Reflective Report on Leadership in the Workplace

UNDERSTANDING THE ORGANISATION AND ITS CONTEXT

AC 1.3 Identify own role, span of control and reporting line in an organisation using an organisational chart to illustrate

‘Strategic commissioning is the process by which the Council works with citizens, partners and providers to review and provide services with the aim of achieving the best possible outcomes within the resources available. This covers a wide range of services such as support and care for older people, learning and physical disabilities, mental health, looked after children, early years, health and wellbeing, homelessness and support for carers. Strategic commissioning strives to ensure that the services delivered enable all citizens to participate and benefit from the opportunities that the city provides, through understanding needs and assets at a local and community level and, where necessary, influencing and shaping the market to meet forecast needs and priorities of citizens and partners. ’ (MCC Intranet)

Our team has responsibility for Children’s and Mental Health. I work under the commissioning manager for children’s, and therefore my work is directly related to any commissions for children’s services.

My role as a commissioning officer, comes under strategic commissioning, in the Children’s and Families Directorate. In my role as a commissioning officer, I am responsible for managing commissioned projects. Through this I will liaise with various children’s services’ leads, finance, legal, procurement etc. and other relevant stakeholders to support the design of new service specifications for commissioned services. In addition to this, I also support key services by drafting service level agreements, contracts, extension letters and ensuring the relevant processes are followed. I am responsible for coordinating the contract management for key commissioned services to ensure organisations are performing within expectations, spend is within budget and manage any potential risks/issues where appropriate. I am responsible for updating the children’s contracts register to ensure this is accurate. I also review the effectiveness of current service delivery and feed this into future designs/key commissioning decisions. I undertake reviews of existing services, review the effectiveness of delivery and maintain good relations with both internal and external stakeholders.

My line manager (Peter Cooper) reviews commissioning designs, the Service Level Agreements, over sees day to day queries, budget monitoring, personnel, line management of staff and relationship building with service leads for directly commissioned assignments. He is also responsible for tasking assignments to myself/the other colleague (Mark Moulden commissioning officer)

Peter’s line Manager ( Jock Rodger) is the strategic lead and attends strategic meetings,  ensures the strategic vision for children commissioning is followed and that commissioning work is directed as per the Director of Children’s Services and his line management James Williams ( strategic lead for commissioning)

Please see organisational chart below to illustrate this- I have highlighted in yellow where I am based on the chart below

PLANNING CHANGE IN THE WORK PLACE

AC 2.3 Explain how to communicate with and involve people to facilitate effective change

My change initiative is to set up a contracts database which will include detailed information on children’s commissioned contracts. In order to ensure this change is positively implemented I will need to rely on feedback/communications from a wide range of stakeholders.

The first important step is to ensure that I gain the ‘buy in’ from the keep players (as identified in the chart above). I arranged a meeting with the commissioning team to discuss my proposal.  I presented a prototype of the database I would be looking to create and asked for their feedback/comments. This was a helpful meeting, as they appreciated me contacting them at the early stages, which allowed them to contribute to my change. The prototype of the database was a visual tool which helped them to better understand what I was seeking to do.  I was able to share this electronically and allow them some time to reflect and review.  We agreed a set deadline for their feedback which they agreed to. I received some helpful comments around the database, which led me to change the way I captured some information.  Feedback was received in a formal report via email. This was helpful as it assured team that I would formally take into consideration their comments. I established regular meetings (providing sufficient notice to officers) and always communicated outcomes via email- this was helpful as not everyone could always attend but were kept updated. I offered the opportunity for individuals to ‘skype’ in of they were working from a different location.

I continued to keep the commissioning team involved in any future updates and regularly met with them to request their feedback. I used the instant messaging tool on hangouts to ask short informal qs, share pics and keep them updated. Likewise I responded to any queries they may have had and was a good way for us to build a positive relationship.  The database was created on a share point, which meant that I was able to share the link to the database, so they could see it at different design stages. The visual aid again was helpful and the readiness to provide feedback was helpful via this link.

Once the database was in its final stages, I set up a workshop with service leads to share the tool and request their input. This date was set in advance in order to manage service leads diary. It also meant that I had to ensure all previous stages were complete so that I do not cancel the workshop. The need to stick to deadlines, provides good reassurance for stakeholders and confidence in what is being done. I requested service leads to complete a feedback questionnaire following their attendance and at the workshop they were able to contribute their ideas through one to one- group discussions and written feedback.

A launch for the database was arranged to share the final tool. All stakeholders who were involved attended this and allowed them to see the final product which was as a result of their input.

