We have a number of clients that we work with that prefer phone coaching.
We find that by turning off the visual stimuli, the session focuses on the words and the way that things are verbally expressed. In addition, what we find is that if we are concentrating on speaking and listening (which works for the audio stimulated), then these senses sharpen.
You become aware of inflection, cadence, and pauses.
You gain the knack of listening even more intently, without being distracted by externals. In addition, you have the capacity to write down notes without distracting yourself, and without seeming to be rude by neglecting eye contact. All you have to do is focus on what’s been said and how it’s been said and the implied words between sentence structures.
Telephone coaching: “it operates really effectively and gives profound insight.“
Telephone coaching also provides some added benefits aligned with our newly discovered way of working. With WFH (or Work From Home) initiatives, we find that you can benefit from
- Being more relaxed in your own environment. Whilst this can be a challenge with WFH generally, we do find that being able to relax in your own chair, with your favourite mug of tea or coffee enables greater relaxing into the phone coaching session. The usual provisos associated with coaching do still apply though in that ideally, this should be a private space so that you can explore what you need to explore.
- No travel time or costs. One of the big benefits. Not only are you removing a travel cost (remember a claimable cost for simple car travel in the UK is £0.45 pence per mile), you are reducing the time taken to travel thereby helping you to become more efficient in the way that you work.
- Scheduling the coaching session becomes easier. Because you are working with a shorter period of time, typically 60 or 90 minutes, with no travel time – it will be easier to find a slot for yourself and your coach.
- You can be where you want to be. Sometimes our clients put on their walking shoes and we just go for a good walk together. Talking as we walk, exploring as we chat. This is a good mix of face-to-face walking coaching (which we know is highly effective), and telephone coaching.
- Connected to scheduling, we do find that some sessions can occur spontaneously – as and when our clients need them. This can be especially useful in high-stress situations where you simply need to download and explore something that is quite pressing.
Alone, phone coaching can deliver some amazing results. It can work, for example, as a short and sharp focussed session to engage goals (such as in the Seven Minute Sprint Coach Program)
We also find that there can sometimes be a benefit of meeting in real life first although this is not essential. This could then yield a blended solution.
