You can choose from a purposefully small selection of services.  This may be for you or on behalf of another person.

Like all resources, investing in people helps achieve short- and long-term success.  Although saying 'people make the unique difference in businesses, large or small' is often seen as a cliché, it doesn't stop it from being true. 

Organisations and individuals benefit when they are open and willing to make the changes necessary to realise their potential.

Is yours open to supporting change?

So the choices are:

• Systemic coaching - you may want:
• One-to-one coaching or
• Team coaching

And what about …

* Tailored workshops
* Conflict resolution and prevention
* Facilitating meetings
* Speaker engagement

Systemic Coaching

We all live and work within a variety of systems – family, company, team, interests, sports, et cetera.  Elements of these systems sometimes align with each other while on other occasions they have aspects that are in conflict.  As this is the environment in which we coach, we acknowledge this reality and work in a systemic way. 

In addition, as we value a positive approach our focus is on making the most of what works well to achieve solutions.  Coaching itself proves to be powerful in focusing and motivating individuals and teams.  It can vary in depth and duration.  What you focus on becomes reality.  For instance, when someone says “Don’t look at that person”, what do you usually do? 

Did you know that high achievers generate more positive thoughts than negative ones?  Well, they do.  People also respond more effectively to positive expectations.  We’ve taken all this into account.

Quite often I’ve been asked "what are the benefits an external coach bring?"  In my view, the independent perspective is particularly valuable when:

• a person may feel too vulnerable to be sufficiently open with their manager or other internal coach
• different insights, knowledge and experience is brought to situations
• being from outside the organisation s/he is free of any entanglements associated with the client’s issue, and a good coach will keep it this way
• an individual may consider their manager, colleagues and/or friends as unable to fulfil the role of a useful coach and model
• a person can choose someone that will work best for them

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1.1   One-to-one coaching

You may be gathering information on behalf of your organisation or yourself.   For Monkswood Associates ‘executive coaching’ increases the ability of directors, managers and key staff to produce a stronger performance through themselves and others.  And usually enjoy themselves far more!  ‘Personal coaching’ boosts you in work and/or personal life.

Imagine how good people feel when they:

• Persuade people so that they are willing and able: for example, the manager may know where they want the team to go and in what way: through coaching they enhance how they communicate the ideas and retain enthusiasm.  Result?  A team that is motivated by and committed to it – and will follow it through.   Another example is to refocus a good employee whose performance has started to become lack lustre.  And personally you may yearn to know what you want as a whole and how to go about achieving it.

• Break through a block and get moving again: eg, where a colleague has tried several approaches to no effect, the issue may be affected by hidden patterns and underlying influences.  Now, at last, s/he can successfully address it and move on.  And energy and interest start flowing again.

• Build collaboration, teamwork and trust – resulting in increased organisational effectiveness and the thrill of work: for example, find ways to gain and give trust to a team you ‘inherited’ and so improve their effectiveness as a team and enjoyment of work.  Another example is to know how to come across as a new director and gain trust from people who know it’s all new to you.  By increasing trust you dramatically improve the contribution you and others make.

• Find they can handle specific situations, which previously they found hard - and be consistently successful: for instance, integration of a team from another organisation that your business has acquired.  Or feel confident about facing someone with news you know they won’t want to hear.

• Enhance personal awareness and how best to apply it – and enjoy better performance (your own and others): for instance, you find a cynical person difficult to deal with and wonder in what way you contribute – then find ways to improve the contact with such people.  You learn how you may contribute to the friction and find ways to do something about it.

• Sometimes it’s not so much you don’t know what to do, it’s more that you don’t do it!  Systemic coaching gives you the opportunity to identify these traits and gradually take steps to create useful and empowering habits.

Now you may be interested in knowing how we go about coaching.  If you want a ‘summary’ click here.  For ‘detail’ click here. 

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1.2   Team coaching

Here I am talking about teams in organisations rather than sport teams.

Team coaching is ideal for permanent or temporary teams within an organisation who:

• are working on a specific project or common goal 
• need to find good or better ways of working as a team and/or
• want to resolve conflict, be it within the team or with another team

The benefits of team coaching include:

• greater levels of support
• the opportunity to gain more perspectives
• knowing that others are in a similar situation as you makes it feel more normal and less shame-full
• sharing a common experience which strengthens the team feeling

Team coaching is set up in a similar way to individual coaching.  The differences are:

• the group, as well as the coach, knows the individual goals, and
• any vulnerabilities are shared with other group members.  This may be difficult for some people as they feel embarrassed about their vulnerabilities. 

