Par$cipant’s  Notes:  

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Stakeholder  Rela-onship  Skills  for  Project  Managers   Appendix  D  

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Coaching  and  Mentoring:  What's  the  difference?  Hélène  Beauchemin  knows.  She's  Done  Both.  "Coaching,  mentoring  differences"    

By  Ron  Baynes    Plug  those  key  words  into  your  search  engine  and  watch  the  page  fill  with  answers.  Ar-cles  in  HR  journals,  Web  sites  of  execu-ve  development  firms,  in-­‐house  PowerPoint  presenta-ons,  the  curricula  of  coaching  workshops  –  and  that's  just  the  first  page  of  returned  matches.    Coaching  and  mentoring  –    what's  the  difference?  is  a  ques-on  that  Hélène  Beauchemin,  an  Assistant  Deputy  Minister  at  Environment  Canada,  is  able  to  answer  with  the  confidence  that  comes  with  experience.  In  both  cases  she  has  been  there,  done  that.    

Her  mentoring  came  during  some  25  years  in  management  and  most  recently  during  seven  years  with  the  Canadian  Customs  and  Revenue  Agency  (CCRA.  Some  of  the  mentoring  experience  was  informal,  some  as  a  par-cipant  in  a  structured  mentoring  program.    On  the  coaching  side,  she  has  two  workshops  under  her  belt,  has  received  six  months  of  professional  coaching  and  is  currently  on  her  way  to  cer-fica-on  as  a  professional  coach.    While  demonstra-ng  the  difference  between  the  two  approaches,  Hélène's  experience  shows  what  they  have  in  common.  The  best  coaches  and  mentors  enjoy  helping  people  to  realize  their  poten-al  and  have  a  flair  for  doing  so.  “The  most  fundamental  difference  is  in  the  process  itself  and  what's  going  on  in  it.  "Mentoring,  as  the  term’s  generally  understood,  is  mainly  the  transfer  of  knowledge  from  someone  who  knows  to  someone  who  doesn't.  “Coaching  is  more.  In  coaching,  the  name  of  the  game  is  not  to  prescribe  answers  for  the  client  but  to  draw  answers  out  –    in  part  by  listening  with  a  professionally  trained  third  ear  to  what's  said  and  what  isn’t.  A  mentor  o_en  tells  you  what  to  do.  A  coach  helps  you  to  see  what  you  are  unconsciously  doing  or  not  doing,  and  how  that  affects  what  you’re  trying  to  accomplish.    “A  second  difference  is  scope.  Mentoring  will  tend  to  focus  on  the  task.  Coaching  is  about  the  person  –  the  whole  person.  You  start  with  the  premise  that  every  human  being  is  a  combina-on  of  specific  traits,  talents,  needs,  values,  aspira-ons,  and  past  experiences.  They  aren’t  detachable  –  you  can’t  take  them  off  and  put  them  on  like  a  suit.  You  bring  them  to  work  every  morning,  where  they  influence  your  behavior  and  your  performance.  You  take  them  back  home  at  night  and  they  affect  the  situa-on  there.”    

The  factors  include  things  like  health,  job  sa-sfac-on,  interpersonal  rela-onships,  and  balance  between  physical  and  mental  ac-vity.  They  even  include,  as  Ebenezer  Scrooge  would  have  been  unhappy  to  hear,  “happiness”  and  “work/life  balance”  as  in  “is  my  family  seeing  enough  of  me?”    “A  third  difference  is  the  knowledge  base.  The  ques-ons  I  got  as  a  mentor  were  the  kind  I  could  answer  from  my  own  experience.  Coaching  requires  the  applica-on  of  a  specific  body  of  exper-se.  Unlike  mentoring,  it  is  systema-c.  It  follows  a  defined  path  to  results  that  are  measurable.    “Fourth.  Mentoring,  by  defini-on,  is  for  more  junior  and  middle  managers.  It  isn’t  usually  a  feasible  op-on  for  managers  at  the  top  of  hierarchical  organiza-ons.  In  our  culture  the  captain  of  the  ship  can’t  ask  the  helmsman  what  to  do.”    “This  doesn’t  mean  people  at  the  top  don’t  have  mentors  by  other  names.  I  know  a  very  senior  official  in  this  town  who  makes  a  point  of  calling  his  predecessors  in  the  job  to  get  their  take  on  current  issues.  Some  managers  get  advice  from  informal  networks  of  friends  built  up  over  the  years.  There  are  people  I  mentored  at  CCRA,  who  have  moved  up  the  ladder,  who  s-ll  call  occasionally  for  advice.  I  try  to  help  where  I  can.  In  some  cases  that  means  coaching.”  Which  brings  up  the  ques-on:  if  the  coachee  works  for  the  coach,  couldn’t  that  be  awkward  for  both  par-es?  “Yes,  it  could.  As  a  general  rule,  I  don’t  accept  requests  for  coaching  from  people  in  Environment  Canada  –  I  refer  them  to  another  coach.  Having  said  that  I  have  made  an  excep-on  for  someone  I  mentored  earlier  in  the  person’s  career.”      

