emergingtrends Coaching in the Project Environment

Transcription

1 emergingtrends Coaching in the Project Environment

2 Coaching in the Project Environment

3 Association for Project Management Ibis House, Regent Park Summereys Road, Princes Risborough Buckinghamshire HP27 9LE Association for Project Management 2014 A rights reserved. No part of this pubication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieva system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the express permission in writing of the Association for Project Management. Within the UK exceptions are aowed in respect of any fair deaing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of the icenses issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms and in other countries shoud be sent to the Rights Department, Association for Project Management at the address above. British Library Cataoguing in Pubication Data is avaiabe. eisbn: Cover design by Steven Haton Typeset by RefineCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffok in 10/12pt Foundry Sans Reguar

4 Contents Contents Acknowedgements 04 Notes on contributors 05 Introduction 06 Using coaching in the project environment 08 Types of coaching 14 Mentoring or coaching? 21 How to get the most from coaching 28 The case for project coaching 33 References 40 Notes 42 03

5 Acknowedgements Acknowedgements The Association for Project Management (APM) woud ike to acknowedge and extend its appreciation to the foowing contributors in heping to create this guide: APM Peope SIG members: Robert Bakemore, Mies Hucke, Aun Hughes, Susanne Madsen, Anthony Onabanjo, Caroe Osterwei and Ann Pikington. 04

6 Notes on contributors Notes on contributors Mies Hucke is a director of 20 Degrees Consuting Ltd a training, coaching and consutancy business based around change management, project management, eadership/management deveopment and innovation. Mies has coached project professionas in the private, pubic and third sectors and is a member of the Internationa Coach Federation. Caroe Osterwei works with directors and senior staff deivering organisationa change and transformation programmes. Caroe has been an Ashridge/EMCC accredited coach since She s an expert at addressing the cutura and poitica issues that go with effective project management and coaches teams and individuas to do the same. Robert Bakemore is an experienced civi servant and project manager. He acts as a mentor to another project manager within his business unit, and activey participates in a Civi Service Action Learning set which is heping to change the management cuture within his department. He is writing in a persona capacity. Susanne Madsen is an internationay recognised project eadership coach, trainer and consutant and the author of The Project Management Coaching Workbook and The Power of Project Leadership. Susanne is a PRINCE2 and MSP practitioner and a quaified corporate and executive coach. Anthony Onabanjo is managing director at Peak Coaching Ltd. Anthony is a quaified executive coach with a background in IT programme and project management. He has a particuar interest in behavioura competences and has deveoped a coaching mode (PITS ) to support the deveopment of project managers, teams and stakehoders. 05

7 Introduction Introduction 06 Wecome to this ebook, Coaching in the Project Environment. We hope you find it usefu. A number of the APM Peope Specific Interest Group (SIG) Committee members bogged on coaching and mentoring in 2013 and received a significant amount of interest and feedback from the wider APM membership. Among this feedback appeared to be a fair degree of confusion between coaching and mentoring. This is something we sought to address in the bog. We then ran a piot coaching session for those new to the topic. This ebook seeks to buid on those initia bog discussions and the coaching piot by providing a usefu resource for coeagues in the project environment. You wi notice a different stye within each chapter. A different author was chosen for each chapter, aiming to provide a variety of points of view and emphases. The one thing a the authors have in common is that they have benefited from coaching and can attest to its vaue. Moreover, each uses coaching in their day job. Some are interna coaches, i.e. they use coaching techniques within their organisation ony. Others are professiona coaches who earn a iving from their coaching interventions. We set the scene with Mies Hucke, who uses case studies from his experience of coaching in the project environment to bring the benefits to ife. Project managers and earning and deveopment professionas provide a raft of quotations to iustrate the power of being coached.

8 Introduction Caroe Osterwei uses storyteing to good effect as she presents case studies from the project manager s and project director s perspectives. We hear stories that wi be a too famiiar to some readers. Caroe moves us beyond one-to-one coaching into team coaching to create a high performing project team. Robert Bakemore then takes up the question of whether coaching or mentoring is the right approach. It wi come as no surprise to most readers that the answer depends very much on the specific situation. Robert was one of the key APM Peope SIG boggers on this topic and his chapter buids on his bog posts and brings his insights as a project management practitioner to the subject. Susanne Madsen makes it persona to the reader. She expores what you shoud consider when ooking for a coach. Her concuding section is a ist of powerfu questions we can a benefit from, incuding whether you want to move forward formay with a coach or not. Anthony Onabanjo concudes the book by ooking at some of the evidence for the effectiveness of coaching. Whie coaching is used extensivey in organisations wordwide, Anthony was struck whie writing his piece by the ack of research carried out into the efficacy of coaching specificay in the project environment. A in a, the book spans a rich variety of writing styes and perspectives from those who have been coached and those who coach. Hopefuy, you wi find something of vaue here that wi hep you in your deveopment. Aun Hughes APM Peope SIG October

