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Over the course of a person’s life, one accumulates a great deal of knowledge and expertise in a particular field. Coaching is the art of passing that knowledge and expertise on to less knowledgeable or experienced colleagues in a structured and meaningful way. This may take the form of one to one coaching, where you will have one learner and will concentrate exclusively on their needs or it may take the form of a training session for several learners.In either case, in order to fulfill this function to the best of one’s ability, a workplace coach must understand how adults learn and how to appeal to their learning styles.Knowing how adults learn will allow a coach or trainer to make sure the learning process is aimed specifically at their audience and ensure maximum benefit for the student.

Principal of adult learning include:
1. Adults often feel uncomfortable in the learning situation. The trainer should:
– Acknowledge skills and experience that the learner already has
– Avoid embarrassing the learner who makes a mistake
– Acknowledge the learner’s efforts, even if the task is not totally correct
– Praise good work

2. For optimum transfer of learning, the adult must be actively involved in the learning experience. The trainer should:
– Let the learner do parts of the task
– Avoid long periods where the learner is just watching and listening
– Ask frequent open questions

3. Adults like to work on real life problems and examples. The trainer should:
– Give them practical examples and scenarios from real life
– Share your own knowledge and experiences – relating how you made the topics under discussion really work

4. Adults want to use new skills acquired as soon and as often as possible. The trainer should:
– Give the learner the opportunity to use skills by setting a real-life problem or test
– Plan training sessions in conjunction with the needs of the department, so that the learner can use the skill immediately

5. Adults like to have prior knowledge and experience recognised. The trainer should:
– Ask the learner what parts of the task they can already do
– Let them show you
– Acknowledge genuine areas of competence
– Don’t be afraid to learn from the learner

6. Adults want to be able to question and debate. The trainer should:
– Encourage the learner to stop and ask questions
– Pause throughout the training session and ask if there are any questions, observations or concerns about the material discussed
– Thank the learner for asking questions

7. Adults need to see training as relevant to individual goals. The trainer should:
– At the start of the session identify the WIIFM (What’s in it for me)
– Ask the learner how they best like to learn and incorporate their response into the design of your training

Identifying the need for coaching

Before any training can take place, the need for this training first needs to be properly identified and a structure established. Factors that could influence the decision on whether coaching should take place could include:
– A request for coaching from the colleague to be coached
– Your own observation and workplace experience
– Direction from management

How a coaching session is structured will depend on the identified need. An informal coaching arrangement would be kept relatively loose, with instruction being given as and when time permitted, whereas a formal coaching arrangement would need a more structured approach; a training schedule would be drawn up, permissions and approval for training would be secured from the relevant managers or supervisors, the training requirements and standards for the training would be discussed and agreed upon.

The importance of Standards

A standard is a statement or illustration which describes the required level of performance that a worker must be able to demonstrate to be considered competent in a given task. Standards are essential as a point of reference for both the trainer and the learner.

In the absence of any clearly defined, communicated, and understood standard of performance, whatever the learner does is right. This leaves no room for error on the part of the staff. When standards are developed by an organization, they need to be set in specific terms so that there is an actual measure that can be followed.
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Ihab Salloum