Coaching - Project Manager as Change Agent
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Revision as of 20:36, 24 February 2018
Coaching is one out of many interpersonal skills that PMI (Project Management Institute), an organization that defines worldwide standards for project, program and portfolio management, recommends a Project Manager to possess [1]. The standard defines coaching as a means of developing a project team to a higher level of competency and performance, applied with an individual or team approach. Coaching is recommended in situations where a project team member or an entire team is low performing due to lack of motivation, knowledge or skills.
The fact that coaching is a commonly used term, representing many different categories of coaching (e.g. Executive, Life coaching, Workplace coaching), coachings in different contexts (e.g. personal or business), and coachings with different focus (motivation or skills) provides different expectations and understanding towards prerequisites for a coaching, which limits the application of coaching in a business context. [2].
In a context of change, coaching can be seen as a corrective action aiming to get a team member or an entire team 'back on track' and aligned with new project objectives. A Program Manager applying coaching is highly comparable to a Change Agent facilitating a change. Adopting four collaborative modes of intervening from Change Management can ease the application of coaching in a business context.
Recommendations are given to Project Managers at different coaching levels. A 'First step' - providing basic knowledge on how to get started with coaching, and a 'Next step' - introducing a viable coaching approach for a business context.
This article will focus on individual coaching in a context of change, and address a situation where a team member is low performing due to lack of motivation.
A situation of change
(Remenber: According to the PMBOK® Guide, In the PMBOK® Guide [1], coaching is mentioned as one out of several interpersonal skill, that a Project Manager is recommended to possess.
Changes happen in projects. They may be initiated by project team members, stakeholder requests, complaints or a wide range of other factors, however, it is the Project Managers responsibility to manage the change and implement corrective actions [3]
Corrective actions are related to activities, XXXXXX scheduling, planning, and budgeting are (explicitly??) covered in the PMI guide, Project Management Body of Knowledge [PMBOK], as opposed to corrective actions as re-motivating and ensuring that a team member gets 'back on track' after a project has undergone change. Developing a team members mindset and attitude in case it is unaligned with new project objectives may be less tangible than enhancing a team members skills and knowledge, but nevertheless it very important in terms of regaining high performance.
Interpersonal skills and competencies
As the Project Manager is assigned to lead a team that is responsible for achieving the project objectives he must possess three specific competencies, in addition to area-specific skills and general management proficiencies required for the project, to be efficient. These three competencies are knowledge of project management, the ability to perform while applying his/her project management skills, and personal competencies such as attitude, core personality characteristics, and leadership.[1]
Keeping the fact in mind, that a project manager accomplishes work through the project team and other stakeholders, interpersonal skills are worth paying attention to as well. Interpersonal skills cannot stand alone, they are to be balanced with other important project management skills such as technical and conceptual skills in the act of analyzing situations and interacting appropriately.[1]
In any situation where a Project Manager needs to implement corrective actions to the project plan, budget or schedule, there is a potential risk that a team member or the entire team will be negatively affected by the change. In a worst-case scenario, the team members will be demotivated, performance will be affected, the progression of the project will decrease and project objective won't be achieved. In such a situation several interpersonal skills are relevant to possess. Communication, trust building, motivation, conflict management, teambuilding and coaching. However, in a situation of change where fear is known as the main reason for people be resistant to changes, coaching skills stand out. Handling a team member's fear - whether it is fear of poor outcomes, fear of the unknown, or fear of realization of faults with change overlooked by management and their fear of resulting problems [4]- requires some kind of dialog with a focus on regaining trust and confidence in the new situation. Two different approaches to coaching can be taken, either a problem-centered or a person-centered. [5]
Coaching
Coaching is as mentioned, an interpersonal skill that a Project Manager is recommended to possess and is fundamentally based on a dialog between two people, one conducting the coaching (the coach/Project Manager) and the other being coached (the coachee/project team member).
Definitions of coaching though vary considerably. Emphasising an instructional approach proposes that coaching is concerned with the immediate improvement of performance and development of skills by a form of tutoring or instruction'[6]. In contrast, John Whitmore, who in 1970s introduced the principles behind sports coaching to organizations, sees coaching as a process of 'unlocking a person’s potential to maximize their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them'. Here the focus should be drawn to the word unlocking since it represents the facilitated change in mindset and attitude that is needed for a person to maximize own performance. [6]
With reference to PMBOK® Guide coaching is seen as a means of developing the project team to a higher level of competency and performance. And the purpose of coaching is given as 'helping people recognize their potential through empowerment and development'. Despite PMBOK® Guide mentions empowerment and motivation in relation to coaching, it tends to focus on the development of skills rather than unlocking potential.
