How a Coach can help you perform better at work

There are times when we struggle to perform a role at work, or have a challenging manager, or difficult team member. This can lead to a lack of motivation, feeling demoralised, poor performance, not feeling “one of the team”.

A coach will dedicate time to listen to you, hear what you are saying, and understand more about what is happening for you. This is your time to talk about what is happening in the work place, what your challenges are, what you would like the outcome to be.

Struggling with vague emails – The 5 Cs tip

I have found that the work place has turned into a place of “Death by Email, Yammer, Teams Chats” (other formats are available). Constant barrage of requests, questions, asks for help. Due to technology, we are expected to be able to respond immediately to everything, at any time, from anywhere.

STOP – this is not sustainable. Take a deep breath. You are not a robot!

I used to work in an environment where I would get short, sharp, demanding emails that wanted a response – well they didn’t say it was always presumed I know they wanted the answer NOW!

Providing feedback to a struggling team member

You’re a manager of a team. One person keeps missing deadlines and the quality of their work is poor. You don’t think you can trust them to perform the role.

Unfortunately, sometimes as managers, we come across this situation. The trick is to understand why the person is not performing as required and identify the relevant actions to be taken. What is important is not to judge a person instead to understanding the whole situation.

I am struggling at work

Throughout my working life in the corporate world, I performed a range of tasks, some of which I did well, and some not so well. This did not mean I failed at my job; it meant I was struggling with that particular task.
All too often we think that, because we did not do a task well, we are not good at our jobs. There are a range of reasons to consider as to why the task did not deliver as expected.

How a coach can help you identify your skills, values, achievement

I had a client who said to me she had no idea that she could do what she could do. And yet I heard her say she was doing it when we were chatting about her job and what she did. So often we are too close to what we are doing and saying that we miss the little things that can really take us forward. Or we are so focused and determined about what we know that we miss the bigger, picture. Likewise, we can be thinking so broadly that we forget to look a little deeper and see what it is we are really capable of doing.

A coach is someone who dedicates time to listen to you and will hear what you are saying but do not realise you are saying. You could be having a conversation about your last job. What you did, what you liked or hated about it. What problems you identified and sorted. How you helped other people or maybe kept to yourself. Your coach will hear what you liked and did not like, what you found annoying, what you don’t want to do again, what skills and experience you have, your achievements.

A coach will ask you to explain a little bit more, look at different ways of expressing what you are saying.

When looking for a promotion or a career change, or to be better at what we do, we tend to focus and what we have just done. We look at the last role we performed or the last job we did.

Most people have had more than one job and completed more than one role. Working with your coach to look at all your roles and jobs and what you liked about them, what you did not like about them, what you have achieved and how you achieved it, you will get a really long list of skills and experience. Your coach will ask probing questions to help you remember more, understand more. Life time achievements are also taken into consideration, like running 5k (determination), getting a qualification (focus), participating in a team sport (team player).

With all these facts you are then able to look at what role you want, what skills you need and what you already have. You don’t lose a skill. It might become a little rusty. With a bit of effort, refresh it will come back.

Reach out, let’s build that picture of you as a skilled experienced person ready to go forward towards your desired outcome.

If this blog resonates with you or someone you know, and you would like more information or to get in touch, please fill in the contact sheet.

Thank you for reading this blog – How a coach can help you identify your skills, values, achievement. If you would like more information or to get in touch, please fill in the contact form.

Change happens at variable speeds – like a penguin

Have you heard of the penguin method? I learnt about the penguin method when I started back into running after knee surgery. I was advised to train like a penguin i.e. walk for 10 minutes then run for 2 minutes. It is a bit like doing interval training go fast, go slow, go fast, go slow or go up a hill, go downhill, go up hill, go downhill etc.

Change is also a bit like a penguin. It can suddenly go really fast, everyone working frantically, and then it slows while the impact of the change settles.

This concept can be applied to the way you work towards changing something in your life. The thought of change can bumble along in the back of your mind, and then suddenly, you want the change to happen, and you work frantically at whatever it is you need to do for the change to happen. Then things will slow down either because you have reached your goal or you have run out of energy or you have got to focus on something else. But worry not, because after this slow pace, the speed will pick up again.

When you set yourself a target, take into considerate The Penguin. Working flat out will exhaust you, potentially lead to burn out, result in you possibly missing some other key event. Going too slow may mean you never achieve your goal, that job is taken by someone else, the run date has come and gone.

Plan your path of change as a journey of variable speed allocating the required time appropriate to all the different elements, allowing for slow times and rapid activity. Also plan different activities. A penguin waddles, swims, dives, slides to get to its destination. You can do the same. For a promotion or career change you can get a new qualification, learn a new skill, get a mentor.

