coaching and facilitating professional development

Coaching and Facilitating Professional Development

Kevin R. ThomasManager, Training & Development

x3542kevin.r.thomas@williams.edu

Objectives

• You’ll learn to:– Use active listening skills– Facilitate learning conversations that increase employee

competence and capacity– Help people learn from experience– Evaluate employee potential– Shape roles and assignments around strengths – Provide challenging assignments to facilitate individual

development– Conduct a stay interview– Help employees create a professional development plan

Agenda

• Listening Exercise• Facilitating Learning Conversations• Using a 9 Box• BREAK• Strengths Story Interview Format• Stay Interview Format• Professional Development Planning

Agenda

• Listening Exercise• Facilitating Learning Conversations• Using a 9 Box• BREAK• Strengths Story Interview Format• Stay Interview Format• Professional Development Planning

Creating A Listening Container

• Confidential space• Time boundaries• Minimize distractions• Agree on norms– Confidentiality (always limited)?– What kind of help are you looking for?– Ok to interrupt to ask clarifying questions?

Basic Listening Skills

• Increasing Empathy and Trustlynda.com, Communication Fundamentals, John Ullment

Active Listening Skills

• Minimal Encouragements– Non verbal cues that you are listening– Verbal cues that you are listening “Oh?”, “Mm hmm”, “Right.”

etc.• Paraphrasing• Emotional Labeling

– I get the sense that you are feeling X. Am I right about that?• Mirroring (or Reflecting)

– Echoing words or phrases• Open-ended questions• Pauses

Dangers of Advice Giving

• Most people who ask for advice from others have already resolved to act as it pleases them.Khalil Gibran

• When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand.Henri Nouwen

Listening Exercise

1. Pair Off2. Decide who will listen first3. Agree on any norms you want to have for the conversation,

which may include confidentiality4. Speaker:

Talk about a challenge you are facing in your jobListener: a) How can you keep the other person talking? b) How can you contain the temptation to give advice? How can you

show that you:i. Get the personii. Get the situationiii. Get the path to progress

Agenda

• Listening Exercise• Facilitating Learning Conversations• Using a 9 Box• BREAK• Strengths Story Interview Format• Stay Interview Format• Professional Development Planning

Change Your Questions, Change Your Life

Ask Switching Questions

• If you’re managing someone who is in Judger, ask:

Where would you rather be?

What else can you think about this?

What is the other person thinking, feeling, and wanting?

Is this the hill you want to die on?

What choices do you have?

What are the facts?

How can you get where you want to go?

Q-Storming

• When your employee is stuck on a challenge:– Introduce them to the choice map– Pick a goal for the Q-storm– Ask them to generate learner questions about the

challenge– Cluster and analyze the questions– Which questions have the most punch to them?

Which ones seem most worth exploring?

Q-Storming Example

• Read “Q-Storming in Practice”

Q-Storm Exercise

• Volunteer: Describe a leadership challenge you’re facing right now.

• Group: Feedback only in the form of learning path questions.

Agenda

• Listening Exercise• Facilitating Learning Conversations• Using a 9 Box• BREAK• Strengths Story Interview Format• Stay Interview Format• Professional Development Planning

9 Box

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Agenda

• Listening Exercise• Facilitating Learning Conversations• Using a 9 Box• BREAK• Strengths Story Interview Format• Stay Interview Format• Professional Development Planning

Agenda

• Listening Exercise• Facilitating Learning Conversations• Using a 9 Box• BREAK• Strengths Story Interview Format• Stay Interview Format• Professional Development Planning

The Flow State: Managing for Engagement

Employees are at their best when:• They’re using their strengths• They have clear goals• They’re being challenged

Getting to Know Your Employee’s Strengths

• Pair up.• Interviewee:

– Think of a time when you felt “in the zone” at work: at your best, giving the best of what you have to offer, plugged in, etc.

• Interviewer:– Use your listening skills– Reflect back what you are hearing– Show appreciation for their unique strengths– Help the person to clarify exactly what strengths were at work in this

story– Help the person create an action plan for how they can use those

strengths one more time.• Switch!

Agenda

• Listening Exercise• Facilitating Learning Conversations• Using a 9 Box• BREAK• Strengths Story Interview Format• Stay Interview Format• Professional Development Planning

The Stay Interview

• Defined:  An interview that identifies and then reinforces the factors that drive an employee to stay. It also identifies and minimizes any “triggers” that might cause them to consider quitting.

• For the talent you want to keep• Employee feels valued and heard• Helps you understand their motivations

Agenda

• Listening Exercise• Facilitating Learning Conversations• Using a 9 Box• BREAK• Strengths Story Interview Format• Stay Interview Format• Professional Development Planning

Professional Development Planning

1. In very concrete behavioral terms, describe what you want your employee to:– START doing– STOP doing– KEEP doing

2. With your employee, brainstorm what experiences, training and resources can help.

3. Create a plan with SMART goals.4. Evaluate progress.

Prof. Development Planning for High Potential Employees

1. With your employee, collaborate to create a vision of what role the employee could play in the future.

2. Identify what skill sets and competencies would be required to play that role.

3. With your employee, brainstorm what experiences, training and resources can help.

4. Create a plan with SMART goals.5. Evaluate progress.

Thanks!

Kevin R. ThomasManager, Training & Development

x3542kevin.r.thomas@williams.edu