External Coaches Research Articles

Impacts of change management on Six Sigma team leadership style

This study analysed the impact of change management on leadership in Six Sigma teams. The research concentrated on identifying the effects that change management has on shared leadership throughout each phase of the Six Sigma Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, and Control (DMAIC) process. The study used a longitudinal approach to study how change management impacted eight Six Sigma teams during the DMAIC structure. At each phase, change management and team performance data were collected and analysed to identify relationships. Non-parametric statistical tests were used at each phase to understand how change management and team performance changed over time. The degree of change management impacts the type of leadership that a team can select. As a result, as the degree of complexity for change management increases, a quality improvement team relies more on shared leadership. The obtained results led to two implications. The first revolved around the need for internal members and external coaches to be able to identify and understand the relationship between change management and leadership. The second was that a Six Sigma training program needs to include training and educational modules about change management and leadership. This study contributes to current knowledge since practitioners can use it to evolve Six Sigma models and maximize future quality improvement teams' ability to achieve optimal performance and effectiveness.

An investigation and analysis of the continuous professional development and coaching supervision needs of newly qualified and experienced coaches: a small-scale practitioner-based study

ABSTRACTThis small-scale practitioner study attempted to identify the perceived learning needs of coaches, in terms of continuous professional development (CPD) and coaching supervision. Research was UK based and conducted during May–September 2013. This paper combines findings from questionnaires, interviews and a focus group conducted with newly qualified and experienced coaches. The study found that although the overwhelming majority of coaches valued CPD, a significant proportion were still not practising regular CPD. The various barriers encountered by coaches in accessing CPD were explored. It established that barriers to accessing CPD varied between in-house and external coaches, which demonstrates that more research is needed to understand the barriers in relation to the context coaches operate in. The study concluded that learning and development needs of coaches were different, depending on the nature, extent and frequency of coaching they do.

Expected Qualifications for External Coaches in School-Based Extracurricular Sports Activities

This study aimed to examine the importance of expected qualifications for external coaches and their differences between junior high and high schools. The participants were 253 teachers at public junior high and public high schools. A cross-sectional self-administrated questionnaire survey was conducted. The questionnaire was developed based on a previous interview study among teachers. Percentages of applicable response were calculated to evaluate the requirements for each qualification. Chi-square tests and Fisher’s exact test were used for analysis. As results, “humanity,” “ability,” “cooperativeness,” and “trust” were highly expected. Conversely, expertise in areas other than technical coaching, age, and occupation were not highly perceived as expected qualifications. Further, there were no considerable differences between junior high and high schools. It is necessary to develop guidelines for recruiting external coaches that reflect the highly expected qualifications found in this study. It would also be useful to conduct workshops to convey strongly expected qualifications to external coaches. However, expertise for areas other than technical coaching, age, occupation, and differences between junior high and high schools have low priority in the recruitment strategy for external coaches. This study adds a quantitative evaluation to the expected qualifications identified in a previous report. Investigating these expected qualifications using a quantitative method would be valuable toward improving the recruitment system for external coaches. DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2015.v5n3p53

The effectiveness of workplace coaching: A meta‐analysis of learning and performance outcomes from coaching

This study presents a meta‐analysis synthesizing the existing research on the effectiveness of workplace coaching. We exclusively explore workplace coaching provided by internal or external coaches and therefore exclude cases of manager–subordinate and peer coaching. We propose a framework of potential outcomes from coaching in organizations, which we examine meta‐analytically (k = 17). Our analyses indicated that coaching had positive effects on organizational outcomes overall (δ = 0.36), and on specific forms of outcome criteria (skill‐based δ = 0.28; affective δ = 0.51; individual‐level results δ = 1.24). We also examined moderation by a number of coaching practice factors (use of multisource feedback; type of coach; coaching format; longevity of coaching). Our analyses of practice moderators indicated a significant moderation of effect size for type of coach (with effects being stronger for internal coaches compared to external coaches) and use of multisource feedback (with the use of multisource feedback resulting in smaller positive effects). We found no moderation of effect size by coaching format (comparing face‐to‐face, with blended face‐to‐face and e‐coaching) or duration of coaching (number of sessions or longevity of intervention). The effect sizes give support to the potential utility of coaching in organizations. Implications for coaching research and practice are discussed.Practitioner pointsOur meta‐analysis supports the positive effects of workplace coaching as an approach to employee learning and development in organizations, with a variety of criteria.Our findings indicate that coaching was more effective when conducted by internal coaches and when multisource feedback was excluded.Workplace coaching was effective whether conducted face‐to‐face or using blended techniques (i.e., blending face‐to‐face with e‐coaching).