I ensured that my communication style at all times was very positive,  embraced a strengths based approach I actively took on board people’s ideas, and recognised the  previous information and database on file contained some useful information. I clearly communicated the reasons why the change was need and was excited of the potential of this new system, not only for myself but for all stakeholders involved. The prototype and demo allowed the visual aid to support this.

This was the PIE model which I followed. .PIE (Participation Information and Enthusiasm) is a communication method which is extremely helpful when involving people to facilitate change.

It is important when you are facilitating change that you also utilise some of Debono’s thinking hats. For example, it is important you show enthusiasm and positivity as the way change is communicated will impact on how people receive it. Explain clearly the reasons for the change, providing key facts, evidence and measures to share openly with staff. It is important that you also provide regular updates/inform them of any key changes either face to face/via email (which is most appropriate). People need to be supported through change, and also to recognise that peoples preferred communication styles are different and therefore we should consider different types of communication methods to try to accommodate this. E.g. some people may prefer 1-2-1 meetings, other people may prefer workshops style. It may be that you identify that getting an external person to facilitate meetings will be better and enables people to honestly share how they feel, without fear of reprisals.

In order to support my change initiative, I completed a communications plan. Within the communications plan, I identified who the relevant stakeholders are, how they can be contacted along with information that can be shared from them and how. In order for my change project to be effective, communication is key. I will be requesting information from a range of different s stakeholders and therefore need to be conscious around how I do this – adapting different communications style.  The stakeholder mapping diagram helped me to identify which key plays I need to ensure I have on board and keep satisfied. For example, when liaising with external partners, some may prefer face to face communication (as opposed to email). When communicating I need to be clear, provide timescales for when information is requested. I also need to ensure that I consolidate my communication, so I am not repeatedly requesting different levels of information.

When providing updates at team meetings, I will need to consider progress reports/ updated project plan to be shared with team members. I will also need to consider any visual aid required at training sessions, ensuring I arrange equipment and provide the right environment for this to take place.

In order to ensure individuals are engaged in my change initiative, I need to recognise that some may be reluctant to be on board and therefore need to consider change approaches to facilitate their engagement. One example of this is explaining some of the benefits the change initiative will bring to the team as a result of undertaking this work

AC 1.2 Explain the role that communication plays in establishing a common sense of purpose

Communication is key in establishing a common sense of purpose in an organisation. “Effective communication is a building block of successful organizations”. (Management study guide). There are different types of communication, oral, written and within these different strategies/techniques that can be deployed to convey your message. Communication can be one way and two way. It is also  important to highlight the role of visual support in aiding communications The most effective communication is two way as it allows individuals to respond, however the ability to manage communications may mean that one way communication is utilised. Communication can therefore assist in controlling organizational member’s behaviour in various ways. ‘There are various levels of hierarchy and certain principles and guidelines that employees must follow in an organization. They must comply with organizational policies, perform their job role efficiently and communicate any work problem and grievance to their superiors. Thus, communication helps in controlling function of management.’  (Management study guide).

Communication is your primary source of information for the organisation and how you communicate decisions and actions to employees. How effectively you communicate these will ultimately impact on the strength of your organisation. ‘Communication promotes motivation by informing and clarifying the employees about the task to be done, the manner they are performing the task, and how to improve their performance if it is not up to the mark’. (Management study guide). Communication can be used to educate and alter individual’s attitudes. The more informed an individual is, the likelihood that they will have a better/ more positive attitude. Communication can also help the socialising process.

Communication has a role in allowing people to contribute and for organisations to listen to individuals. This fosters knowledge and understanding of peoples thinking, values and behaviours and by doing so will help organisations become more aware of the environment they are operating in.

An example of this, is one of my recent tasks in producing a children’s commissioning strategy. The purpose of this document was to communicate to children’s senior managers, the roles and functions of the commissioning team and the work that we undertake. The document also outlined the commissioning cycle. This not only helped to reinforce the purpose of the team, it also allowed us to manage expectations. For example, by defining the commissioning cycle, children’s service managers are now aware how long a project will take to commission?  It will also help them to understand the key services we need to consult e.g. finance, legal, procurement and highlights this process in detail. The document also sets out the information required from services in order to support the commissioning process. We created template guidance documents which could act as aids e.g. a tender document- this asks services to complete the relevant information to progress the commission (i.e. a job request) this enabled us to change the behaviours of managers who would previously provide very little information and expect us to write a commission within an unrealistic timeframe. Once we receive this information, we can then filter how we would commission and who would be assigned to this, enabling a smoother transition for assignments e.g. service level agreement, contract, tendering process etc. This was also helpful for us a team as it defines our roles, what our business plan is and what we can /can’t do. It reminds us of the processes that we need to follow and at what stage. The commissioning document also sets out the procedural information, e.g. who is required to sign off and at what stage. Needless to say the strategy document was written in ‘Our Manchester’ approach in which we welcomed the input from services and drew on positives and how we could build open and honest relationships, built on trust. This document enabled us to do this, and it helped mandate our business schedule and for others to recognise the consistency in our approach.

