Less is more: the executive coach s experience of working on the telephone. Moira McLaughlin

Transcription

1 Less is more: the executive coach s experience of working on the telephone Moira McLaughlin

2 This presentation focuses on: Background and rationale to the study (why) Methodology (what and how) Main findings Key implications

3 Background to the study: growth in virtual coaching in organisations (Frazee, 2008) empirical research indicates high level of executive satisfaction with telephone coaching (Ghods, 2009) divided (and often strong) opinion in professional press (Boyce and Hernez-Broome, 2010)

4 Rationale: Disconnects and intrigue: personal ambivalence versus personal experience canvassed views of other practitioners emerging assumptions the prevailing discourse (Burr, 1995)

5 The prevailing discourses : Anecdotal evidence and practitioner accounts suggest that many organisations and individuals: question its value, seeing the medium as second best - assumption that distance (Wenger, 1998) and technology act as barriers to connectivity/trust) adopt it indiscriminately - same as F2F coaching don t use it at all - coaching is a face-to-face activity

6 My research question: What is the executive coach s experience of working on the telephone?

7 Methodology: A phenomenological approach because: best reflects my constructionist position paucity of qualitative studies in this area (only Charbonneau, 2002) most appropriate method to explore nature of experience (Willig, 2008)

8 Methodology: Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) IPA is a qualitative research approach committed to the examination of how people make sense of their major life experiences (Smith et al., 2009, p.1).. recognises that a researcher s understanding of participants thoughts is necessarily influenced by his or her own ways of thinking, assumptions.. these are seen as a necessary precondition of making sense of another person s experience. In other words, understanding requires interpretation (Willig, 2008, p.69)

9 Methodology: Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) and because: roots in psychology, so well placed to investigate these aspects in-depth exploration of lived experience (Smith and Osborn, 2008) enables complexity to be surfaced - individual and group (Hollway and Jefferson, 2000) foregrounds importance of unspoken/unconscious communication and role of intuition in the process, potentially offering: an understanding of the utterer better than he understands himself (Schleiermacher, 1998, p.266)

10 Methodology: selection of participants purposive sampling small homogenous group with direct experience of the phenomenon following IPA guidelines (Smith et al., 2009) 6 practising executive coaches (plus reserve participant) used contracted sessions keen to avoid advocates only, so emphasised importance of successful and unsuccessful experiences search limited use of virtual coaching organisations (to one) accessed through gatekeepers of professional organisations (e.g. Association for Coaching)

11 Methodology: data collection interviewed 7 coaches (8 mths 12 yrs telephone coaching experience used single semi-structured interviews (55 80 mins duration) pilot interview to test schedule face-to-face (to aid triangulation) one telephone interview (to access silenced voices Creswell, 2007) all audio-recorded to facilitate detailed IPA analysis (Smith and Osborn, 2008)

12 Methodology: post interview researcher notes made after each interview: non-verbal behaviour; my feelings, thoughts etc aid to bracketing, analysis and interpretation (Smith et al., 2009) recordings transcribed verbatim pilot self-transcribed, others using a professional service these checked for accuracy and further reflection, and researcher notes inserted not sent to participants as not a complete objective record (Smith and Osborn, 2008, p.65) and exclude suppressed meanings (Yardley, 2008, p.242)

13 Methodology: data analysis Following a rigorous idiographic approach using IPA guidelines (Smith et al., 2009, pp ): first noting descriptive comments then emergent themes, transferred to post its (with quotes) from these, I generated theme clusters then super-ordinate themes (SOTs) transcripts re-read repeatedly to check understanding and incorporate multiple meanings researcher diary aided ongoing reflexivity

14 Themes (SOTs): initial (descriptive) Themes then clustered into 5 super-ordinate themes (SOTs): advantages of telephone working disadvantages of telephone working skills required differing and similar to those for F2F work the coaches relative satisfaction with the medium the coach s transition to working on the telephone However, afforded few opportunities for interpreting meaning

15 Themes (SOTs): interpretative So, after further reflection and interrogation, these became: Theme 1: Theme 2: Theme 3: Less is more: the power of the aural-only connection The impact of the physical environment on the psychological coaching space The coaches adaptation to the medium.. affording opportunities for surfacing complexity, new findings, etc

16 Methodology: reflections on the process proved highly appropriate for the research question and demanding of the researcher (reflexivity etc) seemingly endless and un-boundaried process of interpretation (Hollway and Jefferson, 2000) sense of responsibility and unease in dissecting and fragmenting each individual s experience in their absence - may be grounded in inexperience, and possibly counter transference of not seeing clients reactions significant time commitment (Easterby-Smith et al., 2008)

17 Findings: 1 Telephone coaching can be a powerful form of coaching, comparable to F2F interventions all coaches emphasised increased focus and pace (lack of visual) 3 felt that medium expanded and deepened the learning process through more rapid rapport, trust, disclosure through the disinhibition effect (Suler, 2002) all coaches felt outcomes comparable to F2F 3 coaches experienced it as a more powerful tool than F2F new findings converging with evidence in mental health literature (Mallen et al., 2005)

