Virtual coaching is becoming increasingly prevalent and the potential of AI is a major emerging trend. A recent report highlights the transformative role of technology in coaching, plus the rise of AI-driven coachbots and immersive technologies, such as avatars in virtual reality environments.
Coaching has become more accessible, reaching employees at various levels within organisations. Virtual coaching is significantly more common since the pandemic and remains an important delivery mode, with research showing it is just as effective as face-to-face coaching. Technology is also transforming how coaching is organised. On-demand coaching is part of this and providers are making use of comprehensive online platforms to deliver, manage and evaluate their services.
We see democratising access to coaching as a good thing, although we believe there is still a place for high-end coaching provision. It is important to be wary of hubris – Kodak was a pioneer in film photography but it failed to recognise the digital revolution. The company clung to its traditional film business, underestimating the rapid adoption of digital cameras and smartphones. We must not underestimate the impact and potential of AI and we are currently exploring potential solutions in this field. So what’s next in coaching?
Expanded use of coaching
Organisations have increasingly turned to coaching over the past few years and research suggests participants expect investment in coaching to continue to rise over the next two years. It highlights a growing trend of using coaching with more thought and planning, particularly to advance organisational purpose and strategy and complement executive development programmes.
Human-centric approach
Accelerated by the pandemic, there is a growing emphasis on reconciling personal wellbeing with organisational objectives, acknowledging the importance of holistic development and bringing the whole person to work. Leaders need to be more self aware, authentic, resilient and comfortable with showing vulnerability. They also need to engage their employees around these qualities. The boundary between coaching and therapy, not always clear, is increasingly seen as a spectrum, with qualified practitioners offering a blend of coaching and therapeutic techniques such as mindfulness and stress management.
Strategic alignment and systemic thinking
Organisations are recognising the need to align coaching with broader strategic objectives, viewing coaching as a way of driving cultural change and to support talent development. To use coaching in support of strategic intent requires standing back and thinking systemically about designing and delivering executive and/or team coaching programmes by aligning coaching with a wider strategy or problem to solve, or a desired change. There is also a trend of using coaching within executive development programmes to align coaching with organisational goals and foster leadership resilience in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) world.
Team coaching
Focusing on ‘the leader as hero’ – and ignoring the fundamental role teams play in ensuring business success – is a big mistake. This has led to a focus on team coaching, requiring new and more sophisticated skills for coaches in managing group processes and dynamics. The accepted view that effective team coaching requires stability in the team and in the environment is being challenged by the realities of a VUCA world. Balancing internally and externally facing perspectives is therefore critical.
The line manager as coach
Equipping line managers with coaching skills is key to ensuring effective management relationships and increasing staff performance, retention, motivation and satisfaction. Teaching these skills means managers can:
- empower teams and free up time for line managers to move away from getting too involved in the day-to-day detail;
- take a situational approach to conversations with reports, along a spectrum of directional to non-directional approaches;
- understand how to adopt a coaching approach in their day-to-day roles without adding time or complication;
- develop the core skills of listening and asking effective questions;
- build capabilities to provide constructive feedback to promote growth; and
- foster a mindset shift towards enabling self-driven problem solving.
These themes illustrate the evolution of coaching over the past decade and offer insights into the future trajectory of the coaching profession, with the need for practitioners to adapt, innovate and maintain quality standards in the face of technological advancements and market changes.
Sarah Tennant and Jon Horsley are consultant coach mentors at The OCM