運動部活動での外部指導者活用に向けた組織的実践の長所と問題点：異なる実践モデルに対する教員の評価

School-based extracurricular sports activities are beneficial for positive youth development. However, there is a shortage of appropriate in-school coaches, and therefore recruitment of external coaches has been considered as one solution to this. A previous study has reported 4 model strategies of organizational promotion to recruit external coaches. These 4 models included “compensational support”, “staff introduction”, “delivery of collegiate students”, and “cooperation with company”. In order to promote the further development and popularization of these organizational trials, user-side evaluation is necessary. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to clarify the strengths and problems related to these 4 organizational promotion strategy models when recruiting external coaches for school-based extracurricular sports activities from the viewpoint of teachers. The participants were 12 teachers who worked in public junior high or high schools. All of them had experience of coaching school-based extracurricular sports activities. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with the individual participants, and all interview data were transcribed. Then, similar meaning units were grouped into themes with respect to the 4 models, strengths and problems. As a result, many specific themes for each model emerged. For instance, with regard to “compensational support”, monetary support was regarded as a strength, although the early application period was a problem. With regard to “staff introduction”, adequacy for beginners was a strength, but lack of mediation organization was a problem. With regard to “delivery of collegiate students”, regular coaching was seen as a strength, but worry over not choosing a delivered external coach was a problem. With regard to “cooperation with company”, high coaching skill was a strength, but an expensive coaching fee was a problem. Additionally, comprehensive opinions about all the models were reported, such as lack of information about the system and the need for educational coaching. These similarities and differences in the results indicated the importance of mediation system design considering the regionality and situation of the school-based extracurricular sports activity. Effective publicity and re-examination of financial manager is also needed. In addition, mediation organization and teachers should arrange previous meetings with external coaches to understand their human qualities and educational attitude. Furthermore, it would be valuable to develop the quality of external coaches through previous training or workshops. Finally, changes in the application period for each mediation system are suggested.

運動部活動での外部指導者活用推進に向けた組織の取り組み事例

運動部活動での外部指導者活用推進に向けた組織の取り組み事例

Quantitative assessment of facilitators and barriers to using external coaches in school-based extracurricular sports activities

School-based extracurricular sports activities contribute to positive youths’ development. However, they are difficult to manage without the use of external coaches. The number of external coaches available and in use is currently insufficient, indicating that further recruitment is essential. The present study examined facilitators and barriers to the use of external coaches in school-based extracurricular sports activities, and whether any differences exist in the importance of these factors between teachers who do and do not use external coaches. A cross-sectional self-administrated questionnaire was provided to 1,880 teachers and the percentage agreement with each facilitator and barrier as applicable to their decision to use an external coach was determined. Data were received from 253 teachers. For 39/50 facilitators and 17/45 barriers, more than 50% of teachers considered the items to be applicable. There were 17 facilitators that had a significantly high rate of response in teachers who currently use an external coach. Teachers who do not use external coaches were significantly more likely to report barriers to be applicable than their counterparts that do use external coaches for 27/45 of the items. Revising recruitment strategies to reflect these important influencing factors would be an effective way to promote further recruitment of external coaches. Key words: Extracurricular activities, human resource management, mixed methods approach, physical education, volunteer.

How to Outsource Coaching in School-Based Extracurricular Sports Activities: Evaluating Perceptions of External Coaches

Participating in school-based extracurricular sports activities is valuable for the healthy development of children and adolescents. The use of external coaches (outsourcing human resources) has been suggested to support teachers in coaching and managing such activities. However, hiring external coaches is difficult, and their number is insufficient. The purposes of the present study were therefore to evaluate the facilitators and barriers for engaging external coaches in school-based extracurricular sports activities, and determine whether differences in facilitators and barriers exist for the coaches and if these are related to the various characteristics of the coaches. A cross-sectional self-administrated questionnaire was distributed to 1 974 external coaches, who indicated whether they felt each facilitator and barrier applied to them with respect to engaging in school-based extracurricular sports activities. Data were obtained from 149 coaches, and they perceived many facilitators and barriers. Some differences were found in the responses related to the coaches’ characteristics—especially with respect to age-group and their willingness or unwillingness to become full-time teachers. In conclusion, the following steps would be valuable toward creating an effective strategy to promote the engagement of external coaches in school-based extracurricular sports activities: improving the coaching environment for the coaches such that they feel enjoyment or undergo personal development; easing institutional limitations; enhancing teacher support and participation in the activities; allotting appropriate roles for the teacher and external coach; and holding activity workshops.