I also completed a commissioning time plan which is attached to the strategy documents. This sets out key time periods where we are expected to be busier than usual. E.g. at financial quarters and that we are likely to be busier at the end of the financial year. This allow us to pre warn senior managers when business service standard may not be as efficient as expected , but also to ensure that if they  require completion of pieces of work to schedule them accordingly. This was helpful when we were approached to complete a commission at the end of March and we were able to justify that business schedules had been communicated and to expect a longer delay. Although this created a delay for the service manager, they understood and could appreciate that they had been privy to our scheduling.

I was recently asked to undertake an analysis for one of the contract it manages. This was not in our commissioning document and neither is this my areas of expertise. Although this was communicated to the senior manager, it was requested to take place and as it was a quieter period, I agreed as an exception.  The analysis was then shared with stakeholders and it was evident that some information was missing and an accurate reflection of performance was not produced. We later found that the performance and research team held information pertaining to this area and that the contract information provided could have been used by their team experts to analyse. It is a reminder that deviating from the ‘common sense’ although in good faith may negatively impact on work which had already taken place. It also did not go down well the performance and research team as they felt that we were trying to ‘take over’ their function.

AC 2.1 Describe the main motivational factors in a work context and how these may apply to different situations, teams and individuals

 Teams

A team can be described as a group of people with complementary skills who come together to complete a set task/goal. (Business dictionary). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs identifies a number of motivational factors. The categories of ‘esteem and belonging needs’ (see chart below) can be seen to be important factors for motivating teams. For example, where there is ‘family’ environment’ where there is care, trust, nurture an open environment people are likely to be more motivated. If there are good relationships between individuals, people will communicate and support each other and trust each other .This is prevalent in key business which are run like ‘families’ where the organisation recognises and treats team members like ‘family’ they flourish.

Also where conditions are created for people to feel a sense of achievement and reputation, people are likely to want to uphold this.  For example, some businesses have good reputations which is what may encourage someone to join that organisation, in turn they would want to uphold that reputation as it would impact positively on them if they mention they have been part of that organisation. Such businesses are also highly regarded by its service users due to having such values. Businesses may also offer opportunities e.g. partnership/shareholders for people to gain a stake in the business and to feel they belong. An example of this is John Lewis Partnership.  This would motivate people, as their sense of achievement would also be financially rewarded.

Team based rewards are a good way of motivating team – these do not necessarily  have to be financial rewards, but where individuals feel they are contributing to the team’s success they may be encouraged to work harder so that they don’t let down their colleagues.

The need for a collective vision/goals etc. in teams is also an important motivator. As a manager it is important to understand the different motivational factors for each team member and that different motivators will be required for team members.

Individuals

In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, self-actualisation would be the most motivational factor for individuals. The need for personal growth and fulfilment is what would motivate an individual.  For example, individuals who are offered training and development opportunities, this would help to motivate them as it would help to promote their own self-growth  Another example of motivating individuals is providing individuals with opportunities of empowerment. Where an individual may feel empowered to undertake a task, it may contribute to their own growth and development which in turn motivate them.

Situations 

In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs – the safety and physiological categories can be seen as the motivational factors for situations.  In order to motivate your staff in certain situations you may need to review their conditions- they may require safety if a recent incident has caused upset amongst the work force. A review of the terms and conditions may be required if someone has unfairly been discriminated against.  When people are in certain situations they will require safety, reassurance and protection in order to motivate them.   A good working environment is particularly important to individuals e.g. access to fully working equipment’s, machines, clean and safe building etc. will act as an important motivator in situations. Job security is equally an important motivating factor in situations, if people feel their job security is threatened, or their contract is limited they may not be motivated to work as harder as permanent staff.

In order to engage employees it is important to understand their motivational factors and how these play out in the work place. Herzberg’s model identifies ‘dissatisfiers’ and recognises the need to ensure these are addressed before trying to motivate individuals.  He then identifies a number of motivations factors (achievement, recognition, work itself, responsibility, advances and personal growth).

