Instant pay-off coaching

…someone comes to you to ask for help and you only have a couple of minutes.

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Even coaching in a hurry can help someone to unstuck and grow.

When you only have five minutes and still want to ‘unstuck’ someone to complete a task at hand:

1. Ask the coachee to describe the current issue or problem, with specific examples and a small amount of relevant background.
2. Ask the coachee to describe the outcome—paint as specific a ‘picture’ as possible of how things look when the issue is sorted. Do not try to solve the problem, but note down any emerging ideas.
3. With the coachee, list all the obstacles and blocks that keep you from achieving the goal and sort them into three groups:
   1. Blocks that exist in the coachee—lack of skill or knowledge, low motivation, attitude, etc.
   2. Blocks that exist in others—anxious customer, manager stressed and panicking, etc.
   3. Blocks in the situation—inadequate resources, shift in deadlines, etc.
4. Jointly brainstorm ways around these blocks, and possible next steps.
5. Agree an approach, actions and timing.

Get familiar with instant pay-off coaching when you lack the time or knowledge to complete a full coaching dialog and really build someone’s skills.

Therefore:

Ask the coachee to describe the issue, desired outcome, obstacles, and jointly devise actions around the obstacles to reach the goal.

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instant pay-off coaching is similar to a light-weight version of the a3 solver. The Japanese are known to have grown a culture of kata and improvement kata. A pearl, pattern, and beyond bullet points all enjoy a similar structure and approach.

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Sources

• The Tao of Coaching by Max Landsberg