The benefits of coaching in the corporate environment are well documented and there is a well evidenced link between coaching and improved performance. In fact, as many as 86% of employers feel they have recouped their investment in coaching individuals and teams. Coaching offers participants the opportunity to reflect on their own practices, the attitudes and behaviours that they bring to the workplace (which may include obstacles they are creating to their own professional development) and increases self-awareness.
Here at RPfT, we offer a range of coaching skills courses for managers and leaders. Additionally, our team of experienced, accredited coaches can also lead 1:1, group, and team coaching sessions. All our coaches are highly qualified in coaching and are all also professionally trained actors with a background in business acting and facilitation. We believe that this combined skill set offers a unique, transformative opportunity for the coachee. Coachees not only benefit from the input and feedback from their coach, but this is combined with an immersive experience of learning by doing, as they are able to practice their skills using various conversation scenarios.
Below you’ll find outlines of what’s involved in 1:1, team, and group coaching, as well as more information about some of our coaches.
RPFT provides clients with trained and qualified coaches for individual Developmental and Executive Coaching. A programme of coaching can be designed to support an individual at any level who is meeting a professional challenge and is needing support to operate at their optimum. This could be needing a career development strategy, preparing for promotion or leading through change. Equally it can be applied with employees who are on performance improvement programmes and need focussed support to make progress.
Coaches are supplied who have a good fit with the coachee – and who will use an appropriate approach that marries with the needs and style of the coachee. There will always be a preliminary meeting to ensure that the fit is a good one – offering the strongest opportunity for growth and development and ensuring that the goals of the coachee and the organisation are clear and aligned.
Sessions can be tailored to the schedule of the coachee in terms of frequency and number and can be face to face or virtual.
Team coaching is where a coach works with a group of professionals from the same team to effect positive change.
In the same way as 1:1 coaching, the coach supports the team to identify what their shared vision is (ensuring that key stakeholders understand this too), what they collectively want to change and what they need to do to achieve that goal.
The team coaching process then moves to the ‘how’ stage where the team create actions for change. These actions might include ways to improve team meetings, team relationships or how to work more collaboratively.
Strategies to work out the ‘what’ and ‘how’ might include using the client’s perspective to understand what the client (who the team serves) would want from the team coaching process and what changes they would like to see happen.
Group coaching is where a coach works with a group of professionals from different backgrounds on a shared topic. Topics might include leading a team through change, transforming organisational culture or rekindling team enthusiasm.
In the same way as 1:1 coaching and team coaching, the coach gives group members the space and time to identify exactly what they as individuals, want to change and what they want to take away from process, recognising that each participant’s world will be different.
Next the coach supports the group to think about the ‘how’ and helps create actions for change, through paired and group work. In this stage participants have the added value of leveraging the group’s expertise, and sharing best practice from the group’s skill, experience, and backgrounds.
Group coaching also allows participants to try out new coaching techniques with each other, including goal setting, asking great questions, listening techniques, summarising, and delivering feedback. Through experiential learning techniques, participants develop their understanding of what good coaching looks, sounds and feels like.
Our coaches help clients through creative and memorable learning experiences. A background in acting means we bring situations to life with skill and confidence. Through ‘practice conversation’ or role play scenarios we offer clients a rare opportunity to try out their communication and influencing skills and share honest feedback (both constructive and developmental) in a supportive space. They are also experienced in soft skills and communication training. This means sessions are designed with an emphasis on ‘learning by doing’ and facilitated in a non-directive style. Much like with 1:1 coaching, our coaches facilitate by asking the right questions at the right time.
We believe our clients have more potential than they realise and our aim is to develop their existing skills, discover new ones and reach their goals.