Maslow’s theory of hierarchy of needs identifies that individuals are motivated by their needs and the diagram display the most basic needs at the bottom (biological and physiological needs) and as they go up the pyramid the motivational factors which support this progress.

Both theories identify the need to create a good working environment for individuals and therefore good teams will ensure they have positive relationships but also a physical working environment with fair conditions which will motivate individuals and teams. An example of this could be unions, job security,  or the right to access  support via work, fair policies and principles of working which as Hertzberg would describe as ‘satisfying’ their need.   Achievement and recognition are identified as the higher motivators’ and could be used  where individuals are required to be motivated, for example praise, celebrating achievements, rewards systems etc. could be applied. Similarly team rewards, via awards ceremony or target setting with rewards could be applied to motivate individuals and teams.  Team away days could also be used in developing

Relationships and motivating individuals and team.  Training and development opportunities for individuals are identified as motivators for individuals in both theories as ‘personal growth’.

LEADING AND MOTIVATING A TEAM EFFECTIVELY 

AC 2.2 Explain the importance of a leader being able to motivate teams and individuals and gain their commitment to objectives

Although everyone has a responsibility to motivate themselves, leadership is need to further encourage that motivation to ensure team objectives are achieved. A leader must be able to motivate individuals to maximise their performance and to ensure tasks are completed on time and to the required standard.’ This is important because motivated individuals tend to have higher productivity, they are more receptive to adapting/change and have a positive attitude towards their work. Furthermore, they help to spread an organization’s good reputation, reduce rates of absenteeism, and improve performance and profit. They also work hard to achieve their goals, and work with a greater sense of urgency than unmotivated people. (Mind tools – motivating your teams)

A leader must be able to understand what motivates their teams, whether these are intrinsic or extrinsic factors and use these accordingly. It is important that a leader can create the environment in which people are motivated as this will build trust and create a supportive environment in which individuals are inspired and recognised.

A recent example of this was when I was asked to lead on the introduction the updated IR35 rules for commissioning. This was a new initiative which would require additional work for our internal and external teams.  We would need to complete an online tool test for all projects and ensure that other teams/service were also compliant. My team was quite reluctant to this change, as it was new and it was never needed before. I worked with colleagues in procurement to help understand what these new changes meant and then communicated the importance of this task to my team. I learned how to use the tool, so that I was able to support my colleagues when they were completing the tool. I arranged regular one to ones to give individuals the opportunity for help /support and motivate staff members and ensure they are fully committed.  I recognise that individuals in my team have traits from McClelland’s theory of ‘affiliation’ and therefore grouping those to do the tool in sets helped them gain confidence.  Once they were confident in using the tool, I encouraged them to use it independently but also share their knowledge with other teams/services who were in a similar situation to them. This was useful as it helped empower them but also ensure the objectives were being met. It was more difficult to encourage other teams to ensure compliance, as this type of matrix management means that they are not directly responsible.  Communication was key, and regular reminders and updates on the rules along with opportunities for training helped this.  I also ensured that recognition and praise was being provided where teams were completing the tools/making a conscious effort to ensure they were compliant.

Where individuals had not taken this on board and ignored the new rules, they found that payment to their organisations were being blocked by senior managers and they were forced to contact the team for support. This, however meant that there was a delay in payment which could have been avoided if they had followed the leader’s instruction.

Another example is through my work based project. It was important that I motivated teams to share information on their contracts with me.  In order for mangers to do this, they needed to feel that they could trust me understand what I was using the information for. They also required reassurance from me that the information would be stored safely and securely and that they would also have an input in how that information is presented.  I set up workshops on how to use the new database which was an opportunity for managers to gain new skills. This was helpful in  not only getting  them interested in the project but also to ensure commitment going forward as they learned how to updated and amend information by attending the training workshops.

UNDERSTANDING GOOD PRACTICE IN WORKPLACE COACHING

AC 1.1 Describe and define the purpose of workplace coaching

Work place coaching is ‘The process of equipping people with the tools, knowledge, and opportunities they need to fully develop themselves to be effective in their commitment to themselves, the company, and their work’. Work place coaching fosters the ‘skills, processes and knowledge through which people involve themselves in making the maximum impact and constantly renewing themselves and their organisations as they experience continuous change.’ (Integral)

The purpose of work place coaching is to support employee growth and development, through using existing knowledge and experience to enable the individual to enhance their creativity and practices.   Coaching will enable the opportunity to remove any roadblocks to performance.

