Main types of coaching
Coaching provides different solutions for different situations. Therefore, in accordance with the situation at hand, coaching’s various types of orientations are brought to the forefront:
Performance-oriented – if the improvement of a situation is required. - Interaction- or relationship-oriented – if existing conflicts need to be dealt with.
- Recognition-oriented – when the goal is to reveal causes and find solutions. Thus, (a kind of) a learning is the objective.
- Ability to help in clearing up fundamental questions – i.e. can demonstrate the importance of organizational work.
- Ability to support behavior in different roles – i.e. can improve how the roles are performed, and can clarify the roles themselves.
Those organizations and members of the management who are interested in coaching will probably already have participated in several training courses and personality development processes. Therefore, they may have gained lots of theoretical knowledge and practical experience dealing with the optimal working conditions of an organization and its possibilities. Adding coaching to the mix can help us approach the existing situations with a different method.
How is this working method different? It focuses not on theory, but on making the learned knowledge operative on an every day basis.
During this process, we do not really work on providing new information, but rather on the necessary revaluation of the existing knowledge, and on its application in a specific situation. Thus, answering the question: HOW? is the focus. Such an approach – in and of itself – brings about a greater possibility for change or for the ability to change. Coaching is a co-operational form - created primarily for senior managers and managers
The main types of coaching in an organization
- Individual coaching: excellent for solving individual professional problems.
- Team coaching: designed for managers or colleagues who are at the same level in the hierarchy. If management has similar problems, it is useful to put them into their own group. This will encourage synergy at the managerial level.
- Personality development coaching: primarily done on an individual basis, its objective is professional-oriented personality development. Fields: new orientation, professional development, personality development, clearing up interpretational questions, adaptation questions, etc.
- Group coaching: for specialists from different organizations. The common ground shared by the participants may be the managerial role or a specific task at hand. During this process, participants will receive assistance in being able to perform their managerial functions more efficiently.
The general features of individual and group sessions
At the meetings – which are mainly interactive discussions – our starting point is current, actual work situations. During this process, we evolve together and focus on problematic cases and aspects of conflict. Then, through the elaboration of these cases, we create new objectives and tasks which must be completed. In this manner, we investigate the causes of hitches, and the specific actions which must be taken to deal with these challenges. By doing so, we alter and redefine the conditions and methods of co-operation as well as the common goal.
At each meeting, after defining the current problem, we seek out its solution. In our opinion, those situations which are considered critical can be the starting point for more effective co-operation if the organization and its competent members are open and willing to define and solve these problems. To achieve this, a change in attitude based on authenticity is necessary. Our experience shows that, in a positive and supportive atmosphere, learning and necessary change take place very readily. The demand for individual alignment is crucial, and in the presence of all of these factors, true, positive change can take place.
