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Coaching
Coaching means different things to different people. At Thornbury, we believe that coaching is not one-to-one teaching of a particular subject, but a process, driven by an effective and confidential relationship between coach and learner.
One of the essential factors in successful coaching is the commitment by the learner to take agreed, positive steps between each coaching session. This is the direct equivalent of Action Learning, which has proved so successful in our many courses and workshops with our clients' managers and staff over the years.
We also recognise that coaching works most effectively when it is scheduled as a series of one-to-one sessions, lasting approximately two hours, once every two weeks or so. This is frequent enough to give the project impetus, and gives enough time between sessions for the learner to implement the agreed action plans.
Coaching as a Management Skill
At Thornbury, we define coaching as "the facilitation of learning, development and performance of an individual or team".
Coaching has three key components:
- enhancing performance
- building relationships
- promoting learning and development
Design of the Coaching Programme
The design is participative, experiential and challenging and contains skills practice and detailed personal feedback on a sound theoretical base, including:
- psychometric feedback to participants on their coaching strengths and preferences
- clear models for understanding individual differences in learning styles, and "coaching readiness" in learners.
Transfer of learning back into the workplace is achieved by:
- working on real issues
- integration of techniques with each manager's individual style.
Typical Objectives of a Coaching Programme
As a result of attending the programme. participants will be able to:
- describe how coaching fits into a manager's role
- know who to coach, when to coach, and how to coach
- identify and practice the skills necessary for coaching
- know their own coaching strengths and development opportunities
- build effective coaching relationships with learners
- know how to adapt their coaching style to the current level of the learner's expertise and confidence
- empower their staff to reach enhanced levels of performance.
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“Thornbury have delivered customised management training to meet our specific needs, modifying their approach during the programme to reflect changing circumstances. The result is a team who are more effective in the management of the College.”
Joy Pygott, Pershore College
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