‘Coaching promotes creativity, breakthrough performance and resilience, giving organizations a competitive edge and an effective way to flow and operate within an environment of continuous change.’ (integral).  It will also contribute to ensuring staff members feel valued and that investment into their growth will help ensure the retention of staff.

The purpose of workplace coaching is to develop people’s skills and abilities to enhance their performance.

Work place coaching will consist of open questions, in which the coachee would be doing more listening, and will encourage and support the coachee through the conversations.  Workplace coaching is solution focused in that it allows individuals to explore with the coach how they will resolve issues before they become major problems. Workplace coaching enables strength based conversations to take place, thus increasing people’s self-belief by acknowledging and praising what has gone well.  The coach will ‘guide’ the coachee by asking them questions, with the knowledge that the coachee would provide their own solutions and the coachee encourages them to build on these. Work place coaching increases individuals self-awareness and responsibility through guiding the coachee and asking them to be more solution focused e.g. how would you resolve this, what would you differently, how could you have done this differently?’ etc. work place coaching contributes to and promotes the growth and development of staff. It also challenges individuals to recognise their own potential. A key point to note is that work place coaching is achievement focused ensuring individuals are task focused and guided/reminded of the strategic visions/oversight and encouraged to identify how this can be seen in the task they are undertaking.

In Manchester City Council, strength based conversation are being encouraged when communicating with managers/colleagues etc.  Previous 1-2-1’s are more solution focused and the style of coaching is being embedded in ‘about you’s , 1-2-1 and key meetings to help promote this. The benefits of this and the culture change is positively impacting on staff as it setting the expectation that the council wants staff to be empowered, and to think ‘outside the box’ etc.  but also reminds them of how this links with the ‘Our Manchester’ strategy and vision.

AC 1.4 Explain how coaches should contract and manage confidentiality to coach ethically

In order for coaching to be successful and effective, it is important that there is confidence in the process.  This is where, coaching ethically’ will come in. In its simplest form coaching ethically is following ethical standards which comprise of values such as integrity, competence, confidentiality and responsibility.

Good Coaches will draw up a coaching contract which will set key standards and expectations. This will help to provide reassurances to the coachee on how the coaching will take place. The contract will confirm the type of coaching taking place, the boundaries of confidentiality, data protection rules, how sessions will take, the expected conduct in the sessions… The contract will provide details of behaviours and values that will be expected e.g. listening, trust, open, honest, respect, fairness, willingness etc. The contract will outline the roles and responsibilities of both the coach and the coachee and may also set schedules on the frequency of coaching. This will help ensure there is equal commitment and what is expected from each other.

Ethical conduct will also refer to operating within the parameters of the law. Therefore the coach needs to ensure that they follow rules and regulations e.g. data protection. This will also refer to the treatment of people   i.e. treat people fairly and consistently, not to prejudice anyone and to maintain professional conduct at all time (again they will need to remember that coaching in the workplace need to ensure they uphold the principles and values for that workplace e.g. MCC has a dignity at work policy)

The confidentiality in coaching is particularly important as it will reflect on how comfortable someone feels to be coached, but also the effectiveness of the coaching. Lack of confidentiality can lead to mistrust, no improvements, reluctance to change, low self-esteem and become a barrier to engagement. A good coach will not only have a contract, but it is important that he/she demonstrates this in the way they deliver their coaching.

AC 2.2 Explain the range of tools and techniques (including diagnostic tools and those exploring learning preferences) that can be used to support effective coaching

There are a range of tools and techniques that can be used to support effective coaching. It is important to recognise that there are differences in staff and that one tool may work better for others also there are tools to identify individual learning preferences, and there are tools to review teams. There are also tools which drawn upon motivators and others which look at preferred learning style. In the section I will explore the different tools and techniques I have come across which could assist in supportive effective coaching.

Motivational questionnaire sheet can be used to identify what motivates your staff. This can help you understand and identify why your staff are in the job e.g. is  it the salary, is it the work type, is it because of the team, the colleagues, reputation of the business, the type of work they do  etc. This is helpful to understand especially when you are trying to find way in which to motivate them and to play to their strengths. For example one individual may like to work because they like to be public facing which helps when coaching someone who may be looking for a job in which this satisfies them, to consider working in a forward facing role e.g. neighbourhood delivery or tasking them to assignments which may include public consultations or explore how they could bring this into their day to day working. It is important to note that what motivates one staff member may not motivate the other staff member. Similarly the ‘driver’s questionnaire’ can also be used to identify what ‘drives people’ in their tasks/work. Such template can be found on the internet and utilise the one which you see best fits your organisation/teams.