Coaching, HRD, and Relational Richness

The Problem Coaching is becoming a ubiquitous form of human resource development (HRD) that experiences regular annual gains in both interest and participation. Yet it lacks theoretical framing and has not been conceptually well developed. There is a need for further framing of coaching as a dyadic, or group-based phenomenon, occurring in a set of diverse, but often commonly utilized contexts. The Solution Contributors to this issue inform this growing HRD area by elaborating upon coaching in terms of conceptualization, theoretical foundations, and measurement tools. They provide perspectives on coaching in its many forms, including executive, managerial, and action learning coaching. These perspectives on coaching most often share a dyadic/one-on-one context, and elaborate on coaching practices in terms of interactional richness, learning, and development. The Stakeholders Researchers and scholarly practitioners in the HRD field, internal and external coaches, and line managers who are committed to improving the practice of and expanding empirical research on coaching will benefit from this special issue on coaching.

Action Learning Coaching

The Problem Action learning (AL) continues to be an important learning and development approach within organizations. Many successful AL programs use AL coaches to help facilitate the program and the learning that can occur within such programs. How might AL coaching be similar to, or different from, other types of coaching, and how might AL coaching be most effectively practiced? The Solution A review of the conceptual, theoretical, and empirical research on AL coaching will address these questions and will enable a comparison of AL coaching and other types of coaching. We draw upon the research to demonstrate effective practice and the learning that can result from AL interventions. The Stakeholders AL is used globally for learning, development, and change, and therefore, many organizational leaders are interested in the effective practice of AL and AL coaching. These leaders, human resource development (HRD) professionals, executives, internal and external coaches will benefit from this article.

Theoretical Traditions and Coaching Genres

The Problem The interdisciplinary nature of the theoretical base of coaching creates practical approaches that are strongly influenced by organization-friendly theories, and fields such as counseling, psychotherapy, and philosophy. This eclectic use of theory creates uncertainty and sometimes leads to criticisms of coaching as being atheoretical and underdeveloped empirically. So, it is a difficult task for human resource development (HRD) professionals and particularly buyers of coaching to judge the relevance of numerous traditions of coaching and evaluate them for their HRD agenda. The Solution We highlight the theoretical foundations of coaching and develop a structural analysis of coaching engagement to indicate the potential interplay between organizational and individual agendas and to help HRD professionals become better informed about the value of coaching in the context of wider HRD paradigms. The Stakeholders HRD professionals, external coaches, internal coaches, and line managers who use a coaching approach, peer coaches, and leaders will benefit from the content of this article.

Coaching and Human Resource Development

The Problem Coaching is a pervasive form of development that has garnered significant attention among scholars and practitioners. Although interest in coaching has grown considerably in recent years, coaching has been criticized as being opinion- and best-practice-based, as well as atheoretical. It has been critiqued as being an under-examined and researched concept. The Solution The contributions in this issue address existing concerns in the literature by providing an overview of the theoretical underpinnings of coaching, synthesizing existing literature on research and practice related to genres, types and approaches to coaching, specifically executive coaching, managerial coaching, and action learning coaching. Furthermore, to spur research on coaching, a comprehensive review of currently available measurement instruments is provided. The Stakeholders Researchers and scholarly practitioners in the human resource development (HRD) field, internal and external coaches, and line managers who are committed to improving the practice of and expanding empirical research on coaching will benefit from this special issue on coaching.

Sociodemographic Characteristics of Potential External Coaches for School-based Extracurricular Sports Activities

Sociodemographic Characteristics of Potential External Coaches for School-based Extracurricular Sports Activities

Making a Change: The Role of External Coaches in School‐Based Communities of Practice

AbstractExternal coaches, provided by intermediary organizations, are being utilized to support and develop principals, teachers, and schools and bring about substantive change through communities of practice (CoPs). These coaches provide an external perspective and are integral to the reform process. HRD recognizes the value of coaching in organizational improvement and change, yet understanding the use of external coaches in CoP is lacking in the literature. This article seeks to address this gap by presenting the results from a qualitative case study exploring the roles and experiences of three coaches, in seven elementary–middle schools implementing the Together Initiative (TI) school reform. Researchers' fieldwork consisted of informal site visits and 155 formal interviews with stakeholders involved in the Together Initiative, a reform aimed at improving urban public schools. This study provides a new context for understanding the role of coaching in supporting organizational change.

