Human Resources
Business Coaching For High Performance (E)
What is the difference between Training and Coaching? What is the role of Coach? What is the successful communication during the Business Coaching? Why is coaching and mentoring so important?
Posted: Jun 2008
Coaching is a term that is used very frequently in many areas of human activity: sport, school, work or even family. There is a misunderstanding what is the difference between Training and Coaching. Both, the Training and Coaching, can broadly be understood as a learning process for an individual. The difference is in method of learning.
During the Training, the Trainee is passively receiving and adopting knowledge from his trainer or teacher. In this process the stress is given to term "Telling" how something can be accomplished.
On the other hand during the Coaching process, the Coach is "Showing" to his Coachee how to accomplish something and then "Asking" from him/her to do it.
Coaching is a skill which can be applied to unlock others’ potential to maximize their performance. Business Coaching is a form of on-the-job learning that uses work or any other live situation to provide opportunities for planned development and guidance. It also involves helping people to develop skill of learning by themselves, rather than simply teaching them. Business Coaching is steering the individual in the right direction.
Business Coaching is Development at work in which problems are turned into learning situations, in a planned way, under guidance of the Coach.
Why is Business Coaching That Important?
Although a sport champion is world class, he/she spends a lot of time with his/her coach to constantly improve on performance. Most people understand that the very best performers in the world still want and need coaching to improve still further. They know that otherwise they will be outrunned by others however good they are, therefore they can still do better. The same rule applies in the business.
Benefits of Business Coaching for High Performance are:
- Development of people
- Full use of experience
- Development of specific skills
- Changing or encouraging of particular attitudes or behaviors
- Reinforcement of areas of knowledge
- Sharing experience and expertise
- Motivation and guidance
- Preparation of people to act more responsibility
- Addressing the issue of Employee Turnover
The Communication System
Often people’s style of management is turned towards telling. This is almost certainly because we experience this all our lives, from the school onwards, and simply apply what we have learned. There are advantages of telling. Knowledge or instructions are easily communicated. From the other side, it limits people's involvement, initiative and decision making.
A more balanced style is Business Coaching that combines telling with asking. Through questioning, Coach is providing the Coachee with control, because he/she chooses the way forward, has high awareness and is 100% responsible. The coach, upon hearing details of the Coachee's views and plans have the opportunity to check it against expectation. Then, Coach can support him/her or take control if it is necessary.
Business Coaching is Not About Power and Status
Because the Coaching if focused on Coachee, it releases the Coach from the need to be an expert necessarily. For example, top sports people rely on their Coach, even though they may not have the same high athletic levels of the sportsperson. These Coaches clearly cannot "coach downwards" from a position of expertise and power, and yet they can improve performance. Coaching allows them to coach upwards; and if this is possible, so is sideways coaching (between peers) and outward coaching (with customers/clients).
Business Coaching can be really successful even if you are not an expert. However, coaching and mentoring can also be done by experts. For example a Sales Supervisor is coaching a Salesman. These skills can apply either way and the key is in developing the individual.
