Mentoring and Coaching Over Training: What Truly Transforms Delivery Teams?

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I was talking with my friend and colleague Haydn Thomas the other day that there’s something about the way some of my clients develop people in transformation delivery teams that has been sitting uncomfortably with me for a while.

?\Some of my clients still talk a lot about a training only response: structured, time-boxed, often standardised, but in the real world of projects, programs, and change, I’ve found that the deepest learning doesn’t come from the classroom. It comes from the moments in between. The conversations over a cuppa. The reflective debriefs after a tough stakeholder meeting. The quiet words of encouragement before a difficult decision.

I have worked with Haydn over the last 15 years in various professional contexts. He and I know very profoundly that the real shift in capability comes via quality mentoring and coaching.

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The Difference Between Knowing and Understanding

I have a string of well-known certifications and accreditations to my name including of course Dr Elissa Farrow PHD. I love learning especially with others. Training of course is valuable; it equips people with knowledge. But transformation work is about applying that knowledge in complex, messy, human situations. The difference between knowing a framework and understanding how to navigate real-world resistance or applying tools in varying contexts is vast. Within that gap is where mentoring and coaching with an experienced person (like Haydn and I) make all the difference.

When I met Haydn in January for our new year strategy session, we reflected that we have both seen highly skilled professionals struggle, not because they lacked training, but because they lacked a safe sounding board, someone to help them process the human dynamics of change. They needed space to explore their own leadership style, their values, a particular competency, their self-confidence, and their blind spots. When we provided that warm and professional mentor or coaching service we have seen a visible and quantifyable shift in competency, capacity, capability and courage.

A story to illustrate - two clients of ours had over 35 participants they and the participant had identified as willing to learn in a new way. Haydn and I co-designed a 6 month learning program, providing regular coaching and mentoring sessions, checkins and bi-monthly immersive learning circles over a 6 month period. The learners in our program (coachees) achieved a measured shift in delivery competence. But more exciting for both of us, we saw across both of our client cohorts, a massively measured shift in CONFIDENCE. 90% of our coachee’s within a 12-month period after our program received a promotion in their workplace - they believed in their new capabilities. 100% didn’t leave the business even though they were very capable and marketable - they stayed because– they felt appreciative of the organisations investment in them and felt valued and were then able to give back to future 'alumni'.

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The Role of Sponsors and Senior Leaders in Development

?In high-performing delivery teams, the best sponsors and senior leaders as we all know, don’t just authorise projects; they invest in the people delivering them. They don’t just sign off on training budgets; they create environments where reflection, challenge, and support are embedded into daily work. The best leaders we have worked with take time to guide, to ask insightful questions, and to create safety for their teams to explore new approaches.

The development program I mentioned earlier had line leaders and executives front and centre of the learning process. There were part of individual and coach reflection activities, and had the opportunity to participate in our engaging and interactive learning circles. The internal development structures that Haydn and I have developed collaboratively over time for many clients, had value for the leaders as well as the participant. This overall added to the organisations broader capability as well as to the value and time the program was given to delivery.

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Creating Learning Cultures, Not Just Training Plans

Transformation to me is not just about delivering change; it’s about sustaining it. And sustained change in any industry requires a culture of learning. A training course can teach a skill, but a coaching conversation can shift a mindset and focus in deep on a specific competency be it assurance, analysis or tool utilisation. A coach or mentor’s personal story can provide insight that no slide deck ever could. Remember that time when, how I handled things were, what do you think we could do differently.

?So, what if PMO’s or transformation practices invested more in mentorship and coaching, rather than defaulting to another training program? What if we prioritised deep learning through relationships, rather than surface-level learning through instruction? Or even better a combination of both.

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So let us begin challenge 'just a bit of training will do'

If you’re leading transformation work, think about the legacy you want to leave. Are you creating technically competent teams, or are you fostering adaptable, resilient, confident and self-aware professionals who will shape the future of change?

?In my experience working closely with Haydn, we have seen first-hand what a well-designed and supported coaching and mentoring program will bring to our clients. Choosing the right quality and experienced coaching facilitator and design partner is key. Haydn and I between us, have over 60-ish years of experience between us in designing and delivering transformational change.

We have been honoured to hold positions of trusted advisors, portfolio leads, program and project managers and directors, business analysts, assurance reviewers, PMO directors, change managers, benefits managers and technical design leads. We also have felt personally and professionally the joy of success and the sadness and sting of loss or failure. ?Coaching and mentoring when done with the right approach and process, creates a psychologically safe space where all that glorious human (and project team) messiness can unfurl and reform to something awesome.

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I’d love to hear your thoughts. What has made the biggest impact on your professional and personal development—training, mentoring, coaching, or something else entirely?