There’s not enough time!
It’s true: time is limited, life is busy and coaching takes concentrated effort. So, then, how can an educator find time daily to coach and be coached?
When people think about coaching (outside of the sports context, that is), they often think about two people carving out an hour, sitting down face-to-face and having an uninterrupted conversation. That might work for corporate environments, but very rarely does it work for schools.
The fact is, there isn’t enough time to have long conversations with every colleague and student who needs help. For this reason, and many others, it’s easy to default to telling people what to do instead of empowering them with Effective Questions to come up with their own answers.
But guess what? The hour-long myth is a lie! Do you have one minute? Do you have five minutes? Do you have 20 minutes? In each of these scenarios, you can coach someone and, in the end, save time! Here’s how.
Little and often
Like letting steam out of a volcano, little and often opportunities for coaching lets out the steam so that the metaphorical volcano does not erupt. Another way of saying this: the more regularly you coach, the more supportive you can be over time.
Coaching in a school environment is best used little and often. By that we mean it’s best used in daily conversations with students and colleagues, whether it’s a three-minute chat in the hallway or a 10-minute conversation after class.
When training educators in coaching skills on our foundational course called The Anatomy, we dedicate time to discussing and clarifying coaching’s flexibility. Coaching can be as formal or as informal as you want and it works for a variety of timeframes!
Here are some examples of how coaching can look within different contexts:
1. Coaching Session
Holding a coaching session is the most formal of the coaching contexts. It requires that that all parties are aware that coaching is happening (especially if you are coaching an adult) and that you have carved out dedicated time.
2. Coaching Conversation
Having a coaching conversation is far less formal than a coaching session. When a colleague corners you in the staff room or you ask a student to stay after class, using coaching skills and tools in these informal and brief conversations helps raise awareness, shifts lenses and encourage action.
3. Coach-Like
Being coach-like is the least formal and most accessible way to use coaching daily. Using a handful of Effective Questions in a chat over lunch...managing your Me-Listening when another person is sharing...and offering a Say It As You See It in a meeting are all ways you can be more coach-like daily.
