This pack has ready-to-run ideas and truly practical exercises to make coaching relevant and immediately appealing to managers. Here are fresh approaches to essential coaching skills. Develop skilful questioning techniques; demonstrate the GROW sequence; show that using simple coaching strategies is more effective than 'command and control' management. Show your managers how they can use coaching techniques to help teams clarify their team goals and focus on specific objectives. Empower each team member to take responsibility for doing their part to build a better team.
This pack demonstrates really practical and unique applications of coaching skills. Explore how coaching skills can help define goals, and plan the way forward in project management and problem solving strengthen relationships with customers... develop strategies to handle different personality types... brainstorm ideas... Using the activities in this pack you'll be able to show the managers in your organisation how to coach effectively so that the people in their teams take responsibility for improving their own performance, allowing the manager to get on with other things.
Author Tony Gillen has used these activities successfully with clients both here in the UK and in the United States of America. He uses them to help participants focus on achieving real results, while at the same time 'growing' the individual responsible for doing the task. And now you can do the same. Tony says, "If you want to train managers, supervisors or team leaders to use real coaching skills, this resource will show you how. With this pack, you'll be training your managers to use coaching skills that can be used at ground level on Monday mornings!"
List of Activities:
1. Power ball
A fun and fast moving activity utilising simple coaching skills to attain higher and higher levels of achievement. The team generates its own team spirit while achieving a 'world-class' performance.
2. The coaching context
Growing oaks from acorns; this activity contrasts 'command and control' management with simple coaching techniques. In the first exercise the 'goal' is merely to get the job done; in the second, it is to achieve the goal and 'grow' the employee by allowing them to take responsibility for their own performance and channel it into improved results.
3. The coaching circle
This activity will enable participants to achieve better results in the workplace by applying a simple yet powerful coaching tool to focus on specific goal-oriented action.
4. Coaching in action
An activity which enables each participant to be coached on an issue that's important to them, and to commit to a specific action. It introduces the GROW sequence from the coachee's perspective to empower a performer to create a Goal from a work issues, explore the Reality of the issues, consider their Options, and then produce an action plan to find their own Way forward.
5. Using the GROW sequence to achieve goals
Participants experience the power of the GROW sequence as coaches, focusing a performer on taking that all-important first step towards achieving a goal. Coaching a partner on a work-related issue allows participants to raise their own skill levels and experience the results of generating responsibility in others to 'own a task and to see it through to completion'.
6. The ten questions of performance
A problem-solving activity, giving participants access to ten critical questions which expose the real seat of demotivation in a performer. Once these questions are applied to a given situation, the 'entry point' for coaching can be established.
7. Asking effective coaching questions
An opportunity for participants to enhance their coaching skills by learning to ask more effective questions. This activity utilises 'play' type exercises where participants achieve better performance as a direct result of becoming better at asking effective questions.
8. Building a better team
Team work is enhanced when the members develop agreed team qualities and work to agreed rules. This activity enables participants to use coaching techniques to set, agree and develop the framework which will lead to their becoming a better team.
9. The coaching circle and teams
This activity focuses on applying the coaching circle technique to working as a team. Participants perform a seemingly impossible task which, when done successfully, will satisfy the customer's requirements. The task can be seen as a 'hot potato' - or an opportunity to become an effective team able to deliver the required results.
10. Using GROW in team meetings
A powerful way to turn team meetings into goal-focused events. In this activity, participants use the GROW sequence to focus on creating an action plan to ensure that clear decisions are made, team members own the actions agreed, and decisions are carried through to successful completion.
11. Becoming a better leader
In this activity, participants explore the four primary qualities of leadership: vision, trust, communication and self-improvement. They then coach each other to further develop at least one of these qualities, and so improve their own leadership skills.
12. Coaching to increase sales and enhance customer service
An exciting opportunity to focus on the role of sales and customer support staff to address client goals. This activity explores how to use coaching skills in client meetings to strengthen the relationship, serve them better, and so do more business.
13. Coaching to work with the four major personality styles
'Generals', 'Socialisers', 'Team Players' and 'Detectives' all think, act and operate differently. Get on their particular wavelength and you'll build rapport quickly and work effectively. This activity explores how to do just that. It includes a set of proven responses, and a section of self-coaching to enable participants to measure how well they are responding to each personality style.
14. Coaching and project management
Keeping a project on track from start to finish is no easy feat. This activity addresses the rules the project team should work to and then uses coaching principles to define the project goal and each team member's commitment to it. Participants then really go to town on the goal - applying coaching techniques to each of the ten standard project parameters to ensure that the project goal will be achieved.
15. Brainstorming
The present + outrageous ideas = the future! Using innate creativity to look at a problem in order to consider options and find a way forward. This activity applies simple but critical 'second level' brainstorming techniques to solve problems and achieve goals.
16. Analysing complex issues
When simple coaching techniques won't do! This activity enables participants to explore reality through Force Field Analysis and fishbone diagrams, and apply these techniques to two real-world issues.
17. Self-coaching
An activity which is directed specifically at enabling participants to use self-coaching to improve their own coaching skills. In a broader context, self-coaching is often an ideal vehicle for managers to improve any aspect of their responsibilities - especially when there is no one to turn to for a one-to-one coaching or support session.
18. How to lead a clinic session
This activity offers a method of improving skill sets through practical observation and 'on-job-discussion'. Participants work in groups of three, coaching, observing and reviewing their own and their colleagues' coaching abilities in order to achieve even more in their own coaching skill.