Focus
In this article, the terms motivation focused coaching and skill focused coaching will be used to easily distinguish between the two different approaches to coaching. Both approaches are relevant for a Project Manager since low performance can be a consequence of lack of motivation as well as lack of skills.
- Motivation focused coaching addresses motivation by facilitating a change in a persons mindset and attitude towards accepting a challenging situation and enabling own potential. This type of coaching has a nondirectional ask-not-tell approach and the coach uses a wide variety of cognitive and behavioral techniques to enhance the coaching dialog. Focus is on a person's self-discovery and is linked to personal rather than professional development.[6]
- Skill focused coaching addresses skills and knowledge by helping a person to develop specific skills or achieve the knowledge needed to handle a new situation. This type of coaching is directional and has a tell-rather-than-ask approach, emphasizing advice and direct feedback.[6]
Anyone can in principle provide coaching. Since the middle of the 1990s, coaching professional associations such as the Association for Coaching (AC), the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC), the International Association of Coaching (IAC), and the International Coach Federation (ICF) have worked towards developing training standards for coaches.[6]
Context
Coaching can be applied in different contexts a personal and business context. [2]. In the role of a Project Manager, it will always be applied in a business context but it is relevant to understand the difference between the two contexts.
- Personal context - coaching in a personal context, the goals, and needs of the person being coached are seen as the highest objective for the coaching.
- Business context - coaching in a business context, a company's competitive advantage or a project's progression is seen as the highest objective for the coaching.
In figure 3 shows three important differences in focus and prerequisites between coaching in a personal context and a business cóntext.
Categories
Providing a picture of the common understanding of coaching it is relevant to mention three categories of coaching - Executive Coaching, Life Coaching, and Workplace Coaching. In Executive Coaching, a person with managerial authority and responsibility in an organization is being coached by an external consultant on e.g. strategic planning, skills, anger and stress management, and leadership development - in a business context. In Life Coaching a person is typically being coached on personal issues in a personal context e.g. work/life balance, managing finances and developing new career directions.
Less known is Workplace coaching. Here a nonexecutive person is being coached by a line manager or project manager - in a business context. It focuses primarily on performance or skills enhancement rather than personal or professional development [6]
Application
A coaching between a Project Manager and a project team member, where the coaching dialog is conducted by the Project Manager responsible for achieving project objectives, meets the prerequisites of a Workplace coaching.
Workplace coaching is applied either formally or informally. If informally applied, then the coaching is more likely to be short, focused dialogs during a workday, also called 'corridor-coaching'. In contrast, formal coaching typically involves formal sit-down coaching sessions where the Project Manager will be conducting the conversation, assisted by a formal structure. [7]
In both settings, the Project Manager uses a wide variety of cognitive and behavioral techniques to enhance a coaching dialog with the project team member with the aim of improving his performance and, consequently, the progression of the project.
PMBOK® Guide does neither mention nor incites a Project Manager to acquire certain techniques, knowledge or experience within the field of coaching before applying it is given.
Potential pitfalls regarding the application of coaching in a business context are elaborated in the Limitations paragraph and recommendations on how to avoid these pitfalls, are given in the Recommendation paragraph.
Limitations
Based on the presented information, three assumptions are being stated. This lead to one major pitfall regarding the application of Workplace coaching. Three additional pitfalls are briefly touched upon.
As coaching is a commonly used term, with a reference to many different categories of coaching (e.g. Executive, Life coaching, Workplace coaching), coachings in different contexts (e.g. personal or business) with divergent understanding of highest objective for the coaching, and coachings with different focus (motivation or skills)
1. the exact understanding of a coaching will differ from one person to another - e.g. Project Manager and project team member
As coaching in PMBOK® Guide is mentioned as a recommendable interpersonal skill, presented next to other interpersonal skills that one might see as a straightforward skill to apply e.g. communication, trust building, and influence, and incitement of achieving certain techniques, knowledge or experience within the field of coaching is mentioned '''It is likely to assume that a Project Manager will lack techniques and knowledge within the field of Workplace coaching'''
As , it is likely to assume that
2. a coaching with focus on motivation is perceived more personal (personal context) than professional (business context)
2. a motivation focused coaching in a business context represents a risk of worsening a situation with low performance
3. in a worst-case scenario
Coaching in a business context
Applying motivation focused coaching in a business context With this perspective, the application of motivation focused coaching, which has a in a business context will represent a risk since the Project Manager and the project team member might not be aligned in terms of 'highest objective' for the coaching.