hfp://coaching.gc.ca/stories/coaching_and_mentoring_whats_the_difference_e.asp  

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Leverage the Power of Coaching within your Projects! By Jane Morgan, MBA, PMP, PRINCE2 & MSP Trainer, M_o_R, CPCC, ACC Accredited Coach, NLP

Practitioner

allPM. Com (IIL’s Knowledge Portal) Published on Thursday, December 08, 2011

Introduction:

Coaching is listed as one of the 37 essential competencies for Project Managers in IIL’s 360

Degree Competency Assessment Model, the PMCA™ (http://www.iil.com/360pmca). The competency model was developed after extensive consultation with PMI®, IPMA® and the

IIBA®, and incorporates essential thinking from each. As a model, it is designed to measure the knowledge and expertise of management and project delivery team members to determine training and development needs. Coaching (Competency 20 in the illustration below) is one of the seven Leadership competencies, and it is this that we will explore in

this article.

[also see IIL’s 360 Degree Project Management Competency Assessment Model, the PMCA™ in the Appendix for Module 1 of this workbook,]

What is Coaching? So what is “coaching” exactly? Well, it depends on who you ask and in what context the coaching occurs. When we think of sports, we think of someone with expertise and knowledge in that sport, helping an athlete achieve a higher level of performance, through a combination of skills transfer and support/motivation. In the business setting, coaching can span the gamut from advice-giving and sharing of best practices (referred to by some as “mentoring”) to an advice-free, guiding and motivational support approach where the knowledge and solutions come from the “coachees” themselves. One of the leading global coaching organizations in the world, the ICF (International Coach Federation http://www.coachfederation.org/), with over 18,000 members, defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.” The variety of definitions and understandings of coaching is due, in part, to the ever evolving role of, and interest in, coaching over the last 10-20 years. Such is the current level of interest, with companies willing to invest anywhere from $500 to $3,500 an hour for executive coaching, that in 2008 the Harvard Business Review commissioned a study with 140 coaches and industry experts to explore the role of coaching in business. The resulting article published in January 2009 shows the span of understanding and definitions of what constitutes “coaching.” (http://www.coachfederation.org/includes/docs/101-HBR---What-Can-Coaches-Do-for-You.pdf). Although it is still a somewhat unregulated industry (in that anyone can call themselves a coach regardless of whether they have had any formal training or not), organizations are increasingly demanding that coaches be formally certified and be able to demonstrate both experience and a formalized approach). So when coaching is listed as a key competency for project managers, is there an expectation that they should go and become accredited coaches (a process than can take many months, even years or receive coaching themselves)? Or is it possibly more to do with leveraging some of the core skills and techniques used in coaching? There’s certainly no reason why a project manager can’t follow the path to coach certification, but perhaps there’s also another way to bring these skills and techniques into play in the project environment. Core coaching skills and when to use them There are many coaching models and styles in use including the Co-Active Coaching

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Stakeholder  Rela-onship  Skills  for  Project  Managers   Appendix  D  

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Core coaching skills and when to use them There are many coaching models and styles in use including the Co-Active Coaching Approach (http://www.thecoaches.com/), the GROW model (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GROW_model), and many more. What is crucial and common to all, is both the space that coaching occupies and the skills and approach employed. As the diagram below illustrates, coaching is:

• SOLUTION FOCUSED rather than problem-focused. • FUTURE-ORIENTED rather than dwelling in the past. • ABOUT ASKING QUESTIONS rather than teaching or telling (although as I’ve

stated previously, numerous realities of coaching exist).

