Individual Coaching: What makes it so meaningful
- 28. April 2016
- Posted by: Ralf Juhre
- Category: Expert articles
Coaching is a type of employee training and support that is becoming increasingly popular across all hierarchical levels. It offers people support, e.g. in change processes, but also in general everyday work, and serves personality development. Coaching is individual training and therefore probably the most intensive form of employee support. It is no wonder that coaching has the greatest effect on all consulting instruments.
Theoretical knowledge is important, for example about how a conflict discussion with a project employee can and should be conducted. But all theory is only useful if it gets from the “head into the hands”. Coaching is, among other things, an excellent instrument when it comes to putting what is theoretically known into practice.
Only those who know themselves well are able to change themselves. During the coaching process, the employees check their own behavior towards others and in the team. The central concern is to positively develop leadership quality and thus leadership success and/or teamwork.
The occasions are as varied as the coachees are. The following table shows possible occasions:
Organisational occasions
- Changes in the field of work, reorientations, changes in the professional role and preparation for new tasks
- Retirement and promotion
- Reorganization, mergers
- Establishment of working groups and project groups
Personal occasions
- Poor performance processes, retreat, struggle
- Disturbances of the working climate (disgruntlement)
- Lack of a productive culture of conflict and dispute
- Damage to the health of the manager
Development-oriented occasions
- Support with career paths
- Finding the appropriate direction of development, professional reassessment and assessment of the current situation
- Elimination of specific behavioral deficits
Occasions with high workloads
- Development phases in the company
- Clarification of difficult business situations and project activities
The following aims can be pursued with personal coaching:
- Expand leadership skills
- Employee motivation, leadership style, cooperation, decision-making ability
- Self-management, performance improvement
- Discover/develop new skills
- Evaluate experiences
- Integrating new employees
- Edit blind spots and get feedback
The principle of coaching is: Goals can only come from the participants themselves!
The individual coaching is based on the principle of voluntariness and the first initiative must come from the coachee. The coach sees himself as a partner of the employee. The focus is not on criticism of behavior, but on feedback. The coach shows the employee ways in which he can successfully influence individual behavior and his own attitude and how he motivates himself to implement the change sustainably.