Can you coach someone effectively in their Office?

18 Jun 2007

There is a commonly held view that you Cannot Coach someone effectively in their Office.
This is because they may:-

• Be interrupted
• Be observed by others and be conscious of this
• Be distracted
• Be thinking about their current work
• Not be able to switch off
• Not be able to stand back and look at things objectively
• Not be able to focus and concentrate
• Not be able to think creatively out of the box
• Not be able to think clearly and feel intuitively
• May not be able to act emotionally

Some coachees prefer to and want to be coached in their office and although I don’t encourage this I agree to it if the following environment exists:-

• It is not an “open” office
• They are unlikely to be disturbed
• Their telephone is switched through to a PA, secretary or someone else
• They are not within sight of their PC
• They aren’t doing other work simultaneously
• They are not sitting behind their desk and using it as a barrier between me and them

If you would like more information about coaching people then please contact us.