What are the best tools and methods for coaching remotely?

I have a “Starting from Scratch” exercise I love doing with my clients which means everything is up for grabs, including things they’ve done before, and didn’t succeed or stick and their wildest dreams. The exercise includes - what the want to achieve - what has been their main obstacle - who are their biggest supporters and how they plan to grow their network - what are the things the want to learn - how do they take care of themselves - what new habits they’d like to have These questions allow them to both think of the people, tools and resources they would like to be accountable achieving but as their coach, it allows me to build a plan ask the right questions and make relevant recommendations and introductions.

For remote working success, it's critical to develop a Communication Map to drive agreement with your team on what communication channel should be used, when, for what reason, with what expectations. For example, you agree to use email for non-urgent requests/updates, with the expectation you respond w/in 24 hours. You agree to use Slack for quick questions, reminders, and follow ups, expecting a response ASAP or by the end of the day. Create a 3 column grid, with the columns labeled "Communication Channel", "Primary Use", and "Norms." Then discuss this map with your team to vastly improve communications across a disparate group. Learn more with my course, "One-Minute Habits for Hybrid and Remote Working Success" https://bit.ly/40fsWXc

Goals and expectations are two sides of a coin, but understanding the underlying purpose behind why a leader wants to coach their coachee and a fair review of any underlying or hidden bias is essential. It's important to focus on structuring the sessions for their growth and goals. People are their best when you, as a leader, are invested in their success, which eventually will lead to their success. Sometimes we need to remember the KISS principle. Remote coaching allows the coachee to be in a safe and comfortable space, and remembering to maintain that atmosphere during your coaching session will go a long way in establishing a relationship and making it something that the coachee will be looking forward to.

As a business and exec coach, here is an unpopular opinion: Can your direct manager truly be your coach? For coaching to be effective, coachee's need psychological safety to completely open up and share the fears, reflect and find answers within with the help of a coach. Most coachees do not have that comfort level with the manager. So instead of striving to be coaches, leaders- specifically direct managers should strive to be mentors and guide the employees by sharing the institutional knowledge and their experiences.

Use metrics and action items to track the progress of coaching objectives! Worth to perform a periodic SWOT analysis on coachee profile to set their expectations right!

Being empathetic while giving constructive feedback is a most valuable part in coaching! Regular check-ins are helpful when the coach understands the actual expectations of candidates. Often coachee get stretched if the resources are overwhelming within limited time. So highly recommended to set the goals as "Stretch Goals" but at the same time "Achievable" rather than unrealistic. Hence video based communication is a best choice to experience visual body language patterns.

Virtual communication should be just like being in person. Listen and communicate like you are sitting across the table from each other. It’s just a screen so ensure technical difficulties don’t get in the way of coaching.

Listening and curiosity are the two most important things. If you are authentically curious and listen it shows true empathy. This will build trust and make it a more powerful conversation. I agree that the right channel is important. Sometimes I like to use the channel that makes the person being coached most at ease.

We are all at different points on our learning curves when it comes to remote coaching. I meet with almost all of my coaching clients remotely, but some of them are fully in the office, so interact remotely very little outside of their meetings with me and maybe a few others. Take time in the beginning of an engagement to explore your client's comfort level with various forms of communication, and if one is new to you as the coach, make sure you set time aside to scale your own learning curve with remote coaching.

My coaching sessions are designed with ASD/dyslexia/ADHD/HSP in mind. For me, it's important to remind clients that they're the expert on them. If they listen best while walking and talking on the move outside - they are welcome to attend our meetings as audio calls. If they prefer for me to have the camera on so they can lip read and see my facial expressions, but prefer to have their own cameras off, that's okay too. And equally, if they'd prefer for us both to be camera on or camera off, that's cool. It's not about my communication preferences when I'm coaching - it's about what the client needs. And that could change during the course of the session or between sessions.

Recognize your team. The problem is that most leaders fail this simple step every day. I get it we can get busy, but how long does it take to say "Great Job" or "You Rock!". As a leader, you can get so wrapped up with trying to use a methodology when the simple thank you will go farther.