A worst-case consequence of this is that the team member's underlying beliefs about essential prerequisites for a mindset- coaching will be compromised resulting in mistrust and a worsening of a situation or the Project Manager will omit his obligations regarding project management as he will be not be coaching with the project's progression as the highest objective. </pre>
If for instance, a Project Manager chooses to perform a mindset-coaching, it is possible that the Project Manager and the team member will have two different understandings of e.g. confidentiality. If not clearly framed upfront the team member will probably expect that whatever said in the coaching is confidential and that the Project Manager is neutral in regards to power. The Project Manager, on the other hand, will be aware of his responsibility towards a project's progression why he will take any information that compromises a project into consideration and take any actions needed. [2]
A mindset-coaching in a business context is nevertheless a recommendable corrective action for a Project Manager if a team member is low on motivation or has a wrong attitude towards a projects new objectives. A recommendation is inspired by the work of a Change Agent is given in the Recommendation paragraph.
Country, culture or hazard
Other limiting circumstances that complicate application of coaching is high power distance, command and control paradigm and a hazardous situation.
- In countries with high power distance a coaching approach can be non-applicable since the coaching attitude implies and certain employee autonomy. [8]
- In a company or department corresponding with 'command and control' paradigm coaching can tend to be less successful since coaching is a natural part of the 'interactive learning' paradigm and thus requires a less hierarchical structure, more a fare more value-based motivation than the command and control paradigm supports.[9]
- In situations where a change causes a hazard and an immediate corrective action is needed, coaching will not be applicable since coaching is based on dialog it tends to be
Recommendations
Recommendations are given in perspective of a Program Manager who is challenged by a decrease in team performance as a result of a change in the project, and who wants to apply coaching to get the team member 'back on track'. The Project Manager is aware of that it primarily is a matter of mindset and attitude, secondary a matter of skills, why he chooses to apply empower-coaching.
First step - get basic knowledge
Given the pitfall described in the Limitation paragraph, a recommendation will be to get fundamental knowledge about coaching and coaching techniques in a business context, before applying it. Find recommended books in the Annotated Bibliography paragraph [Ledelsesbaseret coaching]
When knowing basic coaching techniques the Project Manager should start practicing e.g. by applying an informal coaching dialog on a daily basis. This will help a Project Manager to detect and immediately respond to minor setbacks in a team members mindset or attitude.
When a need for more formal coaching is detected, it is important that the Project Manager frames a coaching session upfront, by telling that the coaching will be applied with the project's progression as highest objective - e.g. by highlighting the three prerequisites in figure 2.
A next step for the Project Manager will be to get a deeper understanding of how mindset and attitude can be limiting a team member's performance. A way to approach this is to look into Change Management and the role of a Change Agents. Facilitating change is in this perspective another word for applying mindset-coaching. Both aims to move a persons mindset and attitude from a current stage X towards a future desired stage Y. In our case stage X could be 'Team member is low performing and lacks motivation due a change that has induced fear" and stage Y could be "Team member is highly motivated and performs at a high level".
Next step - be a Change Agent
When the Project Manager gets an understanding of the way people typically react to changes and how a Change Agent can facilitate a change, he can apply the Change Agent mindset and start applying empower-coaching. As seen in figure 3 Change Agent skills are very similar to the interpersonal skills a Project Manager is recommended to possess. This argues for the possibility
Looking into the fact that a Project Manager will be comparable to an internal Change Agent, it is relevant to ensure that the arguements for applying an internal Change Agent are met. In accordance with Hayes [5] the main arguments for choosing an internal Change Agent is as follows:
- the person responsible for managing the unit or subsystem that is to be the (initial) target for change is committed to acting as change agent
- It is agreed that a particular insider has the time, knowledge and commitment to manage the change more effectively than an outsider
- the system does not have the resources to employ an outsider
- issues of confidentiality and trust prohibit the use of an outsider
- it proved impossible to identify a suitable outside consultant.
The two first bullets are actually showing why a Project Manager easily can be seen as a Change Agent. And further, none of the arguments are compromising the Project Managers role and responsibility [3] in regards to project management.
In terms of facilitating change or in other words, applying empower-coaching, a Project Manager can be inspired by the intervening modes [5] that a Change Agent uses.
Apply different intervening modes to support mindset-coaching
Four different modes of intervening, all with a collaborative approach, is seen applicable for a Project Manager when applying empower-coaching. An important argument for recommending these modes of intervening is the fact that they can assist a Project Manager in helping a team member to empower, simply by replacing a team member's focus on being demotivated and low performing with an opportunity to see the situation from another perspective.
Shortly described the four modes of intervening can help a project team member to reflect and learn by insight simply by being.