9 Using coaching in the project environment Using coaching in the project environment Mies Hucke Coaching has been successfuy used in organisations to deveop ine managers and senior management teams. However, in many organisations, there is a conspicuous ack of coaching provision in project management teams. Now coaching is starting to be used more in the project management function to create and sustain a high performing project deivery capabiity. Coaching is a series of structured conversations designed to enabe a cient (project manager/project team) to achieve their own goas. The cient decides what they want to work on. The coach heps the cient get there by questioning, chaenging and supporting them. The coaching session is confidentia. Coaching is about change; the cient has to be wiing to change. Coaching provision in organisations Many organisations offer coaching via: Interna coaches, empoyed by the organisation Externa coaches, contracted into an organisation. Coaching is typicay arranged through: Human resources Learning and deveopment teams. Coaches are often made avaiabe to: Rising taent Current eaders with ine management responsibiity Senior executives. 08

10 Using coaching in the project environment In some organisations, project managers can now access a coach. Where there is no coaching provision, project managers may contract a coach privatey to hep them work through the chaenges they face. Project coaching topics Coaching has a very rea reevance for project managers. Project managers have asked to be coached on: Stakehoder reationships Confidence Handing the persona faout from project issues Stepping into the project management roe for the first time Coping with pressure Feeing stuck and poweress Handing conficting priorities Feeing isoated Better ways of working with very senior staff. The effects of coaching on project managers Here are some typica comments that we hear from those who have gone through coaching: Underneath I fee a ot more confident and aso I am earning how to support mysef more effectivey. Many peope see a project as moving from A to B. It s a technica thing, with processes to foow. What I have earned is that projects wi aways require some form of behavioura change. Project managers wi aways need peope to do something differenty. If project managers haven t experienced persona change through a too ike coaching, they wi have very itte empathy with the human side of change. 09

11 Using coaching in the project environment I am sti in the same project with actuay more pressure as deadines approach, but I fee more aive than I have for severa years. I have managed to take contro. The questions my coach asked me opened my eyes to different and new ways to see things, and ed me to think about things differenty. I have a wider range of possibe soutions than previousy. A ot of these are actuay positive possibiities rather than od, tired, stuck-in-the-mud options. Being accountabe without being judged or criticised was actuay a unique experience. There was an occasion of aha when I reaised the rea issues were actuay something competey different from what I originay thought. That was a turning point. Impementing coaching across the project environment Beow are two exampes of how coaching in the project environment can make a difference on an individua and organisationa eve. Case study individua Marc was appointed project manager of an IT project in centra Europe. The project spanned severa countries. Marc had deivered projects on this scae before. He knew he woud face chaenges working with a the stakehoders and making sure everything was ready for aunch in each country at the right time. So he took up the one-to-one coaching sessions made avaiabe, with some additiona coaching sessions when particuar project issues arose. 10 I decided to give coaching a go because of a project manager I had worked with in the past. She had a very, very good reationship with peope, and coud get the best out of them in every project she worked on. I asked her

12 Using coaching in the project environment how she created such strong reationships. She said she had deveoped a coaching approach, and aways sought to empower project teams to identify appropriate outcomes and work towards them. Coaching heps me find the right outcome. This gives me the energy I need to drive the project forwards. In turn, this heps buid my confidence. Coaching heps me deveop my own skis. Coaching gives me a different perspective. Most project managers and deivery staff I have worked with are very anaytica they have a tendency to dive into the detai. Coaching heps bring me back up to a heicopter view and re-prioritise. At times, I coudn t see the wood for the trees. Coaching gave me the precious time to think. What shocked me was that I was abe to step out of my project and work it through. This fresh perspective enabed me to come up with different priorities, ideas and soutions to the probems I was facing. As a project manager, the coaching aso heped me reaise that I am sometimes doing work that isn t mine. A this in a minute session! Coaching aows me to stand back, re-focus on my project and think ceary about how to progress. This heps take a ot of the compexity out of project management and keeps me focused on the outcome. Now that I have gained some coaching experience mysef, I am finding my reationships with stakehoders are strengthening. 11

13 Using coaching in the project environment Case study organisation A arge services organisation identified the need to further deveop its project management capabiity. The organisation had recenty gone through significant expansion, with an increasing array of chaenging projects. Numerous project staff were trained in project management, a project management process framework was in pace and the project managers were technicay competent. In genera, coaching was viewed by staff as a correction measure a too to remedy poor performance in operationa teams. However, attitudes changed when the organisation reaised that there was an opportunity to hep project managers find their own way to overcome the obstaces they faced. The head of earning and deveopment and head of projects deveoped a business case for coaching to be offered. Having gained commitment, they created a direct faciity for project managers and key project deivery staff to have access to a coach. The head of earning and deveopment expained: We have our own poo of interna coaches here in the Learning and Deveopment team. These interna coaches supported the deveopment of the eadership function. However, project managers woud often miss out on coaching as they were neither ine managers nor senior managers. Despite this, our project managers were running business-critica projects. Coaching in our business is now recognised as a deveopment too that heps get the best out of staff. 12 Most of our project managers have a day job to hande too, so jugging the

