The Coaching Context

Coaching encourages the development of a success environment in the workplace.

This activity contrasts ‘command and control’ management with simple coaching techniques. The term ‘success environment’ implies that employees have potential which can be tapped – acorns becoming oak trees – as opposed to employees being seen as empty vessels waiting to be filled with a supervisor’s knowledge and experience.

This activity uses two simple exercises, one to expose the problems implicit in ‘command and control’ cultures and the other to demonstrate how competence can be increased by applying a simple coaching technique. 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.

Both exercises are fun and both deliver powerful messages in a simple and direct way.

* Trainer’s notes available.

Asking Dynamic and Effective Coaching Questions

The purpose of this activity is to enable participants to become better coaches by learning to ask more effective questions.

This is a fun session which really helps participants to improve their questioning skills as coaches.

The activity consists of two exercises; one to emphasise the need for co-operating partners to communicate effectively in order to achieve goals, and to use questions as the basis for communicating; the other enables coaches to improve their questioning skills by focusing on what a performer is most aware of as they carry out a task.

Trainer’s notes available.

Coaching to Work with the Four Major Personality Styles

This activity focuses on the ‘people’ side of working with customers and colleagues.

Participants consider the traits and behaviours of the four major personality styles. They look at how to recognise them and how to respond to customers who exhibit those styles. By ‘getting on their wavelength’ sales and customer service people will build rapport more quickly and, in so doing, they will work more effectively.

The purpose is to enable participants to recognise the four major personality styles. To introduce a self-coaching technique that will allow them to respond more effectively by ‘getting on the right wavelength’ with their customers.

This is great for all people who must work effectively with internal and external customers at the ‘people’ level.

* Trainer’s notes available.