The ‘first break all rules’ by Marcus Buckingham is another which captures the most important information about the elements that attract, focus a keep the most talented employees. This is helpful in knowing what supports employee retention and what matters to them.

Individual learning styles can also be identified. One way of doing this is the Myers Briggs indicator. This will enable you to understand what the individual’s preferred learning style is. This is helping in identifying their comfort zone or ‘default’ setting… If you would like colleagues to adapt/change etc. you recognise that this is something they are not usually comfortable with, but can coach or put effective measures in place to address this. If you have sight of your teams learning preferences, when assigning tasks, you could use this to identify which tasks would be better suited to whom but also who you could pair together should you want a colleague to be coached / develop their skills.

The Belbin questionnaire is another tool/technique that can be used to identify if colleagues are shapers/planters /coordinators / This is helpful as it allows you to understand the proportion of their preferences and where their strengths lie in but also  looking at the lower percentages where they could be coached to improve skills. E.g. if a coachee is not confident in coordinating- you may consider opportunities for them to chair meetings to develop their confidence. This is also helpful for you to understand strengths in your team, as different colleagues may be confident in one area as opposed to the other and thus will help to support colleagues/coach etc.

The grow model is a good technique for coaching staff in which you can use to identify what key goal/target /area the individual would like to focus on You would  consider the reality of this situation and then let them explore their options, prompting them to consider options which may not necessarily be within their comfort zone. The will – enables them to think about targets and when they seek to achieve this outcome to ensure their goal is reached

Another technique in coaching is transaction analysis. This explores the Parent adult and child relationships.  The different states explains how effective communications is and when conversations are most effective in what states. For example you may identify a coachee is in ‘child’ phase’ and employ strategies to assist them to the adult phase as they lack confidence.

The Grow model is an example of a simple four step process which could be adopted to coaching.  Goal- this is understanding what you would like to achieve from the coaching session, key focus areas, setting the scene along with identifying what you would like to get out the sessions and how these will be achieved (SMART). The Reality is reviewing the current position of the coachee, assessing where they feel they are at in this moment in time, wat is working well, what could be better etc., The Options section is solution focused considering what the alternatives are, what constraints can be overcome, what resources ae required, which solution/option would work best for them and how they would be able to do to achieve their objectives. Will- The coachee would need to commit to their agreed goals/ establishing a way forward.

There are a number of tools and techniques which can be used to support effective coaching.

The Grow model (as explained above)

‘The OSKAR coaching framework is solution focused which seeks to address performance or behavioural problems within your team through motivation and collaborating coaching conversations (Outcome, Scale, Know-how, Affirm + Action, and Review. Here are some practical suggestions for making each of those stages work for you’.)

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Appreciative Coaching (AC) looks at organizational change by focusing on individual strengths through the lens of what’s working rather than what isn’t. AC guides team members through four stages – Discovery, Dream, Design, and Destiny – to help achieve long-lasting personal transformation.

Team coaching helps people understand how to work better with others. It’s an effective method for showing teams how to reduce conflict and improve their working relationships. The team can then focus on its real work, and achieve its objectives.

The Skill/Will Matrix can help you find the right coaching style in situations like these. It’s designed to help you assess people’s skill and motivation levels. You can then tailor your coaching to their needs, based on this assessment.

High-performance coaching is about helping people to achieve their very best. It’s particularly useful for long-range career or life planning, for dealing with career change points, for making changes to performance or behaviour, and for dealing with major life setbacks.

Graham Gibbs published his Reflective Cycle in 1988.

There are five stages in the cycle:

1. Description.

2. Feelings.

3. Evaluation.

4. Conclusions.

5. Action.

You can use it to help team members think about how they deal with situations, so that they can understand what they did well, and so that they know where they need to improve.

PRACTICE is a simple framework that you can use to help people identify their problems and decide on the best solutions. The acronym stands for the seven steps in the process:

1. Identify the Problem.
2. Develop Realistic and relevant goals.
3. Generate Alternative solutions.
4. Consider the consequences.
5. Target the most feasible solution.
6. Implement your Chosen solution.
7. Evaluate.

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(min Tools, coaching)

AC 2.3 Explain why it is important to maintain basic records of coaching activity and what these should contain

It is important to maintain basic records of coaching activity to record the interaction between client and coach. This will remind the coach of what was discussed in previous sessions, any sensitivities to be aware of, key interventions used, track progress along with provide information for reflective practises. The notes should also consider any resources provided and actions agreed. These notes would also be helpful in summarising what has been achieved and progress against the agreed set targets.