14 Using coaching in the project environment confict around time and priorities was an issue we expected our project managers to touch on. Now that coaching is used in projects, our project managers ceary have increased confidence, are much more wiing to chaenge and can find new ways to drive the project forward. Coaching definitey gives them the edge. The future of coaching within project environments Organisations ooking to use coaches to aid project deivery shoud seek out coaches who have gone through recognised training and accreditation. Having professiona coaches with a project management background heps buid rapport between the project coach and the project cient. As coaching is further introduced into project environments, project managers wi earn coaching approaches that can be appied more extensivey. For exampe, team coaching wi be a key too to support the recent rise of more faciitative project management approaches which bring stakehoders together on a reguar basis. Coaching has been a argey untapped resource within many project environments. There is a rea opportunity to buid a greater project management taent pipeine, where project managers and deivery teams are better abe to meet the chaenges they face. 13

15 Types of coaching Types of coaching Caroe Osterwei When I was asked to write this chapter I was struck by the numerous different abes peope use to describe coaching. I took the view that, whie these abes might be interesting for coaches, HR and earning and deveopment professionas, my chapter needed to answer two questions: What is coaching? What types of coaching wi hep me and my project team? Let s start with a brief definition. John Whitmore (1992), who wrote one of the semina books on coaching in a business context, describes coaching as, unocking a person s potentia to maximise their performance at work and heping them to earn rather than teaching them. To iustrate this I ve focused on the story of Samir (a fictiona character based on severa project eaders I ve worked with recenty). Samir s story 1 When OPMEX heard they had won this 5m contract they were deighted. It was a compex brief a major reconfiguration of the cient s office space at the same time as cutura change through the introduction of new IT and fexibe working. 14 But six months in, Samir, the OPMEX project ead, was having second thoughts. The cient team was in disarray. In a recent announcement of an additiona round of redundancies, five of the seven workstream eads had earnt that their jobs were at risk. The programme director had retreated and woud ony focus on deiverabes reated to the buiding works. The senior responsibe officer (SRO), who was aso the workstream ead for cuture change, was paying hard to get and was impossibe to pin down.

16 Types of coaching Samir was doing everything he coud to address the situation, and this was taking a significant amount of his time yet was having itte impact. He was becoming increasingy stressed. It fet as if OPMEX s reputation was resting on his shouders and for the second time that week he d woken up in a cod sweat. What from Samir s situation resonates for you? You are doing more and more yet nothing seems to bring resuts. Stress is increasing. Your confidence is waning. The project team is not working as effectivey as it shoud. You ve discovered you cannot rey on key stakehoders. The project bears itte resembance to the one you signed up for. It fees as if the project s success rests mosty on your shouders. Whie most peope think of coaching as part of individua deveopment through one-to-one conversations between coach and cient, in recent years, there s been an increasing interest in team coaching. We expore team coaching, which is informed by simiar principes, through Samir s eyes ater in this section. I mentioned the many abes used to describe types of coaching earier. The key ones I want to highight are executive, eadership and project eadership coaching. A of them are reevant for someone ike Samir and they argey focus on the same thing eadership deveopment! The term used typicay refects organisationa cuture and the coach s persona preference. 15

17 Types of coaching Samir s story 2 By chance Samir ran into someone he knew on the train home who suggested he meet with an executive coach. Samir takes up the story. What did I expect from coaching? I wasn t sure, possiby someone to bounce ideas off. Anyway, I was in such a state that I agreed to a taster session. My coach started by expaining that everything we discussed woud be totay confidentia. Things started to change from that session. It was the first time I d been abe to downoad everything going on in my head without worrying about how to navigate through the maestrom. It was so hepfu to take this step back and ook at the situation, incuding how I fet about it. I coud see how I had got into a spira of feeing under threat, angry and even depressed. At my owest points I d been worrying I might do something I d regret. Understanding this big picture aowed me to identify where the rea issues ay and from this more informed pace I began to see a way through. We ended the session discussing how to take this forward. I went away and wrote a business case for a bock of five further sessions. I had cear goas to buid on the work we d done, to deveop strategies for infuencing the key cient stakehoders, incuding the SRO, and to protect me from burnout. I ve a very different understanding of coaching now. I d say its purpose is to aow you to understand yoursef better and see how and why you react in particuar situations, and to support you in deveoping an approach that wi work for you personay. 16