Depending on what the group is working on, sometimes a buddy system is set up for the duration of the group coaching.

Now you may be interested in knowing how we go about coaching. If you want a summary click here.  For detail click here.

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Summary on how we go about the coaching process

In broad terms we meet or have a telephone conversation to discuss and agree such things as what the issues are – what you’ve done so far, your current state and what you would desire your future to look like; and whether coaching is the best route to take to achieve the best results.  If it is, what coaching media would you find most effective.  The options are face-to-face, phone, or combinations of them, which can also include email.  AND whether Monkswood Associates is the right organisation for the job.  We may suggest the use of particular tools, such as MBTI, if they help to meet your needs.  It may be useful to see you working eg holding a meeting.

Once these important basics are sorted, we develop the coaching structure that supports you to achieve the agreed goals.  This is covered in the coaching contract, which includes such matters as number, frequency and length of sessions.  Confidentiality is agreed at this stage.  Flexibility is retained to allow for unexpected circumstances or changes you feel are important to incorporate into the action plan.  After all, priorities do change over time.  It is also important to agree how ‘success’ is measured – 'what will success look like?"

Typically, the sessions are every two to four weeks, lasting one to two hours.  We like to produce an email summary after each meeting – from experience the coachee finds this invaluable, not only to know what actions need to happen but also to see what progress has been made. 

Normally we review after around six sessions.  In the vast majority of coaching programmes the goals are achieved or clearly in progress that no further sessions are required. 

At Monkswood Associates, we recognise the importance of structuring the delivery of our services to suit you.  With one or more channels of contact, the coachee will experience the benefits of consistent focused support that will keep them on track and feel safe enough to ask, challenge, experiment and practise.  Past clients have reported that just knowing we are there for them has given them the confidence to have a go, to do what they need and want to do.  In addition, knowing they have someone who is going to ask about progress, gets them over any reticence to do what they committed to doing!

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Details on how we go about coaching process

• Methodology
• Assessment tools and techniques
• Coaching contract
• A typical coaching session

Methodology
Coaching is an ongoing and shared activity, a two-way communication process that focuses on the main issues in your life that the organisation and/or you want to develop.

In summary we find it best to:

• Start from where you actually are in performance terms not where you ought to be – this sounds very obvious and yet quite often it doesn’t happen
• Build on your personal strengths and aim to develop other relevant attributes
• Have regular contact which includes constant feedback
• Be person rather than task driven, which is particularly important in development coaching
• Be a joint process between the coach and you – once more you may think this is obvious and yet it may not happen

The environment in which the coaching takes place is significantly important to the success of coaching.  It needs to be supportive for coaching to be successful. The other important criterion is your commitment, in the mind and in actions.

Some assessment tools and techniques may be used: for instance,

• 16PF5 personality assessment
• Belbin team roles
• FIRO-B
• Learning styles
• Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
• Organisational constellations

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Coaching Contract

Monkswood Associates likes to ensure that the organisation (if applicable), the individual being coached and we all agree on at least the following issues:

• that the individual and coach believe they can work productively together
• what the organisation (if applicable) and the individual want to gain from the individual’s coaching
• whether to use any psychometric assessment tools to heighten the coachee’s understanding of him/herself and the potential consequences of his/her preferred ways
• whether it would be productive for Monkswood Associates to meet agreed working colleagues, direct reports and/or other work contacts to gain feedback on how the coachee is perceived (gaining examples of behaviours to support the perceptions).  This develops the coachee’s awareness about how his/her working style is perceived
• how long each coaching session will be – quite often around two hours when face-to-face and one hour when over the phone
• the frequency of coaching sessions – this is usually between two to four weeks
• when a progress review will take place – typically this is after around six sessions
• the confidentiality and other standards within which the coaching will take place

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A typical coaching session

At the beginning of each session, we would discuss and agree what you want to cover during the session.  This may be confirming what was previously agreed or changing priorities due to changed circumstances.  At the end of the ‘meeting’ we would normally check what went well, what did not go so well and what impact this learning has on how we may be in the future.  In addition, if not already organised, we would agree a date and time for the next session. 