A fantastic positive way to work remotely, effectively & with a motivated team is to open meetings with an icebreaker. I've seen this work very well with my clients who have been struggling to lead their teams whilst working 100% online. This icebreaker can include feedback and recognition components such as: - Asking each team member to recognise one person who embodies the best the company's core values - Asking each person in the meeting to celebrate & recognise one achievement that the person who's next on the alphabet has done

Often we can make feedback too complicated. There's nothing wrong with discussing it with the other person and sharing your thoughts so that all understand.

I like using a sandwich approach for providing feedback where you start with something that is going well, then you share where there is room for improvement in a constructive way, and you finish with something encouraging.

Add on a C, commitment to the SBI model for a bit more emphasis on action - Situation, Behavior, Impact, and Commitment. When giving feedback discuss the specific situation, behavior, the impact that the behavior had, and then ask for a commitment or change to ensure that the situation improves.

What are the PDs of your team members' next position in the company? That is your learning path. Yes, you can build your own path, but that plan you build will be built with your own bias of what YOU think is important. By letting the next senior job position be your guide, not only will your team members learn valuable skills, but they will also recognize that you want them to succeed. (Even if that next position is your own.) ??

One thing I’ve found helpful is for every member of your team to create a ‘learning journal’ that is shared with you. This way you can keep track of their learnings and development goals (long and short term), their current areas of focus as well their workload outlook for the next while. It does not need to be detailed (you don’t need to micromanage!) but it can be high level and even updated once a month. It lets them take ownership of their short and long term goals, can form the basis for your 1:1 discussions and let’s you stay in touch even when remote.

Supplement coaching sessions with required and optional resources. The beauty of remote coaching is that you can leverage an infinite amount of information online. Test your employee to find supportive material as well to create more intentional learning and growth.

I completely agree with the importance of creating a learning plan and providing resources for remote coaching. Without a clear plan and relevant learning materials, remote coaching can become unstructured and less effective. A well-designed learning plan helps to establish clear goals, timelines, and expectations for both the coach and coachee. It also provides a framework for measuring progress and success.

To create the coaching relationship and expectations around goals, here are 7 questions to set expectations & create alignment, trust & buy-in around coaching, results & the parameters of the relationship. 1.How would you define coaching? 2.Have you ever been coached before? What was your experience like? 3. If you needed to re-define coaching so that it’s a valuable experience for you, what would look like? 4. What are your expectations of me from our coaching? 5. What would you like to work on or ensure we cover during our coaching sessions that would be valuable to you? 6.What concerns, if any, do you have about our coaching and what we discuss? 7. How are you feeling at this point about our conversation & what we've discussed so far?

I use direct 121s to share custom feedback but direct them to listen to my linkedin articles and contributions for passive coaching hence not all coaching lessons shared in one go!

Tools are just one part of the equation. What matters are our day-to-day processes, coupled with frequent nudges to keep the concepts of the coaching culture top of mind. Without such processes and reminders, the tools could end up becoming just another forgotten silo. By sprinkling in regular check-ins, reminders, feedback sessions, or team discussions into our workflows, we can make sure that coaching becomes a part of our day-to-day. So, while I love the idea of leveraging digital tools, I strongly believe it's our processes and reminders that truly make a coaching culture come alive.

In my experience, creating a coaching culture requires Leaders to buy in from the top down. Once leaders share their stories of how coaching has impacted their own lives and how coaching continues to generate a competitive advantage in business, then you will see the culture of organizations change. If you want to see great examples of this check out what McKinsey is doing as I have experienced working with their coaches first hand to augment my own personal leadership ability. Excited to share the results with our community on LinkedIn.

Transition from an advice-giving culture to a coaching culture through promoting asking questions and slowing down. Coaching can become embedded if it's taught, talked about, and role-modeled.

Setting up a coaching culture requires that you focus on a culture that is inclusive and provides for psychological safety for everyone. This will encourage people to provide honest feedback to each other and to frame that feedback in a positive manner. Providing a perspective to expect the best from each other and always to assume positive intent, helps people to frame conversations and questions in a non-accusatory, non-blaming and non-shaming way. It keeps the lines of communication open and helps people to focus on lifting each other up through the coaching.