18 Types of coaching Crucia aspects are confidentiaity and deveoping a trusting reationship with your coach. As mine tod me, You have to be wiing to open your kimono and take a good ook at yoursef. Another crucia aspect is what she describes as the coaching contract, which sets out what you want to achieve through coaching. In the fourth session it was very cear that the project team was not performing there were some tricky reationship issues which I had tried to address through the usua routes, without success. I m used to getting the team together as part of the project kick-off, and we meet reguary to monitor progress and troubeshoot project issues. But this was different I began to reaise that I needed to think of the project team as an entity in its own right and I needed everyone in the team to step up and take responsibiity for the team s performance as we as their own. That meant a big change in the way peope were thinking and behaving. As executive coaching was working so we for me, I wanted to find out what team coaching coud offer. My coach suggested I speak with one of her previous cients, Jean. 17

19 Types of coaching What is team coaching? Team coaching (sometimes caed systemic team coaching or performance coaching) is summarised in Figure 1: A process of working with the whoe team, together and apart Coaching them to coaborate and deveop their coective and individua eadership In order to achieve specific outcomes, for which they are mutuay accountabe And to engage effectivey with key stakehoders To jointy transform the wider business Figure 1 Systemic team coaching. Source Based on Bucke and Lines (2012) 18

20 Types of coaching There are both simiarities and differences between project eadership coaching and team coaching. Team coaching aims to unock the team s potentia and maximise its performance, by heping the team and its individua members to earn. It reies on confidentiaity and deveoping open and trusting reationships with the coach and between team members. There is a coaching contract which is deveoped with the team members not the team eader on behaf of the team. Everyone has to sign up to it and agree the coaching goas. Here s how it worked for Jean. Jean s story As project director I coud see that things had to change. I had a team of highy taented and committed individuas who had worked pretty we together in the initia phases of the project. Yet changes outside our contro had introduced a different dynamic. They were putting the same energy into their work, but they seemed to be operating as individuas rather than a high performing team. What s more, at times you coud cut the atmosphere with a knife. And, to be frank, I needed more from them especiay given our project s growth aspirations. The coach started with confidentia, one-to-one meetings with me and a my senior team members. The aim was to carify and buid awareness of the team s issues and to scope the work. She then deveoped a team coaching contract which was agreed with a the senior project team members. Its aim was to transform the cuture of the project team, 19

21 Types of coaching which we recognised woud mean finding new ways of behaving towards each other. The contract aowed for different types of work with the coach: Sessions with the fu team to identify and resove chaenging project and reationship issues In-depth work with sub-groups where there were specific reationship chaenges Coaching sessions for individuas Teephone coaching conversations as needed. When I first heard her proposa for team coaching it sounded ike a huge commitment and, to be honest, a bit risky, but on baance I judged that the gains woud far outweigh the investment. I ve not been disappointed the project team has reay stepped up. The team has taken ownership of a the project goas and consistenty sees deivering the whoe project (rather than their part of it) as the primary focus. They work more effectivey as a team and on a one-to-one basis, for exampe they are now abe to raise and dea with confict constructivey. They now appreciate the wider stakehoder chaenges of deivering the project and are activey engaging with them. Individuay their eadership and peope deveopment skis have come on in eaps and bounds. We are seeing the impact across the organisation as they become invoved in other projects and are using their newy acquired skis to raise the game of other project teams. 20

22 Mentoring or coaching? Mentoring or coaching? Robert Bakemore Both mentoring and coaching have their pace in modern project management organisations, and the deveopmenta goas and expected outcomes are often the same. But the timing and method of their depoyment can be quite different. The difference depends on the type of person being mentored or coached (sometimes caed the cient). In genera mentoring is a onger term arrangement than coaching. The mentor, who wi be an experienced project manager from outside of the ine management chain, wi work with the cient in weeky or monthy sessions whist the cient considers this arrangement to be beneficia. The cient may be someone new to the profession or the particuar organisation (and how things are done here ) or someone more experienced in another fied who is perhaps changing career, and is new to project management. The mentor wi offer hep, advice, support and wi work with the cient to deveop project deivery improvement options. Simiarities and differences Mentoring Mentoring is more directive and wi refect ess experience and understanding of what is required. Mentoring might be suppemented by forma training to hep improve the cient s functiona knowedge. Coaching Coaching tends to be shorter term, with ess directive support or advice, and the cient wi often aready be credited with the experience needed to work things out for themseves. Peope who are coached are often more senior and tend to be most receptive if coached by those whom they consider their peers. 21

