A few weeks ago I wrote about some of the ways that a coach can prepare for a coaching session. What has surprised me since then is the number of people finding the site by searching for how a client can prepare for coaching session.

I’m presuming that this search is being done by individuals who are either:

(i)                 A coach wondering how their clients should be preparing

or

(ii)                A client wanting to know what they should be doing.

So let’s look at this for both of those groups:

Coaches who are wondering how their clients should be preparing.

Firstly, I’m not convinced that is the most useful phrasing of that question. Rather than looking for the way that it “should” be done, how would you like your clients to be prepared? This is your work; find the way that works best for you and your clients.

Lay the foundations by setting the expectations right at the start of your coaching relationship and the chances are that it won’t be something that you will have to revisit again.

Things you may want to think about:

Eliminating Interruptions
Are you working with clients that feel they are pressed for time? You may want to consider including a request to ensure that they schedule the entire time of your session to be free from disruptions.

Physical surroundings, while not applicable if you select the location, it will help considerably if your client is not somewhere where there are distractions or they feel they can’t talk
openly. This is something that can apply equally to face to face and phone coaching.

If you are physically coaching face to face you can always provide a pen and paper for your client to make notes or as part of any exercises during the coaching session. However, if you are coaching via the phone you may wish to request that your client has something to write with and on available – this will save time during your actual session as they try and find a pen that actually wants to write etc 🙂

Questions you may want them to answer prior to your actual session
These are generally questions that provide an answer that allows time during the session to be spent on follow up. For example, “What do you want to get from today’s session?” If your client comes fully prepared which such answers it allows you to spend the coaching session focusing upon that “goal.”

Alternatively, you may like your client to answer a/some question(s) that focuses them in a specific direction. Typically these are questions that allow them to start paying attention to something they may otherwise miss acknowledging – for example, listing their accomplishments that week.

Depending upon how you like to work and the client you are working with you may want to ask your client to report on the progress of previous agreements.

Clients wanting to know what preparation they can do prior to a coaching session

If you are a coach reading this piece I encourage you to ensure that your clients are aware of what preparation you would like them to do. This will ensure that they are not distracted away from what you want them to be focusing upon prior to a coaching session.

Each coach will have their own unique approach to how they work, however, the following is some general guidance for a client about what preparation it may benefit you to do:

• Remember that a coaching session is time just to focus upon you. It will be a lot easier to do this if you remove the opportunities for interruptions. Ensure that you have scheduled time where you will not be disturbed. If you are having a coaching session via the phone, select somewhere to take the call where you can fully focus and on a phone number where you can actually hear and in a location where you can talk freely.

• Your coach may have provided you with some questions that they would like you to answer prior to any session.

If they haven’t, you may want to have given some thought about what you would like to get from this specific coaching session. While your coach will be able to assist you in determining that, if you already have an answer it frees up more of your coaching session to actually focus on finding that solution.

• You could find it really useful to make sure you have a pen and paper handy in case you want to make a note during the session.

Do you think that there is some preparation that is not included and should be? Want to make a comment?

Fill in the leave a comment section below and then click submit.

I was reminded recently of a question the group was asked on a coaching course I attended many years ago. The question was a version of “As a coach, how do you prepare for a coaching session?”

There were a number of individuals in the room with varying amounts of coaching experience in different contexts both face-to-face and via the phone. This lead to a number of different answers as several coaches shared routines that they always performed.

Answers included:

• Activities to ensure the coaches physical comfort throughout the session.

Sometimes this involved the physical set up of the room/phone area e.g. making sure that tissues and a drink are within easy reach. Other things meant ensuring that basic needs such as needing to go to the toilet or hunger would not cause a distraction during the session.

• Checks that the coach had everything they expected to use.

Commonly this included being able to see a clock to monitor the time, paper & pen and a diary to schedule the next session. Specific “worksheets” or other equipment were also mentioned if a coach planned a specific activity.

• Checks to ensure that the client would be physically comfortable throughout the session

This normally applied to face-to-face coaching sessions. While tissues and refreshments were mentioned by some the physical layout of the room was the thing most often checked. Thought and consideration appeared to be made to how seats were being arranged and the possibility of the need of a table etc.

• Something based around energy or ensuring that the coach was in the “right” state to coach.

This was often something personal. For some it involved doing something energetically, others chose to meditate or listen to a particular piece of music. Others had other rituals that they choose to perform.

• Time specifically set aside to review any previous sessions and any coaching preparation the client had already provided the coach with prior to the start of the session

Different coaches gave different reasons for what they reviewed. Some liked to have a reminder of what the client had committed to during the last session. Some coaches wanted a general reminder of the session to ensure continuity from where the last session finished.

Others were more focused on any preparation they had been sent because the way they worked concentrated upon where a client is in that moment – rather than where they were at the last session.

The message I left that particular part of the training with was that it was important to create a routine that was always done before any coaching session. I’ve no idea if that was the intention of the trainer on that particular day or not but it was what I personally took away.

As time has passed there are still things that I do before a scheduled coaching session that I wrote on my list all those years ago. However, it’s not because it’s part of any specific routine but because it’s the answer to a question I now ask myself:

“What can I do to ensure that I show up brilliantly?”

Do you have anything specific you do before a coaching session?

Perhaps you’d like to share the answer you get when you ask yourself today “what can I do to ensure that I show up brilliantly?”

If so then feel free to answer below and click submit comment.