Any enterprise Oracle Primavera P6 tool deployment requires more than just the software installed on people’s computers for it to be a success. An icon on the desktop, a login and a password might make it possible for people to use their new system, but the reality of making a new tool a success requires much more than that.
Training is, of course, one of the key things that impacts whether the project teams actually get the best out of their new software. However, training courses only go so far. When employees return to their desks after the course is the time when they need continued support. Coaching is one way to do this.
What is coaching?
Coaches have been around in sport for years, but they have only made it in to the office relatively recently. Unfortunately, coaching can be seen as a bit of pointless exercise, with lots of management-speak and not much tangible benefit. That doesn’t have to be the case.
Coaching is a way to capitalize on the potential in individuals and teams with the aim of boosting their effectiveness. It’s the opposite of the command-and-control model of management. A coach doesn’t actually tell the individual what to do—instead they work together to identify solutions. The coach doesn’t do any of the identifying, though. Instead, the role of the coach is to ask targeted questions and lead the conversation so that the person or team being coached can come up with their own solutions.
Anyone can learn to be better at coaching, although it really is the kind of skill that you have to practice by doing. Looking for the opportunities to coach is as important as learning the theory—it is only through doing that you will improve your coaching skills.
Why is it useful?
Coaching helps individuals work through their own ways of dealing with problems. In an enterprise Oracle Primavera P6 deployment, for example, there could be issues around on-going training for new starters, overcoming technical issues, embedding processes, working with other business users to understand the decision support information that they need, or any number of other problems.
At Ten Six, we have supported and led lots of Oracle Primavera P6 tool deployments and we’ve seen all the challenges. There is always a way to solve them. However, it is far more powerful for the individuals involved to come up with their own ways of proactively tackling their concerns. If you can equip your team to work with a coach and create their own action plans for resolving problems then you are equipping them to think creatively and to identify and implement their own solutions.
First coaching steps
You can only coach people who want to be coached, so the first step with coaching is to understand if the person you are working with wants to try to solve their problem themselves. Asking a whole load of questions to try to elicit an answer will just be frustrating for the person on the receiving end if they do not want to take accountability for the solution.
You should only coach when you don’t have a vested interest in the answer. For example, if you want an introduction to the Oracle Primavera P6 tool to be included in the new starters’ induction pack, then coaching people on how best they could support new starters will be frustrating for you if they do not come up with that solution. If you want something to be done in a certain way, say so. That wouldn’t be a suitable coaching situation.
Think about your own style when you want to coach someone. Hold back from giving advice, criticizing, interrupting or talking in the silences when it would be better to allow time for reflection. Instead focus on really listening to what the other person is saying, asking open questions, helping the individual link their ideas together into proposals and providing relevant information.
Coaching questions
Much of the role of being a coach is asking the right questions. Here are 10 questions to give you a head start the next time you coach someone.
- Can you tell me more about that situation?
- How much of this situation do you believe is in your control?
- What have you done about this so far?
- What has stopped you from doing anything else?
- What different ways can you see to approach this situation?
- Which of those options holds the most appeal to you?
- What could you do about the situation right now?
- When will you act on your solution?
- What could I do to support you?
- How would you react if this situation happened again?
Coaching isn’t an easy way to solve organizational or individual problems (and this has been a very high level introduction), but it can be a powerful one. Are your project team members skilled as coaches? If not, how are you going to help them succeed in this role?