Posts Tagged ‘Tips for Coaches’
Communication Skills Tip #5: Losing Control of the Group
Thursday, April 8th, 2010
Trainers, facilitators and presenters frequently worry about ‘losing control of the group’. This assumes that they were ever in control of the group in the first place! Groups have their own dynamics and our role, as the ‘person in charge’, is to work with those dynamics and influence the group for results.
Typically, when people worry about losing control of a group, they worry about not being able to sustain the group’s attention. Actually, sometimes being unable to get the attention of the group is a good sign.
Picture the scene: you’re facilitating a group session, and the group are happily working on something in small groups. As the time for group work draws to a close, the group is still fully engaged in the activity, and no one listens to you as you try to bring the whole group back together. Eventually, you get most of the group’s attention, but small pockets of people persist in continuing to discuss the exercise with each other. You feel frustrated and like you’re failing to keep control of the group. Don’t. Notice what’s happening – the group is learning from each other, fully engaged, and needing very little input from you in order to keep ‘on task’. This is good. You want the group to be engaged, enjoying working together, and learning from each other, don’t you?
Here’s another scenario: you are running a training course over several days. As time passes, you find it increasingly difficult to get the group to come back after breaks on time. No matter how you tell them, they all wander back in late and sit chatting to each other. You worry that you are not respected as the trainer and that they are wasting time socialising. Don’t. The principles of group dynamics teach us that as healthy groups form, they want to interact with each other more and more. A delay in returning from breaks is a good sign, as is the socialising – it means that the group is forming and healthy. Set your ego to one side, and be pleased that the group enjoys being together. And, to get them back on time, tell them a time 5 minutes before when you really want them back in their seats!
Tags: Communication skills, facilitation, group dynamics, Presentation skills, Presentation Tips, Presenting a workshop, Tips for Coaches, Tips for presenting, trainer, training
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Tips for Consultants #1: Understand Why You Are There
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
Sometimes, as a consultant, the ‘reason’ you are asked to get involved in a project isn’t the real reason. Ever had the experience of getting involved with something, and part of the way through glimpsing an alternate reality where the project, and your role in it, is something different than you thought?
I think this happens all the time. Scratch beneath the surface of a project, and you’ll find another agenda at work. This isn’t merely office politics; it’s human nature. It’s important to understand these alternate agendas – and the bigger, wider, broader, deeper picture – if we are to be effective.
At times this understanding comes to us easily. We think we’ve been engaged to make improvements in a business, and then we realise that we are there because unpleasant changes are afoot, and no one within the business wants to be the architect of something negative. In this instance, it’s good to recognise that we’ll be effective when we are closely associated with something unpleasant – not good for repeat business or for making friends at the coffee machine!
If we are coaches, it’s good to be especially mindful of the subterranean agenda. When I was first getting started, I coached a manager who was struggling to perform well under difficult circumstances. After a while, I realised that despite what the organisation was saying, their behaviour towards me indicated that they expected me to be responsible for the individual’s performance – to use my magical coaching powers to ‘fix’ him. Since I don’t believe people are broken, this presented a major ethical dilemma, which I solved by letting go of both the client and the organisation. This experience taught me to:
- be far more clear from the outset about my professional boundaries
- keep a questioning mind and an alert eye on the organisation, being curious and dispassionate
- be flexible enough to revise my view of reality as the wider agenda reveals itself
Where in your working life are you currently in a consulting role? Why do you believe you’ve been engaged? Are there other possibilities? If so, how do they impact on your ability to be effective?
Tags: business coaching tips, consulting, group dynamics, leadership in business, negativity at work, office politics, problem solving, Tips for Coaches
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Communication Skills Tip #1: Meet the Needs of Your Audience
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
Have you ever been to a presentation that was disappointing? In what way did it disappoint you?
Most of us, when we think about presentations, put performance pressure on ourselves. Actually, giving the right talk for the audience is more important.
I remember, years ago, booking a day out of the office to travel to attend a trade show relevant to my work. My entire decision to attend was based on an enticing presentation. The blurb suggested that the speaker would be sharing critical information that would fill a major knowledge gap that I had at the time. Well, you can guess what happened. The presentation was a waste of time. The speaker seemed to be talking about something completely different from what I’d been expecting. More than that, the information he was sharing, although interesting, wasn’t meeting my needs. Most of us have attended at least one presentation like this. So what’s the solution?
It’s helpful to think about any documents and presentations you create from your audience’s perspective. Take time to think about what they will want to know about. If you don’t know what they want, find out. What is the information they are interested in? What are they expecting to hear about from you? Imagine two overlapping circles. One circle is you; everything that you want to communicate in your document or presentation. The other circle is your audience, whether an individual or a group; everything they want to know about after listening to you or reading your writing. Concentrate your presentation or document in the area where the two circles overlap. This allows you to constructively meet the needs of your audience without introducing unnecessary and distracting information.
Tags: Communication skills, Preparing a great presentation, Presentation skills, Presentation structure, Presentation Tips, Presenting a workshop, Tips for Coaches, Tips for presenting
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About Kate Warren
Kate Warren is the founder of Brightlife. She is a leader in the field of personal and professional development, and is a sought-after speaker, teacher, and coach. Kate is passionate about helping people to unlock their personal and professional potential. She is an NLP Master Practitioner, a Certified NLP Coach, a Master of Group Leadership Dynamics, and the U.K.'s first certified WealthyMind™ trainer. In 2008 her business success was recognised when she was invited to join ‘Courvoisier the Future 500’, an elite group of the 500 rising stars of British business.
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