Why teams are at the core of creating a coaching culture by David Clutterbuck

The place where most informal coaching happens is inside the work team. Rather than focus on training line managers as coaches, companies can achieve more by ensuring everyone has the skills of coaching and being coached.

About David Clutterbuck

One of the original pioneers of formal coaching and mentoring, co-founder of the European Mentoring & Coaching Council, visiting professor at three universities and author of over 70 books, David is at the forefront of team coach training. His book, Coaching the Team at Work stimulated the global movement for evidence-based team coaching nearly a decade ago. He is currently the lead editor of the team producing the first Practitioner’s Handbook of Team Coaching.

David demonstrates a high level of cultural sensitivity, which enables him to work in a wide range of cultures and contexts. The three key areas on which David is a leading international expert, are mentoring & coaching, team coaching, and systemic talent management.

Transcript

1. © David Clutterbuck 2013 Why teams are at the core of creating a coaching culture
2. "A coaching culture is one where the beliefs, values and mindsets driving people's behavior are deeply rooted in the discipline of coaching." Clutterbuck, Megginson, Bajer (2015)
3. …and one more… “ A coaching culture exists in an organisation when a coaching approach is a key aspect of how the leaders, managers and staff engage and develop all their people and engage their stakeholders, in ways that create increased individual, team and organisational performance and shared value for all stakeholders.” Peter Hawkins (2012)
4. Three aspects of coaching culture Individual Team Organisation
5. Do we want a C&M culture? • What kind of culture does a company in our business need to have to survive and thrive in the next 10 years? • How different do we want our business to be from its current and potential competitors? • What should be the source of that differentiation? Do we believe we can maintain long-term competitive advantage through the exceptional performance of our people? • How much change in culture are we capable of undertaking? (Have we got the resilience to follow this path, wherever it takes us?)
6. Laying the foundations for coaching culture Purpose • Why should we develop or strengthen a coaching culture in our organisation • Do we have a robust business case? Vision • What will coaching culture will look and feel like? • What are the guiding ideas? • What mind shifts need to happen in our organisation for coaching to take root? • How do they translate into observable behaviours and competencies? Strategy • How will we get there? • Who has to be involved? • What tools resources do we need? • How do we develop them? • What are our priorities? • How do we measure progress?
7. A coaching and mentoring strategy is an integrated and planned approach to: • Building organisational competence to coach and mentor internally • Using external coaching and mentoring resources with high efficacy • Achieving value for money from both internally and externally resourced coaching and mentoring • Aligning coaching and mentoring to the corporate strategy
8. Components of a coaching strategy • Developing the skills of line managers to use coaching behaviours and hold developmental conversations • Creating a coaching culture within the work team • Educating employees in how to be coached and mentored; and to take charge of their own careers and self-development • Quality and VFM in using external coaches • Creating an internal cadre of experienced, semi-professional coaches • Supervision for coaches • Team coaching by a trained team coach • Linking the coaching mindset to business objectives • IT and other supporting resources • Targeting coaching and mentoring programmes --- for example, nurturing talent and achieving greater diversity • Integrating coaching and mentoring • Measurement • Top management sponsors and role models • Coaching and mentoring management
9. What hinders line manager coaching? — Managers lacking confidence to effectively apply coaching skills — Team members not aware of what is going on — The sense that both parties may have hidden agendas — Conflict of interests — “I don’t have time to coach!” - conflict between pressure to deliver short term task objectives and the longer term development needs of team members — Groupthink — Inequality in who gets coaching
10. Like a dance, effective coaching requires the active, informed cooperation of at least two people. Training a line manager as a coach and expecting the team to pick it up as they go is like a tango, where only one of the partners knows the steps!
11. Elements of a systemic approach to coaching within the team • Everyone learns at least the basics of coaching • Everyone learns how to be coached • Learning about coaching takes place over time, with opportunities to experiment and practise • There is a positive psychological contract • Everyone may be coached by anyone (including the leader/manager) • There is ample time for reflection together
12. Things to keep in mind… — If you are going to change the system, you have to change the whole system! — Acquiring the coaching mindset takes time — The line manager and the team need to have clear expectations of each other — The change process needs to be supported — Learning needs to be related to current issues for the team
13. Helping line managers have developmental conversations • The team development plan • Burying the traditional appraisal process • Recognising the trigger points for quitting • Turning a team into a talent factory
14. Creating a talent factory — Hiring people who will outgrow their job role and who are attracted by the prospect of being stretched — Giving them both constant challenge, new experience and important responsibilities, along with the support to ensure they are able to cope — Expecting and valuing the lessons from mistakes. (Facebook’s values include Fail harder) — Having honest conversations about when and how they will move on to greater things
15. Coaching individuals vs coaching teams — Confidentiality — Relationship scope — Reaching decisions/decision quality
16. The team coaching process — Preparation — Scoping and contracting — Process skills development — Coaching conversations — Process review — Process transfer — Outcomes review
17. The team coaching conversation 1. Contracting: what responsibilities do we have to each other? 2. Overarching goal 3. Define the issue. Why is it important now? 4. Context: Understand the system(s) 5. Redefinition 6. Seeking individual and collective mindshift 7. Alternative ways forward 8. Decisions – including deciding not to decide 9. Re-contracting
18. Key steps to make effective use of external coaches Determine the purpose of external coaching Create and maintain an appropriate pool of coaches Match coaches with coaching clients Three-way contracting Evaluate & measure results Harvest the learning
19. How do you know how the executive coaches you use compare to “world class” coaches?
20. The key elements of a coach assessment centre • Robust application process to identify suitable candidates • Helping selected coaches prepare • Psychological interview, to identify relevant personality and or other dysfunctions, which may cause concern • Panel interview, to assess knowledge, CPD, ethicality, use of supervision, “organisational fit” and other aspects of practice • “Real play” using executive volunteers • Reflections by coachee • Reflections by coach • Feedback to coach
21. Where coaches most often fail to perform • Use of supervision • Managing boundaries • Relevance and depth of CPD • Commercial awareness – linking issues with the business context • Defining their personal philosophy of coaching • Over-dependence on simplistic models (e.g. GROW) • Too narrow a portfolio of coaching approaches
22. Evolution of coach competence Coaching approach Style Critical questions Models-based Control How do I take them where I think they need to go? How do I adapt my technique or model to this circumstance? Process-based Contain How do I give enough control to the client and still retain a purposeful conversation? What’s the best way to apply my process in this instance? Philosophy- based Facilitate What can I do to help the client do this for themselves? How do I contextualise the client’s issue within the perspective of my philosophy or discipline? Systemic eclectic Enable Are we both relaxed enough to allow the issue and the solution to emerge in whatever way they will? Do I need to apply any techniques or processes at all? If I do, what does the client context tell me about how to select from the wide choice available to me?
23. Integrating supervision of external and internal coaching resources • Different perspectives and skills • Combined supervision groups • Internal/external mentoring pairs
24. Thank you for listening David Clutterbuck David Clutterbuck Partnership Woodlands, Tollgate, Maidenhead, Berks, UK, SL6 4L J Mobile: +44 (0)7747 012334 iPhone: +44 (0) 7710 170019 Skype: david.clutterbuck1 Twitter: Mentor2mentors Blogsite: davidclutterbuck.wordpress.com E-mail: david@davidclutterbuckpartnership.com Website: www.davidclutterbuckpartnership.com