23 Mentoring or coaching? Mentoring is more supportive and incrementay deveopmenta, whereas coaching needs to provide chaenge. Coaching can be used effectivey to bring experienced staff up to speed with new approaches, methodoogies or toos. The person who is the coach or mentor does not need to be aways right, but he or she shoud be abe to spot areas of potentia weakness and assertivey ask the project manager to justify his or her approach. This shoud provide the project manager with greater insight into his or her approach and any aternative options not in a judgementa way, but perhaps against a maturity mode which shows the type of documentation, actions and behaviours that strong project management and a good project manager woud demonstrate. Assurance can therefore be a usefu source of input to the discussions, and indeed can be seen as a type of coaching in its own right. If a project is apparenty running into probems, mentoring or coaching may or may not be hepfu, and this wi depend on the reasons why things are going wrong. So that s the first thing that needs to be estabished by the coach or mentor. Even for the most experienced project manager, things can sometimes get tough. Maybe the context changes, they don t get the support they need or the estimating or risk management goes unexpectedy awry. If something ike this is happening, mentoring in a specific area, or more forma retraining in a subject area, might be more appropriate than coaching. Finding the right fit The mentor or coach shoud take the time to understand the cient, what they aready know, what they want to achieve from the intervention, and the context of their current work. Any assistance can then be targeted to get the desired resuts. Specificay, some things to understand before starting are: 22

24 Mentoring or coaching? The cient s experience. The scae of the project that they are managing. Whether they are starting afresh or taking over from someone ese. There needs to be some understanding of the project constraints and the current trajectory of the project manager (do they have to move fast, or do they have more time to pan their work?). The project organisation s corporate cuture and expectations for such issues as compiance with a preferred company methodoogy, use of project management document tempates, the interfaces with other projects providing a critica component or capabiity, or dependent suppiers and the approach that they take to project management. In other words, advice on content and priority needs to be tempered by the organisation s expectations of how its project managers wi function, and what good project management actuay ooks ike in that organisation. How improvement wi be measured. Setting goas for improvement The cient needs to see measurabe improvement in performance in order for it to be sustained. So it is important to measure the right thing, as initiay performance improvement might not be rapid. The mentor needs to set achievabe goas and make them more chaenging as these are progressivey met. It is important that the cient takes responsibiity for their own improvement eary on. In coaching, prioritisation of panning can hep the project manager identify and focus upon particuar areas of weakness or bindness which might be reevant to where the project currenty sits in its overa ifecyce. This perceived weakness may be a faiure to identify and expoit opportunities as we as risk. It may be that the risk management approach does not sit we with the particuar project phase or particuar suppiers, or it may not have adequatey deveoped as the project has matured, or perhaps it no onger fits we with the organisation s risk response objectives if the project context has changed. It may be something fundamenta that 23

25 Mentoring or coaching? 24 has been missed, such as a pan to sustain the capabiity for the ong term, and the deveopment or evoution of an operating mode that wi function in the sustaining organisation. This is a particuar concern if that organisation is cuturay very different from the project manager s own. This coud resut from earier assumptions that might never have been expored or considered with stakehoders or suppiers and actuay confirmed as vaid. Coaching goas may therefore be set as something more forma and chaenging perhaps written into an audit or assurance report or resuting from an end-of-year performance review. Benefits in the project environment Mentoring can consistenty improve a cient s functiona project management knowedge when mixed with forma training over a period of months. This stye of deveopment aows the cient an eement of experimentation as they appy what they have earnt with the guidance of the mentor, whie receiving feedback from the mentor on the success of what has been impemented. Mentoring can hep in successfuy appying some particuary difficut project management theory. For instance, turning estimating theory into practica project management expertise, particuary in terms of deaing with aspects such as optimism bias, is much easier when guided by someone who knows. If the cient is experiencing rea probems in appying the theory, foow-on deveopment activity, such as pioting an approach or partnering with another project manager undertaking simiar work (if possibe) can extend mentoring into a period of corporate buddying. Mentoring is most beneficia for a project eary in its ifecyce. For instance, it can hep with the taioring or appication of a methodoogy or project approach. Eary

26 Mentoring or coaching? decisions on the appication of project methodoogy and approach ( shoud I use agie? ) made wisey eary on, wi prevent many difficuties that might be experienced ater if the wrong decision is made right up front. Stories or earning from experience documents, or project cosure documents, are aso very usefu in emphasising and embedding the approach that has previousy succeeded for a particuar type of project in a specific organisation. Coaching provides more focused interventions in specific functiona project areas such as project panning. Often, project pans and documents receive a ot of attention eary in the project, but as rea issues and probems surface they can be negected in favour of day-to-day firefighting. Coaching heps restore a sense of perspective, athough it heps if trust has been estabished we in advance of things getting tough so that the advice wi actuay be considered rather than being immediatey dismissed as something that wi cause the project to ose its momentum. Coaching expores gaps in project documentation or project pans, and what the impact of those omissions might be. Poor estimating is something that affects a projects, particuary where these are breaking new ground or using innovative approaches or methodoogies. Encouraging project managers to justify their estimations or risk approach may hep to uncover some unjustified decision making. Simiary exporing whether enough time has been aocated to assurance activity, and correct identification of a ega, poicy and approvas processes, and the peope that might need to be consuted or invoved with these approvas, can indicate whether the project manager is truy thinking hoisticay and whether a coaching intervention might hep. Sometimes inexperienced project managers might take on too much themseves, and might not ask for additiona resources eary enough. A coach shoud be prepared to ask open and honest questions eary on about appropriate resourcing. 25

