Over the years, many organizations have benefitted from adopting a purchasing and leadership-based system of ongoing coaching.
The “term “coaching” describes an ongoing regularly monitored effort to ensure the organization remains on target and each member is contributing to his or her potential towards attaining that target.
I was very fortunate early in my career to have spent three days in a supply chain and quality management coaching session with Dr. William Deming, who, at that time, was a famous quality management guru who strived for continuous improvement of organizations.
The origin of his work can be found in the Japanese manufacturing industry.
The objective behind coaching is to teach each member of the team specifically what is required of them respectively.
Strengths of coaching (in comparison to other methods of staff training) are that it is continuous, involves the day-to-day application of skills, coupled with real-time control and feedback, builds upon an individual’s personal skills and discipline and calls upon everyone to participate in his or her own development.
I spent many years conducting supply chain management seminars.
The goal of coaching is a sustained process of self-development, under the co-ordinating direction of the team leader.
The development of each member is geared towards facilitating the process of achieving team goals.
The characteristics of constructive coaching include:
Defining team and individual objectives and securing team commitment to those objectives and setting a time frame to attain those objectives.
Identifying and securing commitment to a work plan that is designed to achieve the team objective. (The whole team should participate in discussing and drafting the work plan).
Meeting individually with each team member to discuss their respective personal needs for skill development and objective assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of each individual team member.
The meetings should be conducted early, in a positive and friendly manner, with open discussion between the coach and the team player. The person coaching should ensure they are conducted in an environment and way that allows team members to feel comfortable in providing and receiving constructive feedback.
Communication between coach and team members should be used to build the confidence and trust that is required for maximized individual performance and greatest chance of over-all organizational success.
Conducting periodic team reviews, both regularly and after major milestones, in which ideas are freely exchanged (both up and down the chain of command) concerning how well plans are working.
A critical question to address is whether the support being provided to everyone is sufficient to permit the individuals in question to perform as required. Each member of the team should be invited to comment as to whether any additional support is required from other team members to maximize performance.
The goal is not to have the team members criticize each other as to their respective support requirements, but to give guidance as to those areas in which existing support is adequate, and those areas in which it is deficient, so that improvement can be made.
Encouraging all individuals to self-coach, to assess their own performance critically and to identify the areas where they need to develop additional skills (or strengths), or enhance the skills they possess, is critical.
Self-coaching entails self-awareness, the ability to set clear goals, curiosity concerning methods of improvement, an assumption of personal responsibility and a commitment on the part of each individual to continuous and regular monitoring and assessment of performance.
It is characterized by individual initiative and a positive attitude towards performance enhancements and a desire to improve the ability of everyone within the organization.
In my opinion, the coach acts as an eternal expert observer making sure that each of his or her team’s performance, attitude and actions are consistent with the objectives that have been set.
Stephen Bauld is a government procurement expert and can be reached at swbauld@purchasingci.com. Some of his columns may contain excerpts from The Municipal Procurement Handbook published by Butterworths.
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