Coaching FAQ
This section provides a synopsis of some of the most frequently asked questions regarding the approach to Coaching. It is intended to dispel some of the popular misconceptions and give an indication of the typical life-cycle of a coaching experience.
Read on for further information.
- How long does a coaching session last?
- Is our coaching session confidential?
- How do I prepare?
- What happens between coaching sessions?
- How long between coaching sessions?
- What kind of things will we cover in coaching?
How long does a coaching session last?
Coaching sessions typically are 1.5 – 2.0 hours in duration. Coaching away from your day to day work place works better. Coaching sessions for the coachee tend to ‘fly by’ as all of the conversation is focused on the coachee. The coachee may want to take some time after the coaching to integrate and reflect on new thoughts and action plans generated during a coaching session.
Is our coaching session confidential?
Yes. Everything that is spoken within a coaching session stays between you and your coach. Coachees from time to time may feel like sharing the output of their coaching session with a friend or trusted colleague. The stakeholder (the boss of the coachee) will not receive any feedback about the confidential coaching conversation. The stakeholder will be seeking evidence of new behaviours and approaches from the coachee. Ultimately it is these new generated behaviours that the stakeholder is paying for and an absence of a new behaviour or approach from the coachee will cause the stakeholder to loose faith in the coaching process. Ultimately it is the role of the professional coach to manage the expectation of coachee and stakeholder throughout the process in order to facilitate all parties getting what they need from the process. Confidentiality is the cornerstone on which any professional coach’s reputation is built.
How do I prepare?
Arrive with an open mind. Your coach is one of the few people in the world you will ever meet who will not judge you. Being in an environment where you are not being judged and being supported towards your own goals is a fantastic experience. Be there as much as you can. If your mind is on the next meeting or the last meeting you had then your will not reap the benefit of the coaching to the extent you could.
What happens between coaching sessions?
Coaching is what happens between coaching sessions. At the end of each coaching session your coach will assign you tasks to do before you meet again. The task is designed to facilitate you to practice the new behaviour that you have identified as been useful to you going forward. When you return to your next coaching session your coach will enquire and access the extent to which you embraced the task and help you to unbundle the learning’s you have gained as a result of completing the task.
The task is similar in nature to a lesson, the extent to which you embrace the task determines the level of learning you will take from the lesson.
How long between coaching sessions?
Coaching is what happens between coaching sessions. At the end of each coaching session your coach will assign you tasks to do before you meet again. The task is designed to facilitate you to practice the new behaviour that you have identified as been useful to you going forward. When you return to your next coaching session your coach will enquire and access the extent to which you embraced the task and help you to unbundle the learning’s you have gained as a result of completing the task.
The task is similar in nature to a lesson, the extent to which you embrace the task determines the level of learning you will take from the lesson.
What kind of things will we cover in coaching?
This is where coaching differs dramatically from training.
You set the agenda.
The best way of establishing how coaching could facilitate you to get more of what you want is to meet with a few coaches and discuss the possibilities for you. Most coaches will give you up to an hour of their time for free to discuss the possibilities.