27 Mentoring or coaching? 26 Coaching brings project managers up to date with the atest technica deveopments (provided, and assuming, that the coach is sufficienty knowedgeabe in these, and has made sufficient effort to maintain a programme of CPD and famiiarity with current corporate strategy). It can hep unearth deivery or technica assumptions that are irreevant to the actua project in hand, or have not been appropriatey recorded or confirmed. Coaching might hep to identify aternative approaches or technoogies, incuding joining up other project managers who have the same technica goas, or need to use the same technica approaches, to expoit organisationa knowedge more widey. It doesn t necessariy mean that the project manager wi, or shoud, change the proposed approach but it might give them something to think about if timeines are tight, or if they need to innovate to ensure benefits wi be reaised and the project wi succeed. Concusion Much of what a good project manager wi do comes from their previous experience of what has worked we for them. They might not aways write this down, but it is certainy good practice to do so when thinking about improvement and how others might be abe to hep identify where gains coud be made reativey easiy or quicky by changing an attitude, behaviour or approach. In some environments, notaby government ones, there might actuay be a reguatory reason to record the thinking and information used in making major decisions. If the project manager keeps a bog or record of the work that they have done and the priority of the actions they have decided to take, it can faciitate mentoring or coaching, and it can form the basis of a mentoring discussion. Particuary under pressure, actions might be taken which on refection might not have been the priority. Very often the pressure to deiver means that some very usefu opportunities are not identified or pursued, perhaps because they are seen as a distraction to the project deivery it is important to maintain visibiity of the project context throughout the ife of the project, to ensure appropriate reaction to externa changes, which may require the project deiverabes to be amended or deivered in a different way.

28 Mentoring or coaching? Coaching and mentoring can be very hepfu in reminding project managers of the wider context of the project, heping them to see the big picture. In particuar, it is important that a project managers, however experienced, are reminded of their corporate deivery responsibiities beyond the immediate project that they are managing. A coach or mentor cannot utimatey take the decisions that the cient may need to make. Indeed, if they were in that position, they might take radicay different decisions, perhaps in a different order of priority, based on their own experience. What they can do, however, is use their experience to increase the cient s awareness of the ikey consequences of either action or inaction. The decision as to whether to use coaching or mentoring is therefore driven primariy by the cients expectations. Do they want to work to forma stretch targets with a performance improvement goa in mind, or are they happier seeking informa advice on how they might better approach something ike estimating or a new risk management strategy? 27

29 How to get the most from coaching How to get the most from coaching Susanne Madsen To get the most from coaching, it s important that you seect a coach who understands your deveopment needs and who is equipped to hep you achieve the things that are important to you. A good coach is someone who deepy istens to you and uses incisive questions to hep you gain carity and motivation in a situation that you are unsure about. Feeing that there is good rapport between you and your coach is imperative as you may otherwise be reuctant to open up and share your chaenges and ambitions. Rapport means that you understand and respect each other and that there is mutua trust between you so that you can tak about your concerns and weaknesses without feeing that you have to justify them. We coud aso say that rapport is when there is a mutua absence of vunerabiity between you and your coach. Some of the characteristics of a good coach in a project environment are: Good istener Good observer Focuses on your needs Asks insightfu questions Serves as a sef-refecting mirror Has a genuine interest in heping Buids instant rapport Emotionay inteigent Patient Has experienced working in a change environment Is a trained coach Keeps a conversations confidentia. 28 So how do you find this great coach who can fuy encourage and support you?

30 How to get the most from coaching The first step is to be cear about what you woud ike to gain from coaching and what your deveopment needs are. Are you predominanty ooking for someone who can hep you get to grips with project management techniques ike estimation, panning and risk management, or are you more interested in deveoping your eadership and peope skis? If you are mosty interested in deveoping your project management skis, or woud ike career advice, choose a coach who has aready managed the kinds of projects you woud ike to manage and who is we connected within the industry. If, however, you are more interested in working on deeper behavioura aspects reating to how you manage yoursef and others, it woud be wise to choose a coach who aready exhibits the behaviours you are ooking for. If you woud ike to come across as a cam, confident and thoughtfu project eader, ook for a coach who aready has these quaities. For coaching in the project environment, it is ikey that you wi need a mix of skis augmentation and eadership deveopment. It is therefore important that your coach straddes both; that they have reevant experience of working in a project environment AND possess the right coaching skis to work with you at a deeper eve. Many project managers beieve that they predominanty need to improve their technica skis. But in reaity they need to work on their interpersona skis over and above their technica skis. In addition it is common for peope to fee unsure about themseves and to ack confidence in their abiities. They may not be aware of it, but a good coach wi detect it and work with them to strengthen their sef-esteem. Look for competence and credibiity When you ook for a coach, choose someone who is fuy quaified. Coaching is a reativey new profession and nothing prevents peope from caing themseves a coach. Athough a coaching quaification is not a guarantee of quaity, it does 29

