What We Learnt on our Live Online Coaching Courses
March was a daunting time, as we began to move all of our in-person courses online. Since then, we’ve had over 100 participants virtually join us. As a result, we’ve learned a lot about the intersections of coaching, technology and connection.
Whilst we try not to use the term ‘the new normal’, we know that many of our interactions will be mediated through technology for the foreseeable future. You may be in the same boat. We would love to share what we’ve learnt, in the hopes that it might inspire you as you connect on-screen professionally and personally.
Coaching Works
You can effectively coach without being in person. We know this. One-to-one coaching has happened over the phone for years before Zoom was ever a thing.
But at the same time, we heard a lot of trepidation from our schools and participants about learning coaching remotely. Luckily, that level of trepidation was matched by a level of relief once the course started.
“Whilst originally slightly apprehensive about completing the course remotely, any concern disappeared within the first hour.”
— James Piggott, WHITGIFT SCHOOL
We were nervous about the move online, but learning that participants liked the online format wasn’t surprising. We use a coaching approach as we teach. From the moment your face pops on that screen to when we log off 4 hours later, we are coaching you through learning coaching. That’s what makes it work.
But the best part for us, is why it works. Coaching is a conversational approach and nothing more. As long as I can hear your voice and you mine, I can coach you. And through the simple acts of speaking and listening, I can foster powerful feelings of connection, support and empowerment.
As we continue through the world of COVID and distancing, we are holding tight to the idea that coaching works and advocating for it more than ever.
Feeling far away from your loved ones? Check in with them and pepper some Heart questions into the conversation. Having trouble connecting with a student? Tell them what you Appreciate about them. Feeling disconnected from your classroom? Let them do some self-coaching to empower them to find their own solutions.
If coaching is an approach that fosters connection, now is the time to use it.
We are learning to love technology
As we mentioned, we heard a lot of trepidation from participants who were not looking forward to being on Zoom for four hours. But turns out, some actually liked it better.
“Most online courses I have attended are PANTS! This most definitely was not! I don’t think the learning objectives were, in any way, compromised by the course being online and would definitely recommend this media to others!”
— Recent Journey Live Online Participant
We’d argue that technology isn’t actually the problem—it’s how people use it. We’ve designed our courses to change modes every 20 minutes. You probably wouldn’t notice it, but you’ll spend some time in a small group activity. Then you’ll return to the big group and do a quick debrief. Then you’ll be watching a video and having a discussion. Then you’ll be back in a breakout room, this time coaching another participant.
“This course left me feeling energized and empowered after each and every session.”
— Shawn Fields, Riverdale Country School
By changing modes, we keep the energy up and the online fatigue to a minimum. Here are a few other strategies that may help you teach and engage with others online.
Be off mute We ask people not to mute themselves unless their sound will be disruptive. We hear their chuckles and sighs, their crunches and affirmations. We hear them being human. It helps the online experience be intimate, breaks down barriers and builds connection. If someone sneezes and we can’t hear it, did they really sneeze?
Jazz hands Do you agree with something someone just said? Jazz hands. Want to answer yes to something? Jazz Hands. Feel appreciative of something being shared. Jazz Hands. The simple act of holding up and wiggly your fingers helps to increase engagement, connection and promotes Macro-Listening. It’s almost the opposite of being off mute—a silent way to say Yes.
Hide non-video participants One feature we love on Zoom is that you can choose to hide people who turn off their videos. It’s like being in a room with thirty people, and then suddenly being in a room with one. We use this for coaching demonstrations and visualisations. Think of it like visual Micro-Listening.
These may not be traditional coaching approaches, per se, but we would argue that these new strategies for online communication are just as much coaching strategies as Saying It As You See It or Appreciation.
They are tools in our toolkit that when we choose to use them, we increase connection, support and empowerment.
Find Opportunities in Challenges
“Amazing that there was such global participation in the course which I had not considered. This has made the course even more enriching having so many people from diverse educational backgrounds.”
— Shirley Drummond, St Helen's College
Lens shifts are when you are able to view a challenge from a new perspective, and it’s a skill participants learn on The Journey. An example of a lens shift would be seeing these Live Online courses as opportunities instead of challenges, and that’s what we’ve been working towards. They are opportunities for people from all over the world to join. On our first Anatomy course, we had people from Delaware and Devon. And, our courses are now available to participants beyond educators. On our following Anatomy course, we had a family of three—a mother and her two children.
We see the take-away here being that we can’t sit around and wait for things to go back to ‘normal’. We have to forge on, taking it one day at a time, embracing the new ways of doing things. Because if we wait, we’ll miss out on all of these new opportunities.
“This was such a wonderful introduction to my school’s community. Starting at a new school in the middle of a pandemic is frustrating beyond words and filled with challenges. This gave me the gift of acceptance and belonging and strengthened my belief that this was absolutely the right decision for me.”
— David Small, Longy School of Music
One of our favourite Effective Questions reframes the past into the present and the future: What lessons did you learn? And, what’s the benefit of learning these lessons? Like every good coachee, we are going to carry the lessons of the last six months forward, propelling us further into action.
Do you have any tech tips that you’ve picked up? Let us know in the comments, or share them on Educators with Heart.