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.

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.

The post How does Coaching Improve Organizational Collaboration? appeared first on Snowation.

So, let’s cover the basics and then move on to the juicy part.

What is Employee Coaching?

In a nutshell, coaching an employee means that you’re helping employees reach their full potential. You work with them on improving their skills, understanding the objectives and overcoming obstacles and challenges at work.

How do You Coach Employees?

As with any other coaching practice, it can take many different forms. Most frequently, employee coaching involves scheduling individual sessions with employees (in case of an in-house coach, these should not be mistaken for your regular one-on-ones). 

Coaching sessions should be a safe space for employees. They need to be comfortable sharing the good and the bad in order to improve their performance, productivity and solve problems. 

Even though employee coaching must be aligned with the company goals and objectives, keep in mind that your client is always the employee. So your first and foremost concern should be the employee and the challenges s/he is facing no matter how that relates to the current workplace.

What Is the Focus of Employee Coaching?

The focus of employee coaching is to celebrate wins and identify obstacles that prevent employees from performing at their best. This is achieved through working on developing and enhancing employee skills in order to improve performance and productivity. In return, investing in employee growth through coaching improves the overall employee contribution.

How Can Coaching Enhance Employee Skills?

Although beneficial, a coach doesn’t have to know how to do the work of an employee to be able to help him or her improve their performance and develop skills. Through regular meetings and continuous feedback, the coach can help employees work on their problematic areas. The more employees are aware of their weaknesses, the more they’ll be able to work on improving them. Additionally, a coach can help an employee find a mentor with a needed expertise for the skill the employee is looking to improve. Finally, the coach can encourage employees to talk to their manager openly about their professional development needs and ask for help to find the solution.

Long story short, it takes consistency and collaboration. Through partnering with employees and managers, coaches help organizations grow by working together to enhance employee skills and improve performance.

8 Tips for Employee Performance Coaching in the Workplace

Remember to Coach

It is often hard to step back and let the other person do the talking. This is especially hard if you’re an internal coach who’s also the team manager. Switching between the two roles can be challenging, but not impossible. 

For the purpose of this article, it is important to remember that as a coach, you coach – you don’t manage. What does that mean?

Coaching process is a collaboration, or partnership, between the coach and the coachee. When you’re coaching your employees, let them take the lead when it comes to the content. Ask them questions, listen, ask for clarification, guide the process but don’t give solutions because then you won’t be in the role of a coach anymore. 

Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t share your thoughts and knowledge. Step back but don’t hold back. Provide feedback, share experiences, create a safe space for growth, but follow the lead of your employee and address their concerns. Remember, the focus is on the employee and them figuring things out, not you telling them what to do.

Praise Achievements and Growth

Offering constructive feedback is essential to growth. Talking about mistakes and how to fix them helps employees understand where they need to improve. However, praising employees may be even more important at some points when it comes to improving employee performance.

Giving positive feedback reinforces the expectations you have for them and assures them that you have confidence in their abilities to maintain or exceed those expectations.

Indeed

Praising your employees reminds them of the trust you’ve placed in them. It motivates your employees to feel good about themselves, which in turn motivates them to keep doing a good job. Also, it can be a good reference point when they make a mistake – it will prevent negative thinking and self-pity.

Help Identify Roadblocks

Often, when we feel stuck, we can’t see the clear picture and the direction we’re supposed to take. As a coach, it is your job to help employees identify the obstacles and create action plans to overcome them. 

Sometimes, just letting employees tell you about the problem can be beneficial and they’ll come up with the cause of the problem on their own. Other times, you’ll have to ask questions to understand the situation better in order to be able to help.

It is frequently the case that the roadblocks are hidden in employees’ perceptions or assumptions they make so make sure to ask about anything and everything. This may take some time, but the point of the process is to help employees move forward with their tasks, not to patch up an issue and move on.

Be Present

This one may be a bit more challenging, but it is so important for the coaching process. Being present means listening carefully to what employees are saying, not assuming anything. You can address their words, expressions, ask for clarification or just be quiet and give employees time to think and space to process.

You have to be there mentally, with them in that room and your thoughts should be directed to whatever the other person is saying. There will be times when you won’t know what to do next and that’s totally fine. Being open and honest with your coachee will take you a long way. 

Remember, transparency is the key in business, even when it comes to coaching. You don’t have to be a know-it-all. You just need to be there.

Build Confidence

Building confidence helps employees perform better. When they’re sure about their actions and decisions, they’ll spend less time questioning themselves and more time completing the task and moving onto the next one.

Coaching in the workplace should be highly oriented toward support and guidance. Employees who receive adequate support stand out in the process of achieving goals.

Attendance Bot Blog

Remind employees of their strengths and congratulate them every step of the way. When people know that they’re appreciated and valued, they’re more likely to invest themselves and give their very best.

Encourage Employees to Learn from Others

Over time and through experience, we tend to develop our own way of thinking and approach to tasks. Even if two people had the same education, they are different individuals so they’ll do the work differently.

Encourage your employees to interact with one another. This may go without saying when it comes to employees doing the same or a similar job, but interacting with employees who do something completely different can be beneficial, too. Communicating with their peers at work creates a collaborative environment and company culture. It also enables employees to seek help from their fellow coworkers. 

Learning on your own is great, but collaborating with others can be more efficient and effective at times; not to mention fun as well.

Build Self-Awareness and Reflection

By providing continuous feedback, you teach your employees how to approach a problem and see their own mistakes and wins. They become more self-aware and start understanding their patterns better. 

Self-reflection is important, not only when a mistake has been made, but also when a task has been completed or a problem solved. Understanding what works and what needs to be improved on a personal and team level can greatly help employees improve their performance and create better results.

Hold Employees Accountable

The coaching process starts with setting goals. Once employees commit to the goals they have set for themselves, it is your job to hold them accountable. As I’ve mentioned in my article on benefits of accountability coaching for startup founders and business owners, people are 95% more likely to reach their goals if they’re meeting regularly with the person they’ve committed to about a given goal. The more goals employees meet, the easier it’ll be for the business to scale and grow.

Peachy! Right?

Yes and no. Despite its many benefits and advantages, there are some disadvantages to coaching employees in the workplace. More often than not, coaching takes time and the results are not seen immediately.

Companies that are strict or are highly driven through results will not find coaching employees an ideal to see improvements in the short-term.

Attendance Bot Blog

Nonetheless, the benefits and perks of coaching outweigh these disadvantages by far. More and more companies are now on the lookout for a leadership style that is geared more towards coaching. The CEOs and founders tend to be more open to hiring a coach for their employees as they understand the long-term benefits of it. 

Finally, as I’ve already mentioned in my other articles, you don’t have to hire a professional coach to work with your employees. Managers can also learn coaching skills given enough time and resources. However, if you’re looking for maximum results and a more effective approach, I’d highly recommend connecting with a professional coach or a coaching organization.

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