The Arc described here can be used to enhance your Agile Retrospective.
Coaching, done well, is the act of drawing out knowledge and helping clients gain insight and clarity. Coaches do not come up with solutions – though they may be asked to draw from their experience and expertise, the optimal outcome of a coaching session is a solution that the client is comfortable with and one which inspires a sense of ownership. Buy-in and engagement will be stronger and much more likely to be sustainable when the client was first to arrive at the epiphany.
Experienced coaches will recognize that they do the following – even if it may be not a conscious effort.
- BUILD RAPPORT
- IDENTIFY ISSUES
- CLARIFY AND SEEK TO BROADEN THE SCOPE
- APPROACH ACTION
- DESIGN ACTION
- SUPPORT ACTION AND CELEBRATE
Building rapport involves all of the tools in the coaches’ toolkit. This is where the foundation of the coaching relationship begins. There must be trust, active listening, and respect. A coach should use the initial sessions productively, steering clients away from harsh self-judgement and repetitious negativity. Coaches must maintain confidentiality, show empathy, and listen for what is NOT being said. This is not a simple or passive activity for either the coach or the client.
Once the relationship is ready, the coach can move the discussion along to identifying issues. Listen for importance of specific items, for emotionally charged scenarios or triggers, and for repeated themes. Allow information to be pulled out of the client, avoid making suggestions that lead the discussion down a specific path. Clarify your understanding of what has come up naturally, then seek to expand things a little. Like blowing air into a balloon, seek to expand the possibilities with the client. You do not want to get quickly into plans of action, as that may narrow the focus. First, allow the client to view a larger set of possibilities.
And, finally, determine a course of action. Through the development of an action and followup with the client, your coaching sessions generate tangible value. As a coach, there is little more satisfying than witnessing your client break down barriers and stretch beyond prior expectations.
Help your clients find the energy to make positive changes through the use of all of your coaching tools. Be present, be there for the client, and learn.
(I have adapted the Coaching Arc from a blend of my own experience and from information I gleaned in a coaching course led by It’s Understood Communication.).