Coaching skills builder – Stage 2
In last week’s blog I introduced the idea of a ‘skills builder’ for coaching.
My motivation, as a trainer of coaching, is to provide a personalised route to progress for anybody interesting in developing coaching skills.
The ‘builder’ is designed to allow different entry points, whatever the ability, current level of skill and resources available (particularly time and support).
Last week I covered Stage 1. This involved Step 1: Getting comfortable just asking more questions, and Step 2: Listening more actively.
More details can be found here:
http://www.thehilltribe.co.uk/coaching-skills-builder-stage-1/
The next four steps examine the ‘art’ of questioning:
Step 3
Replace giving advice with asking a question
Building on the idea of asking more questions, it’s then worth thinking about when and where questions could be judiciously applied.
We can often step in quickly to offer advice, thinking we’re being helpful – in fact we’re encouraged to do so. Perhaps more helpful would be to coach; pausing and asking a question to get somebody to think about their actions, to help them plot their own (different) approach.
Remember that your advice is like a ‘trump card’ – you can lay it on the table at any point. At least make receiver work for it!
Step 4
Differentiate your questioning techniques
Next, it’s worth paying attention to the type of questions you’re asking. This should be driven by the kind of response you are seeking.
Closed questions will elicit a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. They are useful for bringing a conversation to a conclusion.
But if you are trying to generate understanding – on the part of yourself and the person being coached – you will need to ask more open questions. Helpful here are ‘where’, ‘when’, ‘what’, ‘who’ and ‘how’ questions, as appropriate. Note that ‘why’ should be used sparingly. ‘Why’ can sometimes feel accusatory, regardless of the questioner’s intentions. It can make the person (being asked) respond defensively, rather than openly and honestly.
Step 5
Think about ‘solutions-based’ questions and/or those that will generate positive outcomes
As you get more comfortable with your coaching skills you will realise you do not need to know that much detail about a problem situation; you are more concerned with resolution.
So instead of perhaps asking: ‘What is the reason for customer sales being below target?’ (which might produce defensiveness) a question like: ‘What do you need to be able to restore sales figures to target?’ might he more useful. It broadens the thinking and stimulates the idea of possibility.
Step 6
Structured questioning
There are questioning ‘journeys’ that follow a loose structure, from starting with an issue towards reaching a conclusion. These can provide a foundation for your questioning approach. The ‘four pillars of being supportive’ is one such example. The first pillar is about suspending judgment – to build trust, fairness and equality between coach and coachee. Building on this, the next two pillars encourage active listening and open questioning, both covered earlier. Finally, make sure you provide feedback, to motivate and highlight if and how development is taking place. Over time, these four pillars will support a new way of conversing naturally.
Again, if you’re thinking about trying out these and/or last week’s suggestions, please let me know how you get on.
Next week: The final four stages.
Leave a reply