Can Coaches Create the Same Impact With Fast Coaching?
Coaching is one of the most in-demand solutions for organizations as the need to develop leaders and managers—now—is becoming more urgent.
As we all experience more and more demands on our time, some coaching participants have expressed an interest in shorter coaching sessions, but with accelerated impact. Can we create the same impact in short coaching sessions?
Would Fast Coaching Work on Your Team?
We’ve written before about what to look for in a coach. It is important to recognize that one approach to coaching doesn’t fit all. Will fast-start, high-impact coaching sessions work for your leaders? Well, it depends on the individual coachee and the coach. If a coachee is fully engaged and focused during the time with their coach, an experienced and highly-skilled coach can help unlock insights very quickly—but it may not be everyone’s preference.
This interest in fast-start coaching is not surprising since coaching is an enriching way to unlock our full potential and create sustainable change and innovation. Here are a few tips to think about if you, or your leaders, are interested in a fast approach to coaching:
Coaches will need to stay disciplined to the available time frame, but don’t rush the process: Sounds obvious, but there is a very real danger in a shortened time frame that the session never gets past the preamble. Keep in mind that leaders have different styles and preferences. Coaches will need to ensure they identify the individual needs of their coachees and that their approach resonates with the coachee to will help unlock new opportunities for them. Coachees can also learn to better communicate their learning and style preferences with an Everything DiSC® assessment.
Coaches should focus on one or two essential questions per session: The coach and coachee will hone the session down to a few essential points, per session, and then give the coachee the space to think, reflect, answer, and clarify. Powerful, thought-proving questions keep the coachee in the moment and unlock new perspectives.
The coach and coachee need to come prepared: It is also very important that everyone come prepared—mentally and emotionally—to dive into the work. Over time this becomes expected, and the coachee will develop a certain mindset that can even last outside of the sessions. The ability to be laser-focused, contemplate second and third consequences, think around the corner—all create great insights and foresights that the coachee can practice outside the coaching session.
Fast coaching can help coachees learn to put themselves in the driver's seat and to take a proactive versus a reactive approach to situations such as:
- Feeling like they are putting fires out all day long
- Feeling like their to-do-list is only getting longer and not shorter
- Wondering when to find time to mentor and lead direct reports/team members to their next opportunities
- Confronting the same roadblocks again and again
Whether a fast approach will work for individual leaders on your team or your coachees choose more traditional coaching, it is interesting to think about the numerous ways coaching can be implemented. If you are curious to learn more about coaching options for your team, FlashPoint is here to help!
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash
