Abstract: What can we do as Coaches to resist the temptation to step in and offer advice? Coaching Triggers offer a new framework to help you stay in the coaching mode, work from the coachee’s agenda, and remain neutral. This framework was developed from years of coaching clients and training coaches.
As an Agile Coach we have four interaction modes: pure coaching (aka professional coaching), mentoring, teaching, and facilitating. When we are purely in the Coaching mindset, we are working to help the coachee come up with their own solutions. All of your mental energy should be focused on looking for opportunities to assist the coachee in moving forward in their own problem solving process.
Coaching triggers are pairs of circumstances and corresponding techniques that help to identify how we can best help the coachee move forward. For instance, if the coachee is potentially off-track from their stated purpose for the coaching session, that’s a trigger that indicates using a technique like focusing, interrupting, or orienting. On the other hand, if they seem distracted, consider using the technique of releasing. Each of these triggers utilizes "powerful questions" that are open-ended, non leading, and specific to the trigger being used.
In this session we will introduce the following coaching triggers:
- Interrupting - skillfully pausing the coachee to check if they are exploring relevant territory
- Orienting - keeping the coachee working towards their stated goal
- Spectating - resisting the urge to interrupt for your own sake
- Releasing - detecting distractions and allowing the coachee to release them
The majority of the workshop will be practicing the coaching triggers in pairs. For each trigger we will provide the circumstances, an example of how to use the trigger, and the powerful questions that go along with the trigger.
Learning Outcomes: - Better understanding of the differences between Agile Coach and Agile Expert
- How coaching triggers can help to stay in the coaching mindset
- Some new powerful questions
- The coaching triggers of focusing, interrupting, orienting, spectating, and releasing
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