What is agile coaching and why is it essential to business success?

Online training, videos, blogs and social media posts are now competing with trainers and coaches all around the world to gain student’s attention. Why would you pay for agile coaching instead?

Spanish – I am usually challenged with the question of why companies would you hire a coach for their employees when they have got so much information online, free or very affordable and easy to access. The answer is simple, allow me here to use a metaphor. Are baseball players hiring coaches, or are they just checking for youtube videos and Instagram motivational posts?

Don’t get me wrong. Videos, blogs, posts, podcasts, webinar and so on are great tools. They usually are pretty educational, more refined through time and by far, very convenient.

Agile coaching helps teams or individuals adopt and improve agile methods and practice. A coach helps people rethink and change the way they work.
The coach role is part embedded trainer and part consultant. Some coaches could be internal, some external. An external coach even though is not an expert on the company process, provides a fresh perspective.

Nevertheless, as Japanese methods advocate, students learn using all of their senses. We all use all our senses to communicate with each other, detect problems and find solutions. Our five senses are sight, touch, hear, smell and taste. As much as we use them all in our daily life, problems are easier to solve, and communication is much more effective.

I have seen many organizations struggling to create the kind of culture needed to foster agile methods and innovation. I saw many tools being implemented with marginal success, and usually, these results were not sustainable. The missing ingredient is a good understanding of the method, not as the flavor of the month but as a real cultural change.

Trainers or coaches are usually able to use all the senses to teach, and these are the benefits:

1- Inmediate feedback

Online methods like videos are pretty powerful for instant learning, though they tend to be “short and sweet”. A good coach instead can catch your eye for hours. I can show you a power point presentation, videos, images and real-life examples at the same. I can also support my speech with body language that you can only see in training sessions, conferences and videos. But the most powerful tool is feedback. Sight goes both ways, from the teacher to the student, and from the student to the teacher. Student faces can tell you how much they understand, how focused they are and how much they think they can really implement what we are reviewing. I try to look at them right in the eye to make sure they are fully focused and ready to receive the knowledge or need some time out.

2- Overcoming resistance

Another typical way to learn nowadays is just by listening. Audiobooks and podcast are very informative, and convenient, as you can even learn while driving. I am just starting to use audiobooks and I love them, though sometimes I feel frustrated by the tone or pace of the book. I wish I could feel the passion of the writer. Only a coach can transmit that at the right time. Emphasize what is more important, link the material of the presentation with previous questions, talk about similar cases or experiences in other companies. And the sense of hear is not just about the employee listening, but also the coach listening and addressing effectively. Some employees ask for specific applications on the job, or talk about “how the company actually works”, so as a coach I need to address that to be able to overcome resistance to implement the method.

3- Use real and tangible examples

A resource I use a lot is “going to the gemba”. Depending on the course I am teaching, being able to go and see where people work and trying to apply what they have just learned is the most effective way of grasping a subject. Applying the knowledge right away makes the class more real and “tangible”. When I am teaching 5S, I help them see the dust on the shelves, the grease on the equipment and the duplicate tools or past due documents. Usually, attendees don’t recognize these type of issues as “a problem” until they see them with me, in a different setting. I can also feel how they feel in the workplace, maybe it’s too cold, or too hot, or too cluttered. That helps me provide them with more tools better suited for their specific issue.

4- Deep digging

Walkarounds in the workplace also allow to re-open issues that employees forget in the long term. Sometimes we can smell leaks or mold, which they had detected once, and trough time they simply learned to ignore. In one of the companies I was working for, there has been a leak for 5 years, employees have reported it several times, but for some reason, it never got solved. These issues rarely show-up through online methods. Only walkarounds or groups exercises help to uncover them. Exploring onsite provides more room for innovation.

5- Feel the positive energy

Food is a good energy booster, while at the same time bring people together. This is an easy resource that I usually implement to relax, enjoy the class and break the ice to get to know more about the students. Providing some kind of food or candies during a break, or as a reward for a job done, shows some appreciation, and increase postive energy flow. I still remember a class I have in middle school, where one of the teachers brought a caramel dessert to teach fractions. Loved it! This is hard to achieve through youtube, isn’t it?

Tone emphasizes, hands movements and an impactful look in the eye, work wonderfull to make you remember something. Do you happen to remember a teacher, exactly what he/she said and how he/she said it? Can you picture it in your mind? That’s where you really learn.

I guess the most important part of coaching face to face is transferring the energy and passion you have so that they feel the same way about the topic. Rational understanding of the topic is not enough until you really get the “why” this is so important, and how others are implementing this in real life. Occasionally attendees ask me, “do you really implement this at home too?” And they are amazed by my answer, they see how it is real, feasible and also, convenient in the long term.

It is possible to combine concepts through a book or online (preferably both) with actual hands-on work at your workplace. I particularly advocate that self-development is learned by doing with a coach, not just listening to video clips, looking at PowerPoint(™) slides, or reading. Specially when we are taking about critical subjects like leadership, cultural change and team work.

Keys to a successful agile coaching

The keys for a successful learning and coaching experience is a meaningful hands-on practice and the quality of the coach. The relationship that it is developed between the coach and the learner are critical. Without the close relationship, through individual training or small groups, learning is superficial. The coach cannot remove the workplace barriers and unleash the power of the employee until they get to learn from each other.  A successful coach is the one who can get things done. You can test that by visiting their clients, seeing pictures of the before and after, or asking about the details of their coaching method and previous experiences.

Cons? Yes, I understand, coaching is more expensive, but if it is the most effective method, why would you be frustrated trying various methods, when you can be successful the first time?

How do you choose the right training method for your employees?

Lu Paulise

luciana@biztorming.com

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