Using a coaching lens to build a better 2021
By: Dyfrig Williams
Tags: 2020, Covid 19, Social Care, Coaching

My blogging has gone off the boil this year. With the disappearance of the third place during the pandemic, work and home life have become intermingled. The space for reflection has diminished to the point of non-existence.

I don’t have the detailed notes of previous years, but if ever there’s been a year to cut myself some slack, it’s this one. This has been a year of learning. As such, it feels like a year for generous, helpful reflection. Criticism can wait for another time. I’m going to be thinking about how I use coaching in my working relationships in 2021, and I thought it would be helpful to reflect on this year using the TGROW model that Suzanne Triggs used in Research in Practice’s excellent coaching webinar. I worked with Suzanne on a brilliant open access webinar for the Practice Supervisor Development Programme, and I’ve always meant to go back to it and rewatch it, but I never got round to it. More on that later.

Coaching the problem, not the person: Topic

The clarification and exploration of the topic

If I'm starting with 'why', the purpose of this is to enable myself to develop my thinking around what a good life looks like to me, and what work looks like in that context. COVID-19 has meant that we've questioned many of our assumptions. I've learnt loads, not least about having a better work / life balance. Suzanne said something during the webinar that really resonated with me around how we might harness the space and ambiguity generated by the current situation as a positive thing instead of as a holding pattern before moving forward.

I really want to build the space for reflection back into my learning and working. I’m fortunate enough to work for an organisation that gives us a day a month to set aside for our learning. I’ve been very haphazard in making use of that.

Goal

The setting of specific goals – long/medium/short term and for the session itself

As an organisation, I feel like we've really made the most of our strengths as a network this year. Going forward, I want to be give myself space to learn from what's worked, and to build our learning offer.

When I started at Research in Practice, I very much felt like a public service generalist in a social care specific role. Adjusting to unfamiliar legislation meant that I lacked confidence when working with my talented colleagues. I’m now more familiar with the legislation and the sector in general. I’m in a different place, and I feel more confident when articulating what helpful learning resources might look like.

All being well, I’ll be moving into a Head of Learning role at Research in Practice in 2021. When working in that role, I aim to be:

Intentional in my learning

Working effectively as part of our team, moving from being a fixer into a facilitator

Reality

Understanding where the coachee is now in relation to their goals

It’s been a relentless year, with no letup. I’ve started to think about what I can do to put myself in a better position for learning and development next year, so I’ve begun to block out time in my diary for it. I had that space in my calendar twice before Christmas, and I stuck with it once. One out of two ain’t bad!

There’s a task around understanding where I really add value. That in turn leads to thinking about how we work as a team and how I delegate work. Whilst I’m not in a command and control space, I can certainly better share responsibility around the team. Suzanne made a good point around thinking about how enabling others can not only help us to grow during this period, but can also help other people to grow too. By building the team’s capability, I stop being a bottleneck as the only person who can do a job.

Options

Exploring options for moving forward

Suzanne spoke about how the working day is currently expanding and how that can take a toll on our personal lives. I'm thinking about how that can also squeeze out the space for work that adds value. I'm reflecting on David Graeber's Bullshit Jobs and what I might be able to cut out from my workload, as well as when someone else might be better placed to do that work.

In terms of sticking to my plans, I’m thinking about how I might better voice my routine and share what I’m doing in 2021 so that I can both model good work and enable people to hold me to account. It fits with some of what we’ve discussed at Rssearch in Practice about good accountability practice.

Wrap Up / Will / Way Forward

Identifying and agreeing specific action

Suzanne spoke about coaching as an egalitarian practice in the webinar - the brain that contains the problem contains the solution. With that in mind, here’s my initial thinking around a positive first step.

In 2021 I’m going to start each day by sharing what I’m going to achieve. That will help me to be more task focused in a sea of email and enable people to hold me to account. By making time to learn and share that, I’m showing my colleagues that it’s ok for them to do the same. This feels like a small, but helpful minimum viable change. In a year where there was so much change and very little control, having agency over a small learning experiment feels like a good way to go. Radiating intent is the way forward (HT Neil Tamplin).

It’s been a hell of a year, and one that most of us will need to recharge from in one way or another. I hope you all have a great New Year, and I look forward to seeing and working with you in 2021!