Learning How to Coach

Under the leadership of Mark Palaganas, Training Specialist IV of the Philippine Orthopedic Center’s Personnel Education Unit, a Coaching in the Workplace for some of the hospital’s managers was conducted. Mark recognized that great teams had great coaches, and in his desire to help improve the quality of work and life in the hospital, he felt that a formal guidance in how to conduct a successful coaching engagement was critical.

It was not an easy task. The skills the participants struggled with the most before the training were “recognizing and pointing out strengths” and “letting the coachee arrive at their own solution.” On the former, participants were rated “poor” prior to training, with their rating improved to “average” after the training was completed. Clearly, this is an area managers in POC need more time to practice, and it’s something they likely need to be trained on differently as well.

What we all learned from the intervention was that any approach to coaching should begin by clearly defining what it is and how it differs from other types of manager behavior. This shift in mindset lays a foundation for training and gives managers a clear set of expectations. We also learned to let managers practice coaching in a safe environment before letting them work with their teams. The good news, as evidenced by the short conduct of our workshop, is that investing in months of training to see a difference is not necessary. 

The key element of the workshop was that it gave time for participants to reflect on their coaching abilities. If managers have more knowledge and training on coaching, they are able to provide a better self-assessment of their skills. Organizations should allocate time for managers to reflect on their skills and review what they have done. What’s working, and what they could do better?

If we take away only one thing from our experience with POC, it’s that coaching is a skill that needs to be learned and honed over time. Fortunately, even a small amount of training can help. Not only does a lack of training leave managers unprepared, it may effectively result in a policy of managers’ reinforcing poor coaching practices among themselves. This can result in wasted time, money, and energy.