Week 6: Coaching in Specific Situations

Coaching approaches need to be adjusted to a variety of specific situations, such as working with teams and individuals, working with diverse groups and homogenous groups, and coaching in virtual environments. This week, you will consider the challenges of working with coaches in a variety of situations.

Team Coaching. You’ve probably already discovered the challenges of group work in your educational career and elsewhere. The same things that make working in teams valuable—a variety of skill sets, unique viewpoints, and varied competencies—are also what can be the greatest cause of contention and problems. Groups run the gamut of personalities: the know-it-all leader, the panic-driven perfectionist, and the procrastinating last-minute artist. With so many voices seeking to be heard, it can be difficult to reach a consensus on, and work diligently toward, shared goals. Now imagine being the one responsible for turning such a chaotic collection of individuals into a functioning organization.

Diverse Groups. You will also explore the challenges of working with individuals from diverse groups, which can include varying cultures. In these situations, difficulties in language or cultural norms can cause confusion and misunderstanding. Although this type of mentoring or coaching can provide its own unique obstacles, you will analyze different ways to still be effective, regardless of the venue, participants, or circumstances. With the world becoming so interrelated, issues may occur when individuals from two different cultural backgrounds attempt to communicate.

Virtual Coaching. According to Gallup (Hickman & Sasaki, 2017), “Up to 43% of U.S. employees spend at least some of their time working outside of the office—and the trend is growing.” With the increased costs in time and travel combined with improved technology and global-business models, employees have found it very beneficial to work from home, a hotel room, or even the local coffee shop that provides Internet access. As efficient as this may be, it presents a whole new spectrum of challenges to coaches. As much of communication occurs through nuanced speaking or facial expressions, being forced to communicate online can result in misconstrued words and misunderstood concerns.