Know Your Client - The First Rule of Business Coaching

Whilst the very best coaches have undertaken independently accredited training and or have years of experience with clients, new self-assessment questionnaires are coming available which is evolving coaching into a far more focused activity. And that is to the benefit of coach/client relationships for the following reasons:-

1. Key Areas
   
   Results from assessments enable the coach and client to understand key areas for development and the client can then choose which will be most beneficial.
   
   
2. Focus
   
   Assessments focus the coaching conversation on where it best adds value both to the individual and the organisation.
   
   
3. Build on Success
   
   As well as areas when underperformance might be an issue, strengths are also identified and can be utilised to improve areas needing attention. Thus making progress easier.
   
   
4. Starting Point
   
   With an initial assessment process, there is a ‘stake in the ground’ for where the client is starting from. This can be reassessed later in the development process to show development is happening.
   
   
5. Cost-Effective
   
   Focusing on just where need is greatest means that value is created most cost-effectively for both the client and the organisation.
   
   
6. Quick Progress
   
   By really focusing on key development needs, identified accurately using the assessment process, results are seen quickly, which builds the client’s confidence.
   
   
7. Link to Workplace
   
   Organisational requirements can easily be taken into account whilst deciding where best to work with each individual client. This tailoring of focus avoids the ‘one-size fits all’ principle of many training programs.
   
   
8. Step-by-step
   
   Development activities can be planned progressively, using assessment results to both identify those areas where growth is needed and also where it is not. In some cases additional resources might be needed. Indeed, where there are significant indicators, there may be the opportunity to review roles.
   
   
9. Ease of access and Use
   
   Online self-assessments can be accessed anywhere in the world where a PC is available and ongoing coaching is effectively carried out by phone.
   
   
10. Advanced Levels
    
    Progress can be gradual with most important areas in the first program, followed later by an extended relationship where time and resources allow. This ‘growth-on-growth’ escalates an individual’s progress depending on need and role, offering scope for career advancement.

Coaching is currently expanding as a development tool in businesses and organisations and it is beginning now to show clear proof of remarkable successes. Careful preparation, with close attention to the required outcomes, means that the coach and client are fully focused. But the first step to accelerate coaching results in the workplace comes from getting really clear on the strengths and weaknesses of the client.

Whilst it is important to understand that the realities of a coach/client relationship means that this is ultimately a personal and human to human thing, technology is accelerating the pace of employee development in organisations throughout the world, large and small in an increasingly cost-effective and focused manner.