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Is Coaching a substitute for Management training?

The aim of coaching people in Organisations is to help them to give of their best and to unlock their potential to maximise their own PERFORMANCE.
It is about them LEARNING, becoming more aware of what their possible options are and discovering and deciding for themselves what their appropriate, chosen course of action is.
It is not about an expert coach deciding what is best for them and telling them what and how to do things.
In this way it differs from much management training which is often clearly directed towards a prescribed set of learning needs and goals and which sets out for the trainees to learn, understand and apply a specific model, knowledge or technique or approach effectively to a situation. Management training therefore assumes and dictates the core agenda and prescribes a recommended approach or course of action to be followed.
Coaching however does not assume and give the coachee the agenda – it leaves this choice down to the subject themselves, as it does with the course of action. Coaching assumes that the coachee will make the best choice for them about the course of action to take from a list of actions generated mainly, but not exclusively from their own thinking. In this way it is believed that the coachee will be more committed to taking action and not just thinking and talking differently about an issue or opportunity.
Coaching is also about encouraging a subject to look at what is working well for them and to play to their strengths in developing an action plan.
Management training tends to be undertaken in a group setting, usually with peers from the same or sometimes different Organisations, where as coaching is a 1 to 1 activity with the focus being clearly directed towards the subject.
The follow up of actions for coaching subjects is also clearer in that the coach will usually make a note of them, send a copy to the coachee and then follow them up at the next session.
In summary coaching is not necessarily a better learning approach for managers than is management training – but it does provide a more flexible, focused and individual approach. The choice of which one is better for your managers will depend on their needs, circumstances and your objectives as an Organisation. If you would like some more guidance on which approach to choose for your Managers then please contact us.