- challenged in regards of an undocumented belief, known as the challenging mode
- helped by a theorizing cause-effect approach, known as the theorizing mode
- encouraged to collect data that illuminate a point of concern, known as the information-gathering mode
- allowed to express feelings and emotion, known as the supportive mode
The latter is thought to be used only with great attention to the pitfall since this intervening mode directly addresses emotions and feelings which would be expected to be handled with confidentiality rather than in a business context.
If motivation and skills are both low
With a change in a project's objective, it is unlikely that a change in mindset and attitude can stand alone. Often new skills or knowledge is needed in order to comply with new requirements. This argues for applying skill focused coaching as well. In a situation where a corrective action will be to develop or enhance a team members skills and knowledge in addition to increase motivation, it is recommended that skill focused coaching will be applied next to motivation focused coaching. This will increase the outcome of the skill-coaching due a more open mindset of an empowered team member [REF]
In case of high power distance or command and control paradigm
Change Management theory also present a fifth way to intervene with team members in a situation of change. This approach is prescriptive, as opposed to the other four approaches which are collaborative. Given its nature, an advising mode of intervening is not to be seen as a recommendable approach in regards to motivation focused coaching. It is mentioned here as it is important for Project Managers, who might prefer a coaching attitude towards team members, to be aware of the need for clear leadership in situations where circumstances conflicts with collaborative intervening such as high power distance and command and controle paradigm does.
...expert advice-giving reduces opportunities for the coachee to develop self-directed learning skills — and it is through the development of these and through a personalized learning experience that the potential for long-term change is created. [6]
Other ways to prevent or handle decrease in team performance
Team-coaching
(Include examples from the PMBOK - Coaching in regards to changing mindset isn’t explicitly mentioned. PMBOK talks about turning a ‘can’t do’-situation into a ‘can do’-situation – not about changing a ‘can’t do’-mindset into a ‘can do’-mindset. PMBOK focuses on coaching the individual, not team coaching. Team-building is mentioned, but there is a big difference between team coaching and team-building even though team cohesiveness and performance may be positively affected by both [TEMO book: balance divergence-cohesiveness for high performance, Factors important for cohesiveness]. PMBOK in some way mentions the benefit from team coaching and/or team-building: ‘as a team develop their skills, abilities, and confidence, their willingness to take a challenging or demanding task in increased’ but if skills can be seen as 1+1+1, ability and confidence is highly influenced by common understanding and team spirit [TEMO book].)
(Elaborate a little on this - since given in TA-feedback)
(1) High-Performance Teams, (2) Project governance, (3) Self-managed work teams, (4) Teams motivation.
Conclusion
(Ensure that conclusion is only based on things that is written earlier in this wiki)
Project Manager can preferably apply a coaching approach in the day-to-day dialog with team members, teams, and stakeholders to help them to a new level of understanding that can clarify their thinking about a problem. The Project Manager can beneficially use one or more of three problem-centered, collaborative intervening modes , typically uses by change agents, in his/her dialog with team members and stakeholders.
Annotated bibliography
Hayes, J. (2014). The theory and practice of change management, 521.
Molly-Søholm, T., & Jacob Storch. (2013). Ledelsesbaseret coaching. Ledelsesbaseret Coaching. L & R Business.
Project Management Institute. (n.d.). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK® guide)
References
(Must fix: the same reference is shown multiple times)
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Committee, P. M. I. S. (2004). A guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute. Inc.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Molly-Søholm, T., & Jacob Storch. (2013). Ledelsesbaseret coaching. Ledelsesbaseret Coaching. L & R Business. Retrieved from https://findit.dtu.dk/en/catalog/2192969265
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Great Britain. Office of Government Commerce. (2009). Managing successful projects with PRINCE2. TSO.
- ↑ Dent, E. B., & Goldberg, S. G. (1999). Challenging " Resistance to Change " THE JOURNAL OF APPLIED BEHAVIORAL SCIENCEMarch. Retrieved from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.949.8416&rep=rep1&type=pdf
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Hayes, J. (2014). The theory and practice of change management, 521. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13398-014-0173-7.2
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 Cavanagh, M., Grant, A. (Anthony M. ., & Kemp, T. (2005). Evidence-based coaching. Volume 1, Theory, research and practice from the behavioural sciences. Australian Academic Press.
- ↑ Grant, A. M. (2010). It Takes Time: A Stages of Change Perspective on the Adoption of Workplace Coaching Skills. Journal of Change Management, 10(1), 61–77. https://doi.org/10.1080/14697010903549440
- ↑ Home - Hofstede Insights. (n.d.). Retrieved February 15, 2018, from https://www.hofstede-insights.com/
- ↑ Baungård Rasmussen, L. (2011). Facilitating change: using interactive methods in organizations, communities and networks. Polyteknisk Forlag. Retrieved from https://findit.dtu.dk/en/catalog/2395961761
