FAQ's

What is coaching?
What does a coach do?
Which areas benefit most from coaching?
How could coaching benefit you?
How can you tell if the coaching is working?
How long does coaching take?
How is coaching conducted?

Q. What is coaching?

A. Coaching is normally, but not exclusively, a one-to-one process. It’s designed to enhance performance and develop potential. Although following a formal process, it is tailored to meet the personal needs of the person or organisation being coached. It uses well-developed scientific techniques to instigate change and stimulate individual growth, supported by regular practice sessions to reinforce the process of development along the desired path.

Q. What does a coach do?

A. The role of a coach is to act as an expert listener. He or she provides a safe environment in which the client can discuss their needs, focus on the major issues and identify current limitations to taking action. In close consultation with the client, the coach will then identify effective methods to achieve the client’s desired outcomes and help them to practice new approaches. The coach acts as an objective third party, guiding you through a desired process of change, challenging you to move outside your ‘safety-zone’ whenever necessary and gently urging you on.

Q. Which areas benefit most from coaching?

A. Wherever people work together, coaching can offer help. Developing an organisation’s vision and values, executive coaching, leadership development, team building, conflict resolution, time management, creating a harmonious working environment and career transition and development are among the most fruitful areas for coaching.

Q. How could coaching benefit you?

A. Coaching is about effecting positive change for the client by breaking down their problems and resolving them. A coach can help you to clarify and become identified with an organizational or personal vision. It provides you not only with the tools for self-development but also a safe environment in which to experiment with new patterns of behaviour. The coaching process takes the individual’s background, strengths, fears, aspirations and other complexities into account to generate new ideas that are personally relevant. The individual becomes at one with the process of change, working together with the coach to achieve success.

Q. How can you tell if the coaching is working?

A. Evidence of greater team working and closer harmony in the workplace, or surpassing corporate, career or personal goals may bear testimony to coaching success. However, a professional coach should go beyond anecdotal evidence, offering regular feedback and progress reports containing quantifiable results.

Q. How long does coaching take?

A. A minimum period of regular coaching is required to effect significant and lasting change, typically six months, but there is no hard and fast rule as it will depend on the needs identified. A successful coaching programme will provide the individual or organisation with the tools for self-reliance, so a phased withdrawal of the coach is built in.

Q. How is coaching conducted?

A. Coaching is based on regular face-to-face sessions, but can also be supplemented by scheduled telephone sessions, with additional communications and resources provided in ways to suit individual needs.