1:1 Coaching 

Time:
• First Coaching Session: 45minutes.
• Work Based Activity: 2-4 hours.
• Follow-up Coaching Session: 45 minutes.

Aims:
• This module looks at change from the employee’s perspective and seeks to support those that struggle to adapt to new situations or appreciate the need for change. It helps them explore what they need to do in order to feel more comfortable about the alterations proposed.

Group Size:
This module is designed for a one to one coaching session.

Useful For:
Any employee who is currently on the receiving end of a change initiative, who is showing some resistance to that change and generally finds difficulty adapting to change.

Notes:
Influencing employees to buy in to change often means highlighting what is wrong with the current situation in order to promote the benefits of change. For employees who are quite happy with the status quo, this may not be easy and, for them, the challenge to their current reality can feel very uncomfortable. Persuading the cynical or reluctant employee of the virtues of a change programme will likely have little effect. Instead, a different and more personal approach is required and coaching on a 1-1 basis will allow this individual the space and time to be listened to and to have a ‘voice’.

Usually, we expect our coachee to come to their first session ready to change and clear that their actions or behaviour needs to be different. Clearly, where you are coaching someone who is cynical about change, this will not be the case and this can make effective coaching more difficult. This module is therefore not geared around the GROW model but instead uses a more exploratory form of coaching. It is advisable to pitch this session not so much as a coaching session for the employee, but as a conversation to discuss the change initiative and their reaction to it.

Time:
• First Coaching Session: 60-90 minutes.
• Work Based Activity: 1-2 hours.
• Follow-up Coaching Session: 60 minutes.

Aims:
• To develop both the skill and confidence to deliver effective presentations.

Group Size:
This module is designed for a one to one coaching session.

Useful For:
Employees who need to be able to stand up and speak confidently and effectively to groups of people – large or small. Ideal for either staff members who need to present to groups on a regular basis, or to employees who have a one-off presentation they need to prepare and deliver.

Notes:
It is important to differentiate between lack of skill and lack of confidence for speaking in public. There is a need to develop both, because as skill develops confidence will flourish.

The skill required for presenting is developed largely by coaching the employee around preparing for a presentation. Preparation is absolutely critical on so many levels and with good preparation and practise comes confidence.

A lot of people find the prospect of standing up to talk in public very daunting and this can cause them a huge amount of stress.

So, why is this? Many people’s self-belief in their ability to deliver a talk has been destroyed by one incident in their past when they spoke in public and were left feeling humiliated or embarrassed by the whole experience. This could have been a presentation they delivered at work, a college presentation or sometimes can even be traced right back to school days when an impressionable child was made to feel foolish by a teacher when speaking in front of the rest of the class. Don’t underestimate the significant negative emotional impact that a one-time event like this can have on an individual’s confidence to deliver a talk again, and please tread carefully, being empathetic and understanding of how your coachee might be feeling.

Time:
• First Coaching Session: 45minutes.
• Work Based Activity: 2-4 hours.
• Follow-up Coaching Session: 45 minutes.

Aims:
• To develop the skills required to be sensitive to other people’s needs and feelings, and to better understand a colleague’s perspective.

Group Size:
This module is designed for a one to one coaching session.

Useful For:
Employees who appear to lack ‘people skills’ and don’t have the ability or the inclination to empathise with work colleagues. These employees are likely to be more task orientated in their working style and their first priority is getting the job done. They may be high performers but, as a consequence of always putting the needs of the task before the needs of the people, these employees have compromised working relationships with their colleagues.

Notes:
Understanding other people requires the ability to empathise. So what is empathy? Empathy is about being sensitive to other people’s needs and, importantly, it’s about being able to see their perspective. It’s not necessarily about agreeing, it’s about having the ability to understand the other person’s position.

Empathic people are more approachable; they get on better with others. They are also aware of the impact their own behaviour has on other people, which further enhances their interpersonal abilities. Empathy is a skill that is becoming increasingly recognised in business and forms a key part of the emotional intelligence tool kit.

Time:
• First Coaching Session: 45minutes.
• Work Based Activity: 2-4 hours.
• Follow-up Coaching Session: 45 minutes.

Aims:
• To educate the coachee as to what assertiveness really means and the behaviours associated with passive, assertive and aggressive styles.
• To raise the coachee’s awareness of their own style and enable them to create an action plan that will help them develop their assertiveness skills.

Group Size:
This module is designed for a one to one coaching session.

Useful For:
Any member of staff who is failing to assert their own needs, whilst respecting the needs of others. This module is equally suitable for employees who are too passive in their behaviour and those who inappropriately use an aggressive style to assert their needs. It is important that the coachee comes to the first session having already agreed, perhaps as part of a performance review, that assertiveness is a skill they need and want to develop.

Notes:
The coach should be sensitive when discussing assertiveness with their coachee as a failure to be assertive can be caused by low self-esteem. Be very aware of your boundaries as a coach and do not enter into a counselling conversation.