Creating a coaching culture is a game changer that shifts the way people work together. Companies with strong coaching cultures have much higher employee engagement, greater revenue growth and radical improvement of results.
Elite Performers
Given that the world changes at a rapid pace, only the organizations with the strong core will persist. Collaboration and open communication across teams and departments are two of the most important factors contributing to the strong organizational core.
This article looks into organizational coaching. It explores how coaching contributes to the improvement of organizational collaboration and how it impacts the overall growth of the organization.
As per usual, we start by explaining what organizational coaching is and then we dive into the importance of collaboration. The last part of the article explores the benefits of coaching for the organization as a whole.
So, let’s get going.
What Is Organizational Coaching?
Organizational coaching typically has a systemic change as its main purpose. It combines individual and team coaching in order to improve employee performance, productivity and any other skill needed to create desired changes and reach organizational goals.
Once company members have structure, organizational coaching can help identify and achieve corporate goals. These development programs might include crisis management, profitability attainment, and diversity and inclusion issues.
Robert Carroll
Unlike other forms of coaching, organizational coaching is designed to create impact on the level of the entire organization, not just one department or a team.
Why Is Collaboration Important in an Organization?
In order for any organization to grow and scale, it needs to have strong leadership and engaged employees. One way to create strong leaders and engaged teams is to foster a culture of collaboration. In other words, everyone in the organization needs to be willing to share and work with others in order for the organization to grow as a whole.
It’s as simple as that. In organizations that promote the culture of every person for him or herself, growth is very hard to achieve, if at all.
How to Foster a Culture of Collaboration?
There are many ways to foster a culture of collaboration. The several ideas listed below could be a good starting point, but do not represent a definite list of steps to take.
Lead by Example
It is hard to encourage collaboration among your employees if you don’t do it yourself. As with anything else, the best way to motivate employees is to lead by example. This is especially true for new employees who are not familiar with the organizational culture.
If you’re in a managerial position, you can demonstrate collaboration in your relationships with other managers or executives. What is more, you can demonstrate it with your team members as well. That way, you’re showing everyone around you that successful collaboration doesn’t depend on a position someone holds in the organization. It’s more about being open, flexible and willing to work together towards a common goal.
Every Person Matters
Collaboration happens across levels, departments and positions. In startups and small companies, almost all employees, including the owner/CEO/founder, work together and communicate on a daily basis. Although this may be hard to achieve in large corporations, it is important to make every employee feel valued.
Acknowledge and celebrate the success of everyone, regardless of their level, experience and/or position. Some companies have recurring meetings where they share their wins and challenges. This is a great opportunity to not only congratulate a team but also single out an individual for a special contribution.
Just as we should talk about mistakes and challenges, it is also important to talk about wins and successes no matter how big or small they are. If people feel that they are cared for, they are more likely to stick around and give their best.
Encourage Communication
Open communication is crucial for organizational success and growth. Given that we haven’t yet learned how to read other people’s minds, it is essential to talk about the good and the bad when it comes to our daily work.
Many issues remain unsolved and turn into conflict just because people assume the reasons behind someone else’s behavior or words. We all bring our own interpretation into our interactions with others. While there are many benefits to that, a big disadvantage is that it causes misunderstandings and misinterpretation.
On the other hand, it is important to remember that there is a form that some conversations need to take in order to be successful. That’s why organizations need to offer proper feedback and communication training. Providing your employees with the tools and techniques needed to successfully communicate is a step in the right direction.
How does Coaching Help an Organization?
Coaching helps organizations on multiple levels. Coaches can work with organizations on large, monumental changes as well as those on a smaller scale.
An ICF survey of over 500 of the largest companies in the USA showed that coaching increases employees’ skills and competencies and has a long-lasting systemic impact on the ability to retain talent and the financial sustainability of an organization.
Performance Consultants
This article covers only a few of those skills and competencies that coaching helps improve and develop. Nonetheless, if done correctly, improving the skills and areas listed below can have a massive impact on organizational growth.
