By Gladeana McMahon, Head of Coaching, Fairplace

There are a number of professional issues that need to be taken into account when undertaking business coaching and perhaps the most important is that of contracting.

Business coaching contracting needs to reflect the needs of the organisation. The organisation is paying for the coaching and therefore wants to know that it gets value for money and that the coaching will add to the productivity of the employee and will benefit the health and profitability of the company.

A coach is likely to be approached by the line manager, a Human Resources specialist or, alternatively, by those who have sufficient autonomy and authority to organise their own coaching. In such situations the coach needs to be clear not only about the terms and conditions of the coaching but also about the outcomes being sought by each party.

From the perspective of the coach it is important to be clear about what he or she is expected to deliver and whether this is possible; from the organisations perspective it needs to be clear about the outcomes that will assist the individual and the business.

The behavioural contract

If coaching is going to produce durable and positive change, it needs to be expressed in behavioural terms otherwise it is difficult to measure in terms of effectiveness.

The objective of the contract is to ensure that all parties agree the desired outcome from the outset. It helps clients and sponsors to get a better feel for what will actually happen behind closed doors and to form expectations about change. The more transparent this part of the process, the less likely the disappointment for the corporate sponsor and client. In addition this also means that there is less chance of the coach being used as a scapegoat if there are political challenges in the organisation.

Scene setting

In an ideal world the coach, the corporate sponsor and the client would have a joint meeting to discuss the desired outcome. However, this is not always possible; the example below shows how separate discussions can be written-up and then signed for so that the contract becomes effective. The behavioural contract will be drawn up as part of the coach’s chosen framework: it doesn’t dictate how coaching should take place, it simply makes outcomes specific.

Objective setting

The next part of the process is to set overall objectives. The coach starts by asking each individual what he or she wants from the coaching process. Coaching skills are important at this stage, as there may be a need to mediate and facilitate the discussion quite proactively. It is frequent for example that a direct sponsor (for example a line manager) has a fairly narrow view of the scope. The coach will typically start with an open question such as, ‘what outcomes do you wish to see from the coaching process?’ and then takes it in turn to discuss each aspect with both parties in a bid to gain agreement.

A coaching objective may be a more general statement, such as:

• ‘I would like to be more confident’




• ‘I think James and his colleagues would benefit if he could communicate more effectively’; or




• ‘I would like to feel more in control of what happens’.

This part of the discussion helps the coach to gain information about the perspective of the client, their situation, the culture of the organisation, the type of people the client works with, the situations they face and how they are perceived.

Getting more specific – outcome measurements

The coach needs to help translate objectives into expected new behaviours, as in the following examples:

• ‘You said you would like James to communicate more effectively with his team. What would you notice happening if he were being a more effective communicator?’




• ‘How would you know if you were more in control of what you were doing?’ and ‘‘What would others be seeing that would be different if you were more in control’

It is important to get clearly identifiable outcomes as ‘communicate more effectively’ could mean anything from being more assertive when chairing meetings to briefing staff members on a regular basis or ensuring that systems are in place to impart information – for example group emails, weekly emailed updates etc.

A behavioural model aims to turn all objectives into measurable outcomes. For some coaches not used to this way of working the task can seem rather daunting. However, there is very little if anything that cannot be made concrete. Even the most emotional of desires such as ‘I want to feel happy’ can be turned into something measurable with simple questions like: ‘if you were happy what would you be doing, feeling or thinking that is different to now?’

Obviously, some information may come up later in the coaching process that has an impact on the overall outcome and there may be occasions where the contract needs to be modified at a later date. However, if this were the case the coach is responsible for ensuring all parties find these changes acceptable. However, it is more likely that any changes will be in addition to rather than in place of what has been agreed.

Being clear about confidentiality and feedback

The dilemma when undertaking coaching in organisations is the need for such organisations to have some form of feedback and the need for confidentiality to be maintained with the client. During the contracting process it is important for all parties to agree the feedback and confidentiality agreement.

When working with organisations it is best, as in the behavioural contracting process above, to be clear at the outset as to what confidentiality means. It is quite a common practice to agree the goals and feedback structure with the client and sponsoring organisation but to make clear to both parties that whatever is talked about in the coaching sessions remains confidential.

For example an agreed outcome known to all parties may be ‘to improve the ability to be assertive in meetings by using a range of identifiable assertiveness techniques’. However, when the coach and the client start to work together the client may disclose that they have always had problems being assertive and how these issues have a more personal aspect to them. Here any subsequent feedback will be around the practicalities of the techniques being used rather than disclosure of personal issues. In other words, the sponsoring organisation needs to know about outcome but not process.

Summary

A Behavioural Contract allows all parties to be clear about expectations and delivery. Its strengths are in its clarity. We suspect that those who find behavioural contracting a challenge may do so more due to a lack of practice than through any fault of the process itself.

We believe that this contract has an important role to play in setting boundaries: we have seen too many coaches being used as emotional blankets with organisations getting very little in return for their investment. The contract provides a minimum level of results. Parties will be even happier if more can be achieved.