WHAT IS THE coaching process?
Chemistry check
This initial meeting ensures there’s a good fit and we can work well together. It also gives the coach a high-level sense of the coaching goals for the individual. C-space will usually have had a pre-chat with HR and spoken to the line manager to get an idea of the goals, but they really need to come from the individual themselves. We will also get an idea of the individual’s readiness for coaching; their understanding of what coaching is and their commitment – how engaged they are around the process. It’s about getting their buy-in for the journey and the investment they will need to make.
MEETING 1 – Situation review
If there’s good chemistry, the first meeting is about looking at the whole self, in a work context, from the coachee’s perspective. We look at past career history, talk through particular highs and lows and what their version of success looks like. Then we do the Hogan report. All our coaches are qualified in Hogan, a comprehensive leadership and personality profiling tool. It analyses strengths – when you are overplaying and underplaying those strengths in normal circumstances and under stress – and what values lie beneath those behaviours. Hogan takes what you may have done before, in terms of personality profiling tools, to a whole new level.
MEETINGS 2 & 3 – Perspective check
Next, we compare the coachee’s perspective with those of others. We undertake thirty-minute 360 interviews in person, on the phone or through an online tool. We will talk to the manager, senior stakeholders, a group of peers and a group of direct reports. We completely customise the questions to the individual, in line with their personal coaching goals. When we meet the coachee to debrief, it is often a life-changing moment. Seldom have they had that level of focus on them – they may have used a 360 tool before but often it’s hidden behind a performance review process – so there isn’t that level of openness and honesty. They get some really useful information in that report, such that when they combine it with their Hogan, they start to see some unique trends, common themes and feedback that’s going to take them to the next level in their journey.
MEETING 4 – Action plan
After having taken perspectives from both angles, we go into the action planning phase. The content depends on the individual, some like to have a detailed spreadsheet, others prefer high-level coaching goals, attached to practical actions. For example, if a high-level goal is to ‘build my network’ we will work through a networking exercise and analyse the strengths of their current relationships and what they are going to commit to – perhaps monthly industry conference events – those commitments are their commitments.
At this point, once the action plan is tied down, we will have a 3-way meeting with the manager. The purpose of the meeting is to share the plan and create accountability into the organisation, to see whether the line manager has anything to add, as well as to establish the support the coachee needs from the line manager and the organisation (e.g. help with a difficult relationship, introductions to different people in the network, some feedback in the moment).
MEETING 5 – Check in
At this stage we leave longer between the meetings. It’s about keeping up the energy, supporting the coachee through the change and keeping things on track. We look at what’s worked and what hasn’t worked. If they haven’t tried things they said they would, why haven’t they tried them? What are their blockers and what help do they need? We will often bring different toolkits, articles, TED talks, models, or the latest leadership thinking into the learning journey – the choice of material depends on the coachee.
MEETING 6 – Evaluation
In the final meeting we go back to the action plan and assess and evaluate against the initial measures of success. As well as evaluating from a personal perspective, we will have a second 3-way meeting with the line manager, and they will give their thoughts on how the coaching has gone. By the end of that evaluation, the aim is that the coachee’s onward journey is completely self-sustainable – they have the C-space ‘voice in their head’ and there is no longer any need to meet with the coach.