18 Findings: 2 Telephone coaching can offer unique opportunities to optimise quality of the physical setting for participants and thus the quality of the learning space Solace.. a lot of the time when I m on the phone, I m kind of gazing.. at the trees.. it feels natural.. where I should be.. (Coach 5) [A client] may actually book you in at lunchtime when they can.. step outside the office. I ve had people who have been walking the South Bank.. the environment is very, very different for them and so what comes out of coaching can be very, very different.. you will hear metaphors being used.. I m looking at the Thames and it just feels like a bridge over troubled water.. (Coach 1)

19 Findings: 2 Telephone coaching can offer unique opportunities to optimise quality of the physical setting for participants and thus the quality of the virtual learning space most surprising finding, offering new evidence 5 coaches identified significance of choice and control over the quality of their working environments, e.g. enhancing listening, mindfulness, movement, physical comfort, in addition to practical advantages e.g. time/cost efficiency psychological safety can optimise depth of learning for client freedom carries responsibility of other distractions..

20 Findings: 1 and 2 However, coach satisfaction was complex and varied: 3 coaches expressed a preference for telephone work lack of need for visual cues and sense of fit with capabilities 2 expressed a preference for F2F work loss of visual cues - and opportunities for use of visual tools e.g. NLP more oblique a kind of felt need (Coach 4) working with unknowns created loss, anxiety, frustration little or no correlation with personal relationship to medium

21 Findings: 3 Telephone coaching seems inherently different from F2F work and may require specific capabilities to optimise its effectiveness Assumptions surfaced: There s a lot more going on than I d realised.. I just assumed that working on the telephone was the same as working face-to-face.. (Coach 6)

22 Findings: 3 Telephone coaching seems inherently different from F2F work and may require specific capabilities to optimise its effectiveness 5 coaches experienced telephone working as different, describing journey of adaptation (partially-sighted coach - exception) of expectations, skills etc 3 coaches developed specific capabilities (more proactiveness, heightened ability to intuit verbal cues; manage higher levels of anxiety for themselves and the client) - increased confidence correlation between coach s understanding of medium s strengths (as well as losses) and their satisfaction with it beware of creating new assumptions awareness is all

23 Implications: professional development findings suggest importance of providing educational and development opportunities in telephone coaching so that coaches and corporate clients may be able to: maximise its advantages (psychological and practical) manage its challenges and limitations all the coaches trained in F2F work initially may emphasise the tendency to view modality as second best findings may suggest the importance of the inclusion of the medium s possibilities at an early stage in a coach s development may also benefit from specialist supervision

24 Telephone coaching: new findings can offer a powerful, highly flexible and creative tool in leadership development a comparable modality to F2F coaching, though not for everyone a key to optimising its advantages may lie in appreciation of its differences, as well as similarities with F2F work more than a distance coaching tool: preferred by some, regardless of cost, time etc. inclusive nature more research required e.g. re. coach preferences (aural, visual etc) and client experiences

25 References: Boyce, L. A. and Hernez-Broome, G. (2010) E-Coaching: Consideration of leadership coaching in a virtual environment. In: D. Clutterbuck and Z. Hussain (eds.) Virtual coach, virtual mentor. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. pp Burr, V. (1995) An introduction to social constructionism. London: Routledge. Charbonneau, M.A. (2002) Media selection in executive coaching: A qualitative study. PhD. Thesis, Alliant International University, Los Angeles, USA. Creswell, J. W. (2007) Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Easterby-Smith, M., Thorpe, R. and Jackson, P. (2008) Management research. 3rd ed. London: Sage.

26 References: Frazee, R. V. (2008) E-coaching in organisations: A study of features, practices, and determinants of use. PhD. Thesis, University of San Diego, USA. Ghods, N. (2009) Distance coaching: The relationship between the coachclient relationship, client satisfaction and coaching outcomes. PhD. Thesis, Alliant International University, San Diego, USA. Hollway, W. and Jefferson, A. (2000) Doing qualitative research differently: Free association, narrative and the interview method. London: Sage. Schleiermacher, F. (1998) Hermeneutics and criticism. In: A. Bowie (trans & ed.) Hermeneutics and criticism and other writings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp Smith, J. A. and Osborn, M. (2008) Interpretative phenomenological analysis. In: J. A. Smith (ed.) Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods. 2nd ed. London: Sage. pp

27 References: Smith, J. A., Flower, P. and Larkin, M. (2009) Interpretative phenomenological analysis: Theory, method, research. London: Sage. Suler, J. (2002) The online disinhibition effect, Cyber Psychology and Behaviour, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp Wenger, E. (1998) Communities of practice: Learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Willig, C. (2008) Introducing qualitative research in psychology: Adventures in theory and method. 2nd ed. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill/Open University Press. Yardley, L. (2008) Demonstrating validity in qualitative psychology. In: J. A. Smith,(ed.) Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods. London: Sage,pp

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