31 How to get the most from coaching 30 indicate a certain eve of proficiency and tes you that the coach has been professionay trained to work with you. If you take on a coach who hasn t received any forma training you coud end up with someone who doesn t put your needs first. There are many organisations out there that provide good quaifications, for instance the Association for Coaching, the Internationa Coach Federation, Coach U or The Coaching Academy, as we as many universities and business schoos. Have an initia conversation When you find a coach you think may be suitabe, have an initia conversation, either by teephone, Skype or face to face. Te them what you woud ike to gain from coaching and isten to their feedback. Do you fee that they get you? Do they isten to you propery and ask questions to understand your situation? Do they make you fee at ease and do you fee that there is rapport between you? You can aso use this initia meeting to ask them how they work and to gauge if their approach suits you. How often do they suggest that you have your coaching sessions? Wi it be in a way that suits you? Wi you be abe to get hod of your coach at short notice and wi they provide support via emai in between sessions if need be? A good coach wi have a certain way they woud ike to work but wi aso be fexibe enough to meet some of your specia requests. Note that face-to-face coaching isn t necessariy better than teephone coaching. Both can be very effective, but to buid good rapport it woud be great if you can meet face to face at east some of the time. You might aso want to ask the coach if they wi make use of a questionnaire at the beginning of the coaching reationship and if they wi assign you homework or actions in between sessions. A coaching sessions shoud be supported by an action pan and cear outcomes. An effective coach is someone who chaenges you and

32 How to get the most from coaching who wi hod you accountabe for the actions you take. It is aso worth noting that a good coach is someone peope are happy to recommend and endorse. So ask the coach if they can put you in touch with some of their previous cients or if they have any testimonias they can share with you. Assess the reationship When you have found your coach and worked with them for a itte whie, review the reationship and assess if it s effective and moving you forward. If there are aspects that concern you, discuss them with your coach. Frequent, honest and reevant feedback encourages an environment of open communication between you. If you work with a coach who has become a roe mode for you, be carefu not to get binded or fee that you have to mirror them. It is important that you foow the path that fees right for you. Everything you do and the action you take shoud be integra to what you woud ike and the things that fee right to you. Be wiing to take action in between sessions To get the most from coaching, it is not enough that you choose a great coach. You wi aso have to do your part during the actua coaching. You need to have a desire for change, an open mind and a commitment to taking action in between sessions. Your coach may ask you to write down key statements, goas and actions, and may aso give you home assignments to work on. The rea action of coaching takes pace in your ife and on your projects as a resut of the action you take. The best way to exce is to appy your insights and earning to the projects you work on straight away. Coach yoursef with insightfu questions You can further acceerate your progress by reguary taking a step back and asking insightfu questions of yoursef about your ambitions and the project you are working on. Pondering the questions beow wi hep you to deepen the coaching 31

33 How to get the most from coaching sessions. What type of project manager woud you ike to become? Which persona quaities woud you ike to be known for and which vaues woud you ike to express at work? Who are your roe modes and what makes you admire them? How can you stretch yoursef more in your current roe and how can you make better use of your taent? What is not working as we as it coud on your current project? What do your customers compain about and what can you do about it? Who do you need to spend more time with (cients, managers or team members)? Which important activities do you procrastinate on? What is your unique contribution to the project and how can you accentuate it? How can you better motivate and use the strengths of your team members? Which tasks can you start to deegate and to whom? How can you firefight ess and be more proactive? What are the 20% of activities that add to 80% of your resuts? Which meaningfu improvements can you impement on your project? 32

34 The case for project coaching The case for project coaching Anthony Onabanjo Coaching within corporate organisations has been on the increase since the 1990s. In a survey reported by the Institute for Leadership and Management (ILM), 80% of organisations surveyed had used or were using coaching (ILM, 2011). However, as has been suggested in earier chapters, coaching within project management environments is sti in its infancy. So, project organisations have the opportunity to use coaching interventions to deveop project managers and teams and improve project outcomes. This chapter provides evidence of the benefits of coaching and buids a case for the use of coaching within project environments. A fresh perspective Coaching can be defined as the process of equipping peope with the toos, knowedge and opportunities they need to deveop themseves and become more effective, (Styhre and Josephson, 2007). Tabe 1, beow, highights the difference in approach between the project manager and the project coach. Tabe 1 The different approaches of project managers and project coaches Project manager Instruct/direct Contro team members work Know the answers Project coach Ask and isten Confidence in team members work Search for the answers 33