The ACT models is an effective note keeping model. The coach would record the following: Actual information, i.e. facts to be noted, C is describing the coaches comments and T listing the tasks agreed.

Coaching record notes should include information on the date/ time of the session.  This should also include important points that were discussed which may be relevant going forward. The coach should also record any agreed actions that they/ coachee have agreed to , including  activity, deadlines, timescales, responsibility , equipment/authorisation required etc.  Any actions must be measurable/ outcome based – ensuring clarity on the target/goals. The coach should also note a summary of what was discussed during the session- this allows them to recap ahead of the next session.  Any options discussed in the session should also be noted along with who is able to support the process. If actions from previous session were completed then these also need to be updated accordingly (this will help to map the journey)

An example of coaching notes could be to include: when the session took place, with whom? If this was the first session, is the coachee aware of what the coaching session entails? Have they sight of the coaching contract, has the coaching contract signed, have you agreed the number of sessions taking place- e.g. availability / date time etc. need to be recorded.  What would the coachee like to take away from the session i.e. at the beginning identify what the outcomes of the coaching session are, to help keep on track,, then the coach would record the notes of the conversations, the coach would note any agreed actions as a result of the session – how these will be communicated, undertaken, by what time and who will be responsible, the resources required etc. .  The coach would also record when they would review the session/outcomes.

It would also be important to record relevant information e.g.  if the coachee was upset  around something, if anything needed to be shared with colleagues e.g. if you feel that person has been treated unfairly, or if there is anything they have asked you to review e.g. Check the dignity at work policy etc.  Any actions which the coach has agreed to.

It is important that these notes are recorded (if written they should be eligible and   you may want to type up after the meeting) coaching templates can also be used for consistency in formats and help understand the journey better. The information recorded should be concise, relevant and objective (need to keep impartial). Information must be up to date, relevant and signed (if applicable). You may also need to identify the record as confidential and follow your organisations data protection rules in storing and sharing this information.

MAKING BRIEFINGS AND PRESENTATIONS

AC 1.1 Identify appropriate information in line with the objectives of the briefing or presentation

I was provided with a brief to deliver a presentation for 20 minutes. I would also need to allow 5 minutes for questions.  The content of the presentation needed to focus on my work based project but also bringing together some of my learning from the ILM, key models, theories etc. and demonstrate how I applied these in practice, what worked, what didn’t work, what I could have done differently etc. through my project. I would also need to construct an evaluation form. The presentation would need to consider the audience as I will be delivering this to my line manager, assessors and action learning groups. I need to ensure the information is clear, concise and that handouts/materials are made available as clear visual aids. I decided the best format to deliver my presentation would be through presentation slides on power point.

The presentation would need to talk about my work based project – which was on a change I implemented. I thought it would be helpful to provide an introduction to what change is- using the pestle analysis as a tool used to evidence why I implemented the change (I Highlighted that reduced budget changes meant that the way we delivering contracts would need to be reviewed and that a strategic oversight on spend against commissioned contracts was a crucial factor to bringing about this change). I wanted to apply the SWOT model to assess the change project, which helped determine if the benefits of bringing about the change outweighed the threats/risks.

The presentation would also need to consider strategic oversight – which I aligned against the ‘Our Manchester’ strategy for Manchester city council (this is a 10 year strategy for the city) which recognised the asset and strength based approach to my project. In this particular instance we would work with the assets already in place to help support this period of austerity and work with partners to help ensure contracts deliver value for money but deliver against our agreed priorities. To help enable this, we would need employ strength based conversations, building trust, and work open and honestly with contracts to build understanding to bring about this change.

I research a number of models and the Mckinsey 7S model I came across would help me explain how I would implement my change in a strategic way.

Information in the presentation also needed to include people’s behaviours/value- what motivates them along with an understanding of my own learning style.  I used the Myers Briggs indicators outcome to explain my learning style. I also wanted t include the Belbin questionnaire which I asked my team members to complete. This would help explain the makeup of our team and what their strengths are. Working from a strengths perspective I was able to demonstrate how I utilised team assets to support me in delivering my change project. This also allowed me to understand the motivators for individuals.

I recognised the need to demonstrate how I delivered my project, and the project plan (in a gant chart) explained the steps I followed to complete my project. This was a useful way to share my learning, experience and evidence my work stages in a clear manner for the audience to follow.