[See an image of this Coaching Model in Module 4 of this workbook.] It’s also about:

• Creating a learning dynamic in relation to goals and a “curiosity” around them. • Encouraging others to come to their own solutions rather than giving them the

answers. • Establishing a relationship built on trust. • Understanding what truly motivates the other person (i.e. their values and beliefs).

None of this is, to cite the phrase, “rocket science,” but, as we know, it’s often the simplest tools that create the maximum impact. With the evolving realization in business generally and projects specifically, that Leadership is as important (if not more sometimes!), as Management, let’s explore a few of these skills a little further. As both an Executive Coach and a Project Management consultant and trainer, I’ve found myself looking for ways in which to bring these skills to life in the PM environment. Basic coaching skills can, and are, incorporated very successfully into both project management trainings and soft skills workshops, whereby participants receive 1:1 coaching sessions as part of the course and also learn how to use a coaching style questioning in eliciting requirements. Workshop participants can also learn how to do basic peer coaching with each other over a 4-6 month period, augmented by professional group coaching sessions led by a workshop facilitator. For soft-skills trainings, this added support, helps to embed learning and deepen the practice. In projects, managing team members; eliciting requirements from stakeholders; managing the communications and interactions with clients and project sponsors around the competing demands; are just a few of the areas that lend themselves well to application of these skills. The skills in action SOLUTION focused rather than problem-focused / FUTURE-ORIENTED rather than dwelling in the past /Establishing a relationship based on trust Not always easy to do when you have an irate client or sponsor and a very real present-moment problem to deal with! It’s also not about ignoring the problem or not acknowledging it, but rather not making it the focus of the discussion. Explore solutions, keep the energy, including the tone and spirit of the exchange, focused on making things better. Shift the energy towards the future and towards resolution. It’s a bit like the role of a mantra in meditation. When thoughts come and interrupt the silence or the mantra, you acknowledge them and then shift gently back to repeating the mantra. Similarly, when you feel the pull back to the problem, acknowledge it, and then move gently towards the solution. It may take several iterations before the other person follows. Of course, there is one final very important element - and that is to follow through on the solution, otherwise there will be no trust established, and attempts to do these things in the future will be much harder. In his book “The Speed of Trust” (http://speedoftrust.com), Stephen M.R. Covey states that Trust is combination of both “Character and Competence”. “Delivering results” is a key part of that.  

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ASKING'questions'rather'than'teaching'or'telling'/'ENCOURAGING'others'to'come'to'their'own'solutions'rather'than'giving'them'the'answers.!When!I!was!going!through!my!coach!training!and!live!supervision!for!accreditation,!our!challenge!was!always!to!come!up!with!“powerful!questions”!that!would!really!move!the!coaching!on.!So!what!IS!a!“powerful!question?”!It’s!almost!always!one!that!makes!the!other!person!stop!for!a!moment!and!take!a!breath,!or!even!say!“mmm,!that’s!an!interesting!question!!”!In!client!coaching,!this!is!often!closely!followed!by!“I!have!no!idea!how!to!do!it!”!!Powerful!questions!are!often!short!and!almost!always,!openDended,!causing!the!other!person!to!have!to!think.!Whether!it’s!trying!to!get!a!team!member!to!think!for!themselves!(versus!you!always!having!to!tell!them!what!to!do),!or!trying!to!find!out!exactly!what!the!client’s!requirements!are,!the!powerful!question!puts!the!answer!back!into!the!court!of!the!person!that!should!be!coming!up!with!it!in!the!first!place.!Following!are!some!examples!of!questions!you!might!use.!Once!you!start!experimenting!with!them,!you’ll!find!that!it!gets!easier!to!come!up!with!the!“right”!questions!to!ask.!

!Questions'to'use'with'your'team:'

• Is!there!another!way!of!looking!at!this/doing!this?!!• If!you!did!know,!what!would!you!do?!(In!response!to!“I!don’t!know”.!Amazingly,!this!actually!works!)!!• What!can!you!do!to!make!this!situation!better/different?!!• What!would!happen!if…?!!• If!you!were!in!his/her!position,!how!would!you!feel?!What!would!you!do?!!• What!bit!do!you!have!control!over?!(often!useful!when!people!say!“there’s!nothing!I!can!do”)!!• How!best!can!I!help!you!with!this?!!• Is!it!always!the!case?!(used!when!people!say,!for!example!“they!always!respond!like!that”)!/!When!is!it!

not?!!