35 The case for project coaching Point out fauts Probem sover and decision maker Deegate responsibiity Create structure and procedures Do things right Position in hierarchy creates power Focus on resuts Promote earning Work as a coaborating partner and an organiser Encourage a team members to take responsibiity Focus on visions and fexibiity Do the right things Emphasise knowedge and humiity Focus on the processes that create resuts Source Adapted from Berg and Karsen (2007) 34 Professiona deveopment One of APM s FIVE Dimensions of Professionaism is commitment. APM members are expected to commit to at east 35 hours of continuing professiona deveopment (CPD) every year. Coaching is recognised by APM as an effective intervention for the deveopment of project management professionas so coaching hours ogged are acceptabe evidence of CPD. The APM Competence Framework (APM, 2008) consists of 47 competences required for effective project management. Nine of these are behavioura competences such as eadership, communication, teamwork and confict management. Generay, behavioura competences are given itte attention within project organisations. However, studies have shown that gaps in behavioura competences contribute to project management faiure (Berg and Karsen, 2007). Therefore, there is an urgent need to bridge this gap. One-off training courses can

36 The case for project coaching provide knowedge, but behaviour change usuay requires a process of ongoing practice and feedback which is exacty what coaching offers. Studies (Nixon et a., 2012) have confirmed the need for project managers to prioritise training in eadership skis, and the need for continuous professiona improvement to enhance eadership outcomes. And Sumner et a., (2006) have shown that managers with positive eadership behaviours achieve successfu project outcomes. Severa studies, incuding a survey conducted by the UK s Chartered Institute of Personne and Deveopment (CIPD), have shown that coaching is an effective too for eadership deveopment (CIPD, 2009). Persona deveopment Persona coaching provides an opportunity to address persona chaenges such as confidence or work/ife baance issues, or to expore persona deveopment opportunities. Coaching increases sef-awareness so that project managers and team members are better abe to understand themseves and how to adjust their behaviours to foster positive reationships within project environments. This aigns with the findings of a master s degree research project conducted at Middesex University (UK) exporing the question, Can coaching and the coaching reationship improve an individua s abiity to project manage? This study found that the benefits of coaching incude increased emotiona inteigence (sef-awareness and sef-management), improved communication skis and increased sef-esteem (Godbatt, 2004). Project coaching case studies Norwegian Teenor Berg and Karsen (2007) describe coaching at a Norwegian teecoms operator that foowed a pre-determined, five-stage process. Generay, this asted three to four months and invoved around 10 meetings between the coach and the project manager. Each coaching session asted an hour. 35

37 The case for project coaching 36 The project managers were coached on persona chaenges, such as frustration or a ack of sef-confidence in the management roe. The authors note: One of the benefits of coaching is it provides a safe and supportive room, which aows the individua to express and expore fears and anxieties, identify coping strategies and skis, and test out new behaviour. And they add: There are usuay few opportunities for eaders to confide in coeagues and direct reports, and there are even fewer possibiities to test out new behaviours. The fear of faiure can be inhibiting. In other areas, resuts coaching heped the project managers carify approaches to project tasks, structure the project processes and create project resuts according to specified goas. The study reported that project managers are often very uncertain about what is expected of them, particuary during the eary stages of projects. There are uncertainties not ony about the task but sometimes around their own abiities. The report goes on to describe how a project in its initiation phase was reduced from 18 to two months as a direct consequence of resuts coaching. Swedish construction site managers This was a one-year academic study of coaching (Styhre and Josephson, 2007) invoving six site (project) managers in a Swedish construction company. The coaching focused on the site managers own interests and their desire to deveop their own skis and competences as site managers. Site managers reported improvements as a resut of coaching in their overa eadership skis, incuding deegation, confict management and communication skis. One of the site managers had received feedback that his communication was more detaied and more easiy understood, whie another site manager said he was a better istener. The site managers aso reported that they found the coaching very supportive in an industry that did not usuay support site managers. The coaching provided them

38 The case for project coaching with a space to refect and see things from other perspectives and so they were abe to manage confict better. Fortune 500 company Another Berg and Karsen study (2013) focuses on two project managers who took part in a nine-month executive coaching training programme as part of their persona deveopment pans. The programme consisted of five seminars, each asting two days and covering a range of coaching toos. The project managers reguary practised using the various coaching toos earnt on the training programme. The project managers were abe to use various coaching and eadership toos to reduce their own stress and that of their team members. They reported that, foowing the coaching programme, they coud hande difficut decisions or conficts without fear or stress. They aso stated that the coaching improved their motivation and sef-confidence. NHS hospita This invoved three team eads. A tota of six sessions, each asting 2.5 hours, were hed monthy (Woodhead, 2011). This study summarised the benefits of the team coaching programme run in the NHS as: providing a forum for diaogue, giving focus and carity of shared goas, increasing trust and coaboration, enabing a systemic understanding and approach to probem soving, improving communication, decision making and commitment to achieving coective outcomes. It aso heped to deveop persona and interpersona reationships and dynamics by breaking down barriers, creating a sense of beonging and a deep empathetic understanding of each other. 37