When should instructors provide coaching? Yes, but what is coaching? “That is the crux of it,” as Cantinflas would say. This is where many people will surely object. NOTE: this does not mean a trainer must undertake coach certification. That is a more delicate, much longer process requiring thorough preparation and timely guidance. Let us not confuse the two: the coaching a trainer should offer is what we call mentoring.
Yes, every developing instructor needs this competency. Let us accept it: the moment someone becomes a leader, they also become an adviser, mentor and guide to employees. It should almost be written into the contract.
One major misconception is that the trainer becomes the team’s therapist, shoulder to cry on or kindly father figure. Although aspects of that relate to leadership, that is not the purpose of this service. As mentioned, coaching within the Train the Trainer course develops the ability to focus a team’s resources, skills and knowledge, channeling all those efforts toward a shared objective.
We have met trainers who view this point with some disdain. They dislike the idea of now having to offer employees “advice.” But if they are unwilling to accept that responsibility, they probably do not belong on your training team.
Employees cannot grow without guidance. That primitive, backward idea, “I learned the hard way, and it is the best way to learn,” is a cancerous way of thinking. We are not talking about sawing a board or chopping onions. We are talking about much more complex processes that form part of a whole. If we neglect any detail of that “whole,” we end up with rework, waste, downtime and losses—in short, money thrown away.
Do you want to be responsible for causing your company to lose money, regardless of the amount? Because whether it is $100 or $100 million, I hardly need to tell you that it is a serious situation for any corporation, and always, always, someone has to pay for the damage.
As mentioned, our instructor in training must begin developing coaching skills to provide timely post-training follow-up for every course participant. This means that, yes, they are obliged to evaluate participants for at least the first 3 months after the course ends.
For these evolving trainers, it's not as difficult as it looks, here are some recommendations:
a. Learn to give feedback: It is not difficult, but requires practice and experience. Why? We are not very good at positive comments, although we offer negative ones even when unasked. Objective, neutral comments often leave us searching for words.
b. Learn to give feedforward: giving feedback after an activity is one thing; anticipating trouble is another. Feedforward is a leadership skill focused on avoiding risky situations when a lack of “expertise,” so to speak, is evident, drawing on previous learning and experience.
c. Learn to listen: Above all, elite instructors must develop this skill and stay alert. People communicate a great deal between the lines. Unless we sharpen our hearing and other senses, we miss information that could help us guide trainees toward improvement.
d. Emotional control: You chose to become an instructor and enter this wonderful magical, comic, musical world. People may approach you in countless emotional states. Do NOT become emotionally entangled: remain composed even when tired or fed up with hearing the same complaints repeatedly.
Do these 4 initial recommendations make sense, or do they make you uncomfortable? If the latter, perhaps leave this wonderful profession alone. But if you feel even a spark of excitement, your next step is a comprehensive Train the Trainer course. See you along the way, future colleague.
Rock’n roll people!
