or just giving feedback, but COACH lets you use classic coaching techniques to draw out the answer from your coachee.
In these situations GROW doesn’t work. Yes you can bend it and squeeze it to make it work, like trying to put on a welly that’s too small – it’ll work but will feel awfully uncomfortable. Grow is ideal when the coachee has something they need to achieve – a goal – an objective or aim and works in sit down meetings such as 1 to 1’s or appraisals.

COACH works best when you’re right in the thick of work and someone wants your help or your feedback. A little bit like a teenager and a lawn mower that won’t start.
COACH like GROW is an acronym and stands for:

Competency
Outcomes
Action
CHeck

Let me explain.

Competency

Competency is where you ask questions to assess what they have done so far. What actions they have taken, what they’ve achieved. Questions that fit here are:

“What have you done so far?”
“Explain what you’ve achieved?”
“What have you tried so far?”

Outcome

Outcome is where you find out what the desired outcome is or what result is needed. Questions here are:

“What is it you want to achieve?”
“What does success look like to you?”
“Is it something you want to do?”

Action

Action is where you inspire them to take some action to achieve the outcome. Questions that come to mind here are:

“What could you try?”
“What if we tried this, what do you think of that?”
“How could we go about that?”
“If I made some suggestions, might that get you inspired?”

CHeck

Here we check progress and maybe give some further feedback. Some questions:

“How are you getting on?”
“What went well?”
“What else could you try?”
“What extra help do you need?”
“How confident do you feel?”

COACH in action - a Lawn Mower Case Study

It did take me a while to get Lewis’ attention and encourage him downstairs into the garden. There was a lot of feet dragging and complaining I have to say. Bit once we got outside I asked him.

“So Lewis, show me what you’ve done so far” (Competency)

“Well I dragged it outside and pulled the cord like you showed me and nothing happened?”

“What else have you done Lewis?” (Competency)

“That’s it Dad…and it wont work?”

“Lewis, what are you trying to do this afternoon? (Outcome)

“That’s obvious Dad, I’m trying to cut the whole lawn before Jack comes round”

“And what will you get if you do?” (Outcome)

“£10”

“Blimey” I said “That’s a good rate for an hours work.” (Sarcasm)

“OK Lewis let’s look at how else we can do this for you. Can I offer some suggestions?” (Action)

“OK Dad but we better be quick, Jack comes round at 4 O’Clock”

“So what kind of things can we do to get this mower started?” (Action)

“I dunno Dad, I’ve tried everything.”

“Try it again Lewis, sometimes the engine gets flooded and leaving it a little while often means you can start it.” (Action)

“OK Dad…here we go….see same problem…nothing”

“What can you remember you need to do that I showed you last week Lewis?” (Action)

“Uhmmm…petrol….but that’s fine….ahh….the switch…what did you call it?”

“The choke” (Dad being smart)

“Ahh that needs flicking…let’s try it again….”

VROOOMMMM

“Well done Lewis. Are you OK now to finish the job?” (Check)

“No problem…thanks Dad”

Brilliant I thought, and with a smug grin I returned indoors with every intention of putting the Coca Coal Cup Final on the TV with a cold beer from the fridge…until Claire saw me sneak indoors to put my feet up.

So you can see COACH can work in everyday situations where we might be tempted just to tell people how it is or do it ourselves. With a little thought and preparation and a COACH model to follow, you could get your grass cut for you.

Paul is an international sales speaker, sales trainer, author and coach based in the UK.

He specialises in rapport selling and rapport coaching and can ignite his audiences large or small.

Sign up to my weekly eZine of sales and coaching tips and get a free report on getting the best out of 2009 plus a free hypnotic relaxation MP3 to download. www.archertraining.co.uk

01452 730276

paul@paularcher.com

Blog – www.paularcher.com

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