Questions'to'use'to'when'gathering'requirements:'

• When!the!project!is!done,!what!do!you!want!to!see?!!• What!would!“success”!look!like!for!you?!!• What’s!the!most!important!feature(s)/functionality!for!you?!!• What!obstacles!do!you!see?!How!can!we!overcome!them?!!• How!often!do!you!work!on!this?!!• What!problem!are!you!trying!to!solve?!!• What!is!really!underlying!this!need?!!

Creating'a'learning'dynamic'in'relation'to'goals'and'a'“curiosity”'around'them.!Setting!goals!in!projects!and!in!life!is!crucial!to!do!if!we!are!to!achieve!anything.!However,!how!we!“hold”!these!goals!can!make!a!difference!in!a)!them!being!realised!b)!the!journey!to!realising!them.!The!essence!of!this!approach!is!to!retain!an!attitude!of!“curiosity”!both!when!we!achieve!our!goals,!and!also!when!we!don’t.!In!both!cases,!we!can!ask!the!question!“I’m!curious…!What!happened..?”!How!did!we!achieve!this?!What!was!it!that!prevented!us!from!achieving!this?!What!could!we!have!done!differently?!What!did!we!do!that!was!great?!!To!hold!the!achievement!or!nonDachievement!more!lightly!and!with!curiosity,!allows!us!detach!from!the!inevitable!emotions!surrounding!“success”!or!“failure.”!A!useful!tip!for!avoiding!getting!into!the!“blame!space”,!as!I!call!it,!is!to!try!and!avoid!using!the!question!“Why?”!Notice!how!differently!you!feel!and!also!how!different!the!response!is!from!someone!else,!when!you!ask!“Why!didn’t!you!do!that?”!versus!“What!was!going!on!for!you!that!you!didn’t!do!that?”!The!nonDblaming,!curious!approach!tends!to!make!us!open!up!more!and!I!have!found!that!it!is!in!THIS!space,!that!we!can!then!be!truly!open!to!the!learnings!and!to!taking!the!next!steps!towards!the!goal.!

!

To#hold#the#achievement#or#non0achievement#more#lightly#and#with#curiosity,#allows#us#detach#from#the#inevitable#emotions#surrounding#“success”#or#“failure.”#A#useful#tip#for#avoiding#getting#into#the#“blame#space”,#as#I#call#it,#is#to#try#and#avoid#using#the#question#“Why?”#Notice#how#differently#you#feel#and#also#how#different#the#response#is#from#someone#else,#when#you#ask#“Why#didn’t#you#do#that?”#versus#“What#was#going#on#for#you#that#you#didn’t#do#that?”#The#non0blaming,#curious#approach#tends#to#make#us#open#up#more#and#I#have#found#that#it#is#in#THIS#space,#that#we#can#then#be#truly#open#to#the#learnings#and#to#taking#the#next#steps#towards#the#goal.##

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Understanding what truly motivates the other person (i.e. their values and beliefs). This idea is not unique to coaching. In fact, the whole field of Emotional Intelligence and its contribution to both success and personal satisfaction is centered on this, and also on our understanding and regulation of ourselves. The work of Daniel Goleman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Goleman) and others in this area has brought these skills more into the forefront of business. In addition, most coaching approaches start with a session to understand a client’s core values which acts a context for all the sessions that follow. So how can this help in the project environment? Understanding what truly motivates others and what they value, can change how we respond to them and also change the relationship as a whole. The WIFM (What’s In It For Me) principle talked about in stakeholder analysis gets us to think about what is truly important for that stakeholder (i.e. what do they value?). Similarly when we look at the Communications Model in the PMBOK® Guide, and as illustrated below in Dr. Harold Kerzner’s book, it is in the notion of “screens” that we are in the domain of, among other things, values and beliefs - our own and those of the person we are communicating with.

