Coaching_Activity

* * Title: Coaching Activity. Full name: Sharon Swift Advanced Subject Learning Coach Organisation: Groundwork Leeds Date of submission: 15.02.2010 Word Count: 890 words * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * As part of our ‘community of practice’ I keep in close contact with some of the SLC’s in my area. As I have also become a Foundation Learning Champion I knew that one of my colleagues was struggling with the introduction of Foundation Learning in his organisation. I knew my colleague and fellow SLC had all the information and knowledge needed but had taken in so much new information he was confused and his thought processes were not functioning correctly. Before the coaching session I would need to implement an Action Plan that would identify and agree the needs which the coaching sessions will aim to address, and prioritise these. * To ensure success I will use active listening throughout my coaching session. Ability to focus completely on what the colleague is saying and is not saying, to understand the meaning of what is said in the context of his desires, and to support his self-expression. I must hear his concerns, goals, values and needs and distinguish between the words, the tone of his voice and his body language. I must summarise, paraphrase, reiterate, and mirror back what he has said to ensure clarity and understanding. I will encourage, accept, explore and reinforce his expression of feelings, perceptions, concerns, beliefs, suggestions. * I looked at the GROW model for my coaching practice. I felt that if we could set clear parameters around the process he needed to achieve then he would have the guidance required to complete all tasks required. I would also offer some advise as a ‘Foundation learning Champion’ I feel all sessions with peers do need a mixture of approaches to meet all objectives. * Sir John Whitmore’s four-stage GROW model (Whitmore, 1992) is probably the best-known coaching model in the UK.  The key to the GROW model is questioning. The coach starts by asking the coachee what they want to work on; then asks what the coachee’s goals are (and they may help them to clarify these, make them more SMART and so on); next asks about the coachee’s situation so that the coachee becomes more aware; then asks the coachee what options they might have (and may prompt them to recognise thing they’ve overlooked); and finally asks what they will do now (and may confront any perceived lack of motivation or unrealistic plans). * Goal * What do you want to achieve * What would achieving this lead to long term' * When would you like to achieve this by' * * Reality * What is the current position' * What stops you from moving on' * * * Options * What could you do' * What else' * What else' * and what else' * Will * What will you do' * What will be the first step' * These would be my perimeters for my first coaching session. * * On opening the session we discussed the confidentiality of the session and that my role would be that of coach and FL champion. As we were both SLC’s we both felt comfortable with the process and could quickly move on into the session. I opened the session by asking him what he would like to address and achieve through this session. He reiterated the need to look at his problems coping with the implementation of FL into his programme so we decided this would set the perimeters for our session. * The goals we discussed were an effective system for dealing with changes in delivery of qualifications. The timescales for reaching this were discussed and set at around 6 months for all changes required to be fully in place. The main focus of the GROW session was the putting together an ‘Action Plan’ to prioritise and plan the implementation. I also offered to be available to facilitate any technical problems he had. He felt that implementing an Action Plan would make things less stressful and give him the structure to drive FL forward in his organisation. The benefits would be to him, the company and to the learners. * We then looked at where he felt he was now. He explained that he was drowning in a sea of paperwork and that decisions were not being made due to his inability to cope. On a personal level he felt inadequate in his job role and was worried about forthcoming deadlines. He felt stressed and upset every time he had to face any decisions or meetings regarding FL. He had entered a downward spiral and even simple tasks made him nervous whereas previously he could cope with these. * I asked him what he thought he could do about this and we discussed if there was any training issues. He said that he didn’t need any training as he knew what he had to do but time management was the issue. We then moved on to what he could do about it and he suggested looking at his timetable and highlighting gaps that could be used for concentrating on FL. We decided that he had enough tasks to work with for the moment and that we would meet in a month’s time to have another coaching session and he would update me on how he was coping with the new coping strategies. I reiterated the confidentiality of our session and thanked him for the time we had spent together.