I decided to include the Johnson’s and Scholes model to show the number of stakeholders involved and the priority these had in deliver my work base project. This is a useful model to share before explain how I communicated my changes- how and who to. My communications plan would be included to explain the different stages of communication and how each stakeholder was involved. I used the change curve as an effective way to show the journey my project (and me) and key stakeholder went on in bringing about this change. I was able to use the curve to demonstrate experiences of stakeholders their emotion but also how I was able to influence that transition.

Finally I would include a copy of that database I created to support this to show the successes of my project and what had been achieved.

I would structure the information in presentation slides, and print appropriate handouts to support my presentation brief.

In order to deliver my presentation, I used a story board technique.  My presentation would describe how I applied ILM in practice and incorporate the ILM tools and techniques I have learned over the past few months.  In the introduction section I will set out my aims and objectives of the presentation. The content for my information would be drawn from the completion of this assessment and identify key criteria’s I would like to talk about.

AC 1.2 Prepare a plan for the content of the briefing or presentation

I used slide numbers as a guide for my plan for the slides to outline what information would be contained under each section

I used a table to plan the content of my briefing, taking into account the number of slides I would need the detail to go into those slides (including any pictures/tables to include) along with the time available to discuss those slides and what I needed to communicate.

AC 3.2 Use feedback to identify areas for improvement in presentation skills

I was nervous about delivering my presentation and therefore roped in some of my colleagues to trial my presentation a week before I delivered this. My colleagues were ‘critical friends’ and provided me with open and honest feedback which helped me to improve my presentation skills and the content of my presentation. My colleague Linda Farnell timed the presentation and noted that I had ‘gone over by 3 minutes’. She also highlighted that I ‘was speaking too fast and needed to slow down for people to understand what I was saying’. I trust this was nerves and would need not only slow down but also reduce my presentation as I would have been over the time limit if I spoke at normal pace. I employed two strategies to deal with this. The first was to drink water as I was speaking- this would help slow me down, along with pausing as I spoke for natural breaks. The second was to shorten my presentation slides with both writing and numbers (they were originally 25) to ensure that I averaged each slide to a minute. I allowed myself 3 days to amend the slides and set myself the target to reduce my presentation time to 20 and speak slow. I practiced this on a daily basis before my presentation and used my timer on my phone to time myself. The night before (6 days after I first delivered) I managed to achieve this.

On the day of my presentation I had drafted some feedback forms to capture feedback from my audience. These feedback forms took into account the following:

• Did the presentation meet the objectives
• Was the presentation clear , accurate and easy to follow
• How interesting did they find the presentation and if there was anything they disliked about the presentation
• A comments section for qualitative feedback

Based on the feedback provided on the form, one anonymous member noted that ‘slides and handouts-text was very small’.  I reflected on this and recognised that the text on my presentation may not have been as clear to some people. In hindsight I would have used a bigger font and bolded the wording to ensure this stands out. I think upon reflection, 2 slides per page would have been better, rather than printing handouts and not everyone made notes and   the ability to see the slides in a wider view may have been better.  In order to address this, I change my text size to 14 and bolded the writing. I also changed the background to a darker colour to make the writing stand out more. I amended the print of my handouts to two slide per page and then also printed these in colour. This made a big difference and was certainly better visually but also to read. I tested this on my colleagues a week after delivering the presentation and they felt that this had been addressed appropriately.

Feedback from my manager was that ‘I could have provided more detail on the benefits of my project’. This was something that I wasn’t comfortable with as I prefer to be modest. However after speaking to him, he provided some key points which he thought were reflective of the successes my project had achieved. I amended the presentation to include those successes and used his quotes in my presentation to demonstrate feedback from stakeholders…

On one of the feedback forms, I gathered that my presentation ranked 4/5 for interesting and ‘would have liked to see more images’ I agree that I could have utilised more IT and perhaps some voice over/ video imagery to break away from my voice, and also add an ‘interesting’ elements to the presentation to ensure I kept my audience engaged throughout the presentation.  Following this   I filmed my colleague Mark Moulden whom I did the personality test on to talk about the results of his test and how I delegated tasks- how effective he thought this was and what I did to motivate him.  I embedded this video into my presentation skills a week after the presentation delivery. When delivering this to my colleagues, they felt it ‘added another dimension’ and was a nice ‘break from my voice’.

Bibliography

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/519571/Classification-of-Public_Bodies-Guidance-for-Departments.pdf (Public Bodies Guidance)

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/579603/public_bodies_report_december_2016.pdf (Public Bodies Report)

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