I have seen an increase in my coaching practice of stuckness with my coachees. This is natural response to unprecedented times. How to keep your coachee or direct report motivated? If your coachee and direct report is socially isolated and stuck at home it can be a big change from the usual work schedule. I’ve put together some suggestions to line managers and coaches supporting direct report and coachees during Covid19 pandemic and lockdown.
1. Check in Regularly
Together find an appropriate day and time and what is the best way to make contact, for example, by phone, video call, text or by email. This contact will communicate to your coachee or DR that you are there for them and care about them.
2. Gently encourage your client/ DR to plan into their day a schedule
This tip is especially helpful for coachees who’ve found themselves recently unemployed or working from home for the first time. Encourage them to start small and to put time aside for pleasant and rewarding activities (calling a friend or family member or immersing themselves in a hobby) Planning a structure to the day can help your coachee to feel more in control and will reduce anxiety which can increase if there is an inordinate amount of time ahead with nothing planned.
3. Difficulty in completing a task or goal
Lots of coachees are having issues with achieving their initial goals that brought them to coaching in the first place. This tip can also be applied to DR too. Break the current goal into smaller steps. For instance, a client was struggling to pay off a debt which they had committed to paying £50 a month. During the pandemic, they had their hours reduced at work which meant this goal was unrealistic. In coaching we worked together to find a goal that was achievable for them by breaking down all the steps they would need to take to bring that amount down to £15 a month. To help to solidify and crystallise this, it’s best to work with someone you trust or a coach to walk through step by step in detail. By doing breaking the goal down step by step, will help your coachee or DR to crystallise their commitment and , will help to further embed their goal.
4. Difficulty in completing a task or goal
It could be that something is getting in the way of your DR/Coachees original goal and so it can be useful to help your client to turn their attention to what are their existing or current needs and focus on them first. If this sounds like you, then consider the following questions:
What important things are taking place right now that you would like to focus on?
Can you walk yourself through the first steps you would need to take to bring you closer to your goal?
What would be your first step?
Have you got any tips that you would like to share? You can get in contact by sending me a message here by replying to this post.