Coaching Skills
Richard Resurreccion – California State University Long Beach
Today’s employees and students live and work in an age that is more complex than any other in the history of our nation. Changes in the world economy, society's values, and workplace technologies are affecting the work environment, its social setting, and the various workforce competencies. The results are increased anxiety and the need to orient, train, and continually retrain America's human resources. Gaudet and Vincent (1993) emphasized this point when they stated:
The training and development of America's human resources are important to our society today as never before. Our economic condition, our ever-growing and changing population, our changing industries, our need to produce marketable products-all point to a learning system to meet the needs of our society. Schools and universities try to do their part, but the need is so great that more must be done to reach out to (1) people who need training and retraining and (2) the schools and businesses that must train them. Carnevale, chief economist for the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), contends that getting workers accustomed to the notion of continuous, lifelong learning will be the cornerstone of America's economic success in the 21st century. Furthermore, he maintains that businesses will have to accept the main responsibility for training and human resource development. (p.13)
Coaching and counseling are training and development/human resource development (T&D/HRD) methods used both in industry and in the various educational systems to work on a more individual basis with employees and students. These methods are not often taught to managers and instructors, yet they are, in certain situations, the most effective means for teaching co-workers and students (learners). (Some contemporary authors suggest rising the term co-worker in place of the term subordinate.) With the increasing need for life-long learning, coaching and counseling will become essential teaching methods for those responsible for developing our nation's human resources.
The word coach is a term we have all heard since we were children. Perhaps it was the person who taught us in Bobby Sox Softball, Little League Baseball, Pop Warner Football, gymnastics, or dance. If a group of adults sat down to define the term coach, the individuals would undoubtedly reflect back to those persons they remember to be good coaches. In this reflection, they are likely to recognize two very important characteristics. First, the good coaches were always focused on task. Second, the good coaches always created a positive learning environment.
Not everyone has the ability to focus on task in the teaching-learning process; this point applies to both instructors and learners. The effective coach has the ability to break a task into its smallest steps and then to relate one step at a time in a coherent, orderly fashion. This means that an effective coach has accounted for every body (i.e., motor) movement and the supporting cognitive and attitudinal components.
A quick look at how a motor (psychomotor/manipulative) task is learned clearly reveals the importance of a detailed task analysis. Learning a motor task involves three phases:
· Phase I: Cognitive
· Phase II: Practice
· Phase III: Automatic
In the cognitive phase the leaner thinks about the steps involved in starting and completing a task. Some coaches, recognizing that a learner is in Phase I, will teach by making statements such as, "Let's do it by the numbers." Or, "Okay, tell me what you are doing while you perform each step. I'll correct you as you progress through the steps." It may be said that this is the phase in which the learner is not able to "walk and chew gum at the same time."
In Phase II the learner goes through the task under the appropriate supervision of the coach. At first it may be necessary for the coach to, in a sense, "lean over the learner's shoulder," i.e., watch every step. As the learner improves his/her task competencies, the coach gradually "backs off."
Eventually, the learner is able to perform the task automatically. This point, Phase III, is reached when the coach can legitimately make statements such as these:
(1) "John could change those brakes in his sleep."
(2) "Joanne has fire hose evolutions down to a science."
(3) "Jose could perform an endotracheal intubation “with his eyes closed.”
In addition to conducting a detailed task analysis, a good coach also creates a learning environment where learners are not afraid to take reasonable risks. A good coach provides encouragement and promotes the philosophy that one can learn from mistakes. In their best seller, The One Minute Manager, Blanchard and Johnson (1982) described the opposite environment in this story:
"Yes," the One Minute Manager said. "Most managers wait until their people do
something exactly right before they praise them. As a result, many people never get to become high performers because their managers concentrate on catching them doing
things wrong - that is, anytime that falls short of the final desired performance. In our pigeon example, it would be like putting the pigeon in the box and not only waiting until he hits the lever to give him any food but putting some electric grills around the box to punish him periodically just to keep him motivated"
"That doesn't sound like it would be very effective," the young man suggested.
"Well, it isn't," agreed the One Minute Manager. "After getting punished for a while and not knowing what acceptable behavior is (that is, hitting the lever), the pigeon would go into the corner of the box and not move. To the pigeon it is a hostile environment and not worth taking any risks in." (p.82)
Figure 1.
A preceptor coaches a paramedic intern through the steps
of interpreting an EKG.
The late great football coach George Allen was an outstanding cheerleader when he coached. It seemed as though he was always clapping his hands in support of every little thing his players did right. He never ridiculed his personnel; rather, he would make statements like, "Now let's try it again, but this time let's correct this move, men." Then he would step back, keenly observe, and then cheer them for a job well done. It is no wonder he was known by his many players as the "players' coach."
If you ever wonder about what coaching is all about, just stop and think about the person who taught you a task such as riding a bike. It is very likely that he/she was continually on task and at the same time very encouraging and supportive. Are these characteristics not also
true of those who teach complicated tasks, such as interpreting an EKG or repairing an anti lock brake system (see Figure 1).
Two descriptions summarize well the definition of coaches and coaching. Pfeiffer and Company (1991), in their four-volume publication, Theories and Models in Applied Behavioral Science, described coaching characteristics as follows:
Coaches tend to create behavioral learning environments in which trainees are encouraged to participate actively, learn, and evaluate their own progress. The training focus is on the what and how. Coaches characteristically encourage trainees to actively experiment with practical application. Coaches tend to draw on the strengths of the group and utilize trainees as resources. They clearly are in charge and they make use of activities, problems, and projects based on real life. In training situations, trainers who prefer a coaching style help trainees to verbalize what they already know and act as facilitators to make the learning experience more comfortable and meaningful. (p.306)
Similarly, Azzaretto (1984) wrote:
The technique of coaching goes beyond issuing orders to your employees, it involves helping them learn and develop to the best of their abilities. In this sense your position as supervisor is similar to the role of a coach on a football or soccer team. It is a daily responsibility, a job that never ceases.
…Coaching is helping your workers learn and do their jobs to the best of their abilities. It may involve on-the-job training in basic job skills, or it may involve more subtle motivation by which you encourage your employees and help them refine their skills and increase their job efficiency. (p.125)