Ask yourself:

Are you going to be a penguin and get to your desires goal in the best possible way and speed?
Are you going to look after yourself and vary the pace of change?
What are you going to do next?

If this blog resonates with you or someone you know, and you would like more information or to get in touch, please fill in the contact sheet.

Thank you for reading this blog – Change happens at variable speeds – like a penguin. If you would like more information or to get in touch, please fill in the contact form.

Skills are transferable

We all have transferable skills. I love it when a project manager tells me they cannot do the project finances. I ask, are you going on holiday this year? How much can you spend? How much is it going to cost you? How much spending money are you taking? How will you keep track of your spend? How much surplus cash are you taking in case of an emergency? What insurance will you have? How did you select the insurance? Who is taking you to the airport? What time are they collecting you? Who else is going with you?

The point is that all of these questions are the type of questions you would ask yourself as a PM about the project finances – What is your budge? What resources do you need and when? What equipment do you need and when? When will you get the supplier invoices? What contingence are you building into the project finances?

If you budget for things in your private live you can look after the project finances.

If you are looking for a promotion, going for a new job, struggling in your current role, ask yourself what skills are required, what experience is needed. Have a look at what you have achieved your private life. Can any of the skills used be adapted to your work life? If yes, great. If no, what can you do to get the skill, experience?

A lot of people don’t like mixing work with their private lives but actually we do things all the time that can be adapted to the work environment.

If you have run a 5K race, what did you do to get ready to train? What kept you motivated to keep training? Who helped you? How did you reward yourself when you achieved the 5k?
Applying this to work, what will motivate you to get up in the morning and go to work, what do you need to help you get u in the morning and go to work, how will you celebrate having made the effort and gone to work, and possibly even enjoyed it?

Whatever it is you are doing, look at what you have done in the post or in the present in a different category. What skills or methods did you use then? Can you apply them to what you are looking to do today?

Ask yourself:

• What skills have I been using in previous and current activities?
• What skills do I need to achieve my goal?
• Can I adapt any of my t skills for what I require now?

If this blog resonates with you or someone you know, and you would like more information or to get in touch, please fill in the contact sheet.

Thank you for reading this blog – Skills are transferable. If you would like more information or to get in touch, please fill in the contact form.

New Year New Goals New You

The value of having a coach during and after being outplaced

It is that time of the year when there are a lot of conversations, blogs, posts referring to the New Year, New Year’s Resolutions, New You.

For many years I used to set new year resolutions and be determine to keep to them. Let’s be honest they were not proper goals. They did not have an end date, they were not measurable, they were not aspiring they were not even specific. Deep down I did want to achieve them but, in a flash, I would break them and then become disillusioned and give up.

Today, I do set goals for myself. They are more achievable, have a date to work towards, success can be measured. I also create a path to achieve them with little check points along the way that can celebrate, be proud I am working towards achieving my goal.

However, I do not set the start date as the 1st January. Nope, I think of them throughout the year, and start them when I am ready, when the desire is really strong. Starting a new goal on the 1st of January is really difficult. You possible have a hangover from seeing the new year in, still have a fridge full of yummy Christmas food, its winter (in the UK), mornings are dark, its cold and potentially wet and windy. Going outside to exercise is not attractive.

There is no magic in the 1st January. It is a date. Whatever goal you want to achieve, think about what you need in order to be able to start it and succeed. Is it nice sunny weather, new cloths or running shoes? Perhaps its to review your CV and LinkedIn profile. By preparing to start your new goal you are actually already working on it. The start date will be when you are ready to dedicate time and energy to understand in more detail what is required to successfully achieve your goal and start those actions.

Ask yourself:

What is the goal I really want to achieve?
What do I need to be able to start it?
When will be the best time to start the goal so I will succeed?

If this blog resonates with you or someone you know, and you would like more information or to get in touch, please fill in the contact sheet.

Thank you for reading this blog – New Year New Goals New You . If you would like more information or to get in touch, please fill in the contact form.

The value of having a coach during and after being outplaced

Being made redundant a couple of times I can identify with others who are going through the same process. The experience is unique to each person but I have found there are some common feelings of:

Hurt
Angry
Decrease in confidence
Concern about not being employable
Thinking they are not valued
Worring they are marketable
Believing they won’t get another job.

On the flipside, sometimes people feel:

Tips for working through being outplaced

Having been through a couple of redundancies and managed a couple of teams through the redundancy process, I have experienced how it can impact those leaving the organisation and those remaining behind.

My tips for people being made redundant are:

Believe in yourself
Look at what you have achieved
Make a note of all your skills and experience
What challenges have you faced and how did you overcome them
Acknowledge what you are feeling and be kind to yourself
Be open to options
Continue to work professionally with those that are remaining
Hand over key information you know those remaining will need
Make time for yourself.