Research Project: Definition of ‘Coaching’ for this Project

Having just announced the launch of my Research Project ‘Perceptions of Coaching in the UK Creative Industries’, I’d better begin by defining a couple of terms: this post will deal with the ‘coaching’ bit, the next one will cover the ‘UK Creative Industries’.

Please note – the definition of coaching I’m using for this Research Project is narrower than my usual definition of the term, as I’m deliberately focusing on the role of a manager-coach (see below) rather than a consultant-coach (i.e. someone like me).

COACHING:

‘A collaborative one-to-one process for raising work performance to achieve mutually agreed goals.

‘The coach is responsible for providing a supportive framework and facilitating the coachee’s learning in pursuit of the goal.

‘The coachee (person being coached) is responsible for contributing ideas, taking action, and reporting and reflecting on progress made.’

Typical methods used by a coach include:

• Goal setting
• Active Listening
• Asking open questions
• Action planning
• Delegating responsibility for action
• Delivering feedback
• Evaluating progress

The essence of coaching is taking a ‘step back’ from a task and facilitating someone else’s learning so that they can take responsibility for developing their abilities and achieving a goal. Thus while coaching, the coach typically spends more time listening than talking, and is more likely to ask a question than to give advice.

In business, coaching is usually delivered by two different classes of people:

1. The manager-coach within a company, who has direct responsibility for managing the coachee (worker); in this case, coaching is considered as a style of management, that the manager can use as and when s/he feels it is appropriate. So coaching can be delivered formally via a series of dedicated meetings, or informally through the manager’s day-to-day interactions with team members.
   This is the type of coaching with which this research project is exclusively concerned, and all references to ‘coaching’ are to be understood as ‘the coaching style of management’.
2. The consultant coach, who is external to the company. This research project is not concerned with this type of coaching.

The next post will cover the definition of ‘UK Creative Industries’.