Builds Stronger Leaders
No one is born a strong leader. No one is born a leader for that matter. Leadership is something we can develop over time. Some people are natural leaders, meaning that people tend to see them as leaders without them doing much about it (more like a character trait, although it is not) while others may need to work a bit harder to get there.
Regardless of how you got to the leadership position, that is just the beginning of your journey. One way to improve your leadership is through coaching. Your coach works with you on detecting your weaknesses and areas for improvement. Then you create an action plan to improve those skills for maximum impact.
The coach is there to help you through the process by motivating you, holding you accountable and being present. In addition to that, while working with you, the coach may model certain behaviors that you will benefit from as a leader.
An experienced executive coach can help create weekly action plans for clients and drive new levels of self awareness. With a proper pairing, coach and coachee can become quite close, and high levels of trust can become a springboard for growth and development.
Robert Carroll
Improves Communication
Coaching someone means asking them a lot of questions in order to get a clear picture of the situation or issue at hand. Also, coaches ask questions to gain understanding. This is a great opportunity for anyone working with a coach to improve their communication skills. As they answer questions, they will learn more about their communication style. Additionally, they will learn about how transparent and clear their communication is compared to what they think it may be like.
What they learn and do during coaching hours can easily be put into practice at work with their colleagues. Eventually, the coachee will start asking questions for clarification and understanding. Also, he or she will be offering more feedback and become more present during the conversations. All of these create a great basis for open communication not only at work but in life in general.
Increases Accountability
As employees set goals and make plans with the coach, an added bonus is that the coach will hold them accountable to the action items they’ve co-created and committed to. This, however, doesn’t mean that employees will have to complete everything that’s on the list. Accountability is so much more than.
Being accountable involves continuous self-check in regards to one’s goals and the direction the person is taking. It is vital to keep an open mind and not stick to the plan religiously if better options become available as situations change. Continuous progress in the right direction is what accountability is all about. Accountability motivates employees to be efficient and productive, thus contributing to the overall success of the organization.
Feel free to read the article on accountability coaching I have written to learn more about it.
Enhances Agility
According to Betterworks
Business agility refers to the ability of a business to respond to internal and external factors. Agile organizations are resilient. In the face of change, they can flex, while others might break.
Betterworks
In a nutshell, an agile business accepts change as a constant and keeps adjusting and adapting to new situations, regardless of whether they’re positive or negative.
That said, by helping individuals become more agile and adaptable, coaches help the entire business remain flexible in face of new challenges.
An important aspect of coaching is exploring different ways of thinking or approaching various challenges. When coaches work with employees, they work on helping them come up with ideas and think outside the box. All this makes employees more adaptable and accepting of change. In the long run, only those who can bend to the novelties will persevere and flourish.
Encourages Trust and Self-Responsibility
Establishing trust and safety is the foundation of any coaching practice. Without trust, people won’t open up and no progress will ever be made. Therefore, the first thing any coach does is making sure that the coachee feels comfortable, safe and secure. Once that’s established, the coaching can move forward.
As employees work with the coach on their challenges and see the results of the process, they will be more likely to keep going. In return, that will strengthen the trust not only between the coach and the employees but also between the employees and the organization as a whole. In a way, the trust established between the coach and the employees extends to being able to trust the organization as well.
It is important to note here that trust fosters responsibility. A trusting employee tends to be more responsible and willing to contribute more to the organization. They are more likely to check in with themselves and explore what it is that they can do to enhance the growth of the organization. Finally, they will feel more comfortable to share their honest opinions and point to the weak spots the organization needs to strengthen in order to grow.
All Things Said and Done
Working with a coach is a great learning experience for both the coach and the coachee. As they go through the process, employees increase their confidence, productivity and gain a clearer understanding of how they fit into the organization. Once employees find their purpose and meaning in the work they do, they will be more satisfied and willing to stay with the organization in order to contribute and learn more.
More and more organizations have started implementing coaching as part of their growth strategy.
When coaching is implemented on an organizational level, the benefits are truly profound. Organizational coaching works with the teams that form an organization. But even when the access to coaching is on a one-to-one basis, the entire team improves in key areas.
Allaya Cooks-Campbell
Coaching mindset enables growth on all levels and it can truly be a transformational experience for the organization.