It’s not always easy to find out what truly motivates someone, and what their values are. There are, however, often clues in people’s language. For example, when they say things like “What I really want to see is…” or “What’s important about all this, is…” If these phrases are not forthcoming, then you can use the powerful question technique to find them out yourself. Often, the mere fact that you are taking the time to find out what is important to that person will create a better relationship dynamic, even if, ultimately, it is not possible to deliver everything they want. If values aren’t articulated, you can also spot them hidden underneath things that people react to either positively or negatively. If, for example, a client is late to a call, their reaction can yield useful clues about what is important to them. Based on these observations, you can then adapt your responses accordingly. Conclusion: As you can see, you don’t have to be a formally trained or accredited Coach to leverage some of coaching’s core skills in your project environment. Being solution and future-focused; asking powerful questions; encouraging others to come to their own solutions; creating a more supportive goal-focused environment; and lastly attempting to understand what truly motivates someone, are, I am sure, skills many of you already use very successfully! In the spirit of Coaching as a space of growth and opportunity, perhaps now the added focus on them will make these skills even more accessible and useable. © 2011 allPM.com

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Polly  has  been  with  OPMI  for  10  years.  Her  dedica-on  and  “do  whatever  it  takes”  ajtude  has  served  her  well  in  a  very  tough  role.  She  has  built  a  renowned  systems  and  product  tes-ng  organiza-on  with  state  of  the  art  technology  and  business  simulators.  Despite  her  clear  success,  Polly  is  never  sa-sfied.  Her  perfec-onism  gets  in  the  way  because  she  just  can’t  (or  won’t)  let  a  project  complete  unless  she  is  convinced  that  everything  is  perfect.  She  is  likeable  and  has  a  great  sense  of  humor.  But,  she  has  -mes  where  she  feels  inadequate  and  easily  becomes  depressed;  blaming  herself,  if  there  are  project  implementa-on  problems  or  if  there  are  opera-onal  problems  a_er  transi-on.  People  are  concerned  for  Polly  because  she  drives  herself  too  hard.    

 

Anna  is  one  of  those  people  who  never  gets  flustered,  angry  or  overwhelmed.    She  possesses  not  only  great  business  analyst  skills  but  also  has  a  sixth  sense  about  what  is  really  going  on  in  the  business.  She  always  seems  to  have  -me  for  people  and  is  viewed  as  a  consummate  mentor  of  a  number  of  different  people  in  all  business  areas.  She  is  the  most  sought  a_er  business  analyst  and  team  member  by  every  project  manager.  Anna  has  been  with  OPMI  for  12  years    Anna  has  no  children  and  her  husband  is  a  highly  respected  US  Senator  who  chairs  the  Federal  Communica-ons  and  Technology  Commifee;  expanding  their  regulatory  reach  and  range  since  9-­‐11.    They  have  just  been  consolidated  into  the  Homeland  Security.    

 

Ima  absolutely  loves  what  she  does.  Over  the  years  she  has  formed  many  wonderful  rela-onships  with  OPMI  customers.  Every  year  she  receives  literally  hundreds  of  cards,  lefers,  and  even  small  gi_s  from  the  customers  she  supports.  She  is  very  popular  in  OPMI  and  has  declined  a  number  of  opportuni-es  so  she  could  do  what  she  loves  most:  provide  unsurpassed  service  and  above  and  beyond  support  to  her  customers.  However,  her  concern  for  her  customers  is  exceeded  only  by  her  sadness  around  the  outsourcing  of  customer  service  unit  off-­‐shore.  Her  reputa-on  precedes  her  in  other  companies  who  for  years  have  been  trying  to  woo  her  away  from  OPMI.  She  will  land  her  on  her  feet.  But  she  loves  it  here,  this  is  her  home,  she’s  never  been  anywhere  else.  She  has  great  respect  for  and  is  eternally  grateful  to  Rip  who  paid  for  the  en-re  cost  of  her  father’s  open  heart  surgery  and  recovery.  But  Rip  didn’t  stop  there.  No  one  else  knows  that  Rip  personally  helped  her  father  through  his  personal  rela-onships  to  find  a  wonderful  job  a_er  he  recovered.  

   

OPMI  Character  Profiles  

Project  Team  Descrip-ons  

Polly Perfect System Testing Manager

Anna Lizer Business Analyst

Ima Workerbee Customer Service Representative

©2016  Interna-onal  Ins-tute  for  Learning,  Inc.  IIL-­‐SRS  

Stakeholder  Rela-onship  Skills  for  Project  Managers   Appendix  D  

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