The body of the session typically includes parts or all of the following:

• The coachee brings specific events that have taken place, or going to take place, to discuss how s/he may have handled, or could handle, the situation to gain a specific result

• The discussion can include listening, asking challenging questions, raising awareness, clarifying, linking different situations to identify similarities and differences, responding to requests for suggestions, giving examples, explaining relevant techniques and background principles, and facilitating

• The coach uses their own experiences of the coachee as an additional source of information

• We each bring specific information for discussion which meets the agreed objectives of the coaching

• If MBTI and/or FIRO-B are used, it normally takes one session to discuss the contents and the potential development points possible to make from the contents eg areas of strength in particular situations, potential areas for development in other situations, impact of diversity (differences in working style etc) and what may reduce the potential negative impacts and enhance the positive.  The material is referred to in other meetings as and when relevant

• Discuss and agree what is going to take place before the next session.

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• Tailored workshops
• Conflict resolution and prevention
• Facilitating meetings
• Speaker engagements

We’re good at the coaching we do and really enjoy doing it.  And inevitably there are other things we do that could just hit the spot, and complete the set of needs you have.  We would only say ‘yes, we could do this’ if we continue to be both good and interested in the work.  We know ourselves well enough that these two things tend to go together!

When considering people development Monkswood Associates works within some fundamental principles:

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2.1 Organisationally enhancing training solutions
ie tailored workshops! 

To bring out the talents in people, Monkswood Associates designs and delivers workshops that:

• Promote increased awareness and understanding
• Work with reality and clarity
• Encourage perspective
• Offer safe exploration and practice
• Promote authenticity
• Focus on solutions

Monkswood Associates:

• tailors its people development to the organisation’s and/or the group’s particular needs;

• takes into account the organisation’s underlying culture and values within which the people being developed work – and the people’s own values;

• engages with reality and supports practical solutions; and 

• aims to make them stimulating and enjoyable for all concerned!

Workshops are both participative and practical.  Through discussion and working in small groups, participants will develop a greater awareness, and learn more, about the topic in hand.  There is facilitator support, enabling participants quickly to build confidence in their ability to put it into practice.

In some workshops assessment tools and techniques may be used: for instance,

• 16PF5 personality assessment
• Belbin team roles
• FIRO-B
• Learning styles
• Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
• Organisational constellations

OK, so what topics does Monkswood Associates cover?  In essence, the topics relate to personal and organisational change, with the underlying themes of constructive communication and relationships. 

Typical topics include:

• Assertiveness
• Coaching for success
• Conflict resolution
• Culture and values – their practical use in organisational transformation
• Facilitation skills
• Navigating change
• Project management
• Teamwork and team building

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The shape of the support given in resolving conflict varies.  It will depend largely on how far down the track of entrenchment and overt conflict the situation has reached.  The closer it is to entrenched positions the more likely mediation is the appropriate process.  Before that, we may give advice to one or both parties on how to move the situation forward, so that they have the skills for future differences, which will inevitably happen with some one or group.

More typically it is about revitalising discussion between two people, when it is no longer happening or, if it does it tends to lead to more tension.

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2.3    And there’s facilitating meetings

Sometimes you know what you want to take place in a meeting. And you also want to be directly involved in the discussions.  This is difficult, if not impossible, when acting as chair and facilitating the meeting.

This is where we come in!  Facilitating meetings is more than keeping the meeting to time.  It also includes:

• Noticing the group dynamics and managing them for best result: for instance, able to pick up the nuances in the room and to note body language.  Bring to people’s attention without applying interpretation and so they can do something about it

• Focussing on the group processes and remaining uninvolved in the group task to enhance the quality of the outcome: for example, when discussion is going round in circles, identifying the barrier(s) and get the group to work through it/them

• Intervening appropriately to re-shape or re-focus the group:  eg ensuring all members have chances to speak; asking questions that lift the discussion to another level

For instance, we have been involved in helping two companies to work in partnership in developing a new service.  We were involved near the beginning of the process to ensure a solid foundation was built on which the rest could be based.

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2.4    As for speaking engagements …

Exceptional public speakers do more than just present.  They bring the audience along with them.  They involve everyone present.  They have presence that encourages trust and leaves a lasting impression.

As part of my work as a coach, I enjoy sharing my rich experience and knowledge by speaking at conferences and seminars, including: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) Gloucestershire Professionals

I infuse my events with a sense of enjoyment and excitement.

I cover a variety of speaking topics.  The most requested ones are:

The ‘ins and outs’ of coaching
Conflict and handling it positively
Navigating change

Naturally, the topics are tailored to take into account the audience and the available time. 

 

You now have a better understanding about what specific services we offer and the typical process we follow.  To learn about what kind of challenges we have helped clients resolve read our ‘success stories’ that illustrate actual results.

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