Factors Associated with Teachers’ Recruitment and Continuous Engagement of External Coaches in School-Based Extracurricular Sports Activities: A Qualitative Study

School-based extracurricular sports activity (SBECSA) has developed as an opportunity that adolescents play sports in Japan. However, there are some issues to maintain active SBECSA such as lack of teacher who can coach SBECSA expertly, and large imposition of teachers to manage SBECSA. For resolving these issues, promoting engagement of external coach is favorable. Nevertheless, the number of external coach has not been enough. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to explain facilitators and barriers related with teacher’s action for recruitment and handling with external coach, and expected qualification for external coach. Personal semi-structured interview was performed toward 22 teachers who worked in a public junior high school or a public high school. In the analysis of the present study, the KJ method―a type of qualitative analyses―was used. All transcribed data were divided into individual content and grouped together into small, middle and large categories. For facilitators, four large categories such as benefits to SBECSA, benefits to teachers, system and support were emerged. For barriers, four large categories such as negative influences on SBECSA, negative influences on teachers, system and support were grouped. For expected qualifications, five large categories such as humanity, ability, cooperativeness, attributions and trust were categorized. In conclusion, the present study identified various facilitators, barriers and expected qualifications. External coach would increase by enhancing facilitators, reducing barriers, and targeting human resource who meets expected qualifications.

Facilitators and Barriers of External Coaches’ Involvement into School-Based Extracurricular Sports Activities: A Qualitative Study

School-based extracurricular sports activity (SBECSA) provides one of the main opportunities for adolescents to play sports in Japan. However, maintaining active SBECSA is difficult because of the large burden on teachers to manage SBECSA and a lack of SBECSA teachers who can coach expertly. To resolve these issues, the recruitment of external coaches has been promoted. However, the number of coaches and frequency of coaching are not sufficient for the current demand. Additionally, it is not clear how to promote the engagement of external coaches. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to explore a variety of facilitators and barriers associated with the involvement of external coaches into SBECSA. Twenty-five external coaches were recruited from junior high and high schools across Japan. Data obtained through personal semi-structured interviews were analyzed using the KJ method (a qualitative type of analyses). As a result, seven facilitators (positive feelings, adequate system, positive social support, comfortable climate of SBECSA, environment, growth of external coach, network building), and six barriers (negative feelings, inadequate system, lack of support, uncomfortable climate of SBECSA, poor environment, burdens) were identified. In conclusion, SBECSA would become more attractive for external coaches by enhancing facilitators and reducing barriers.

External and Internal Coaches’ Perspectives About Overcoming Barriers to Universal Interventions

School-wide positive behavior support (SWPBS) has been widely adopted in schools across the nation. One reason might be the availability of statewide training and implementation support infrastructures in many states across the country. However, even with the availability of support, some schools experience barriers typical to systems change activities. The research purpose of this study was to investigate how problems with staff and administrator buy-in of the universal intervention manifest and are resolved from the perspective of internal and external coaches. A second purpose of this study was to investigate the similarities and differences in how external and internal coaches view staff buy-in issues and the process for research. A total of 18 participants (9 external and 9 internal SWPBS coaches) participated in the study. Findings suggest commonalities across the types of (a) barriers participants encountered, (b) climate and systems influences, and (c) strategies used to resolve barriers. The findings also suggest the importance of staff having firsthand successes and the need for universal teams to “stick with” implementation over a period of several years before changes in staff resistance were evident.

The nature and focus of coaching in the UK today: a UK survey report

This paper reports and discusses the findings of the UK coaching survey run in 2010/2011 and compares these findings with similar surveys within the UK and in the USA. The paper explores the nature of coaching in the UK today. It confirms that the prevailing focus of UK coaching activity is business and management related. It also establishes that a majority of UK coaches who responded to this survey are accredited with a coaching-related professional body, and the majority of coaches identify themselves as independent consultants, with a business and management orientation. This trend appears to reflect business demand for recognised qualification among a growing number of external coaches in the UK.

Coaching reflection: the liberated coach

This article has its origins in several complementary sources: the personal coaching experiences of both myself and my co-authors in 14 books on coaching and mentoring; the experiences of coaches, who I have supervised; and observation of coaches in real plays within coach assessment centres (robust, validated processes for evaluating the competence and ‘fit’ of executive coaches for large-scale users of external coaches). The assessment centre approach is primarily a European and South African phenomenon currently, but multinational companies that have experienced it have voiced intentions to bring it to all territories, where they have a significant spend on executive coaching.

Driving organisational change with internal coaching programmes: part two

PurposeThe purpose of this two‐part paper is to outline a new way of utilising coaching to drive wide scale organisational change.Design/methodology/approachThe various benefits to using internal coaches are illustrated by fleshing out the cost benefits, and highlighting a range of ways that organisations can integrate coaching into their people, performance and culture frameworks. The paper covers training, design and implementation issues as well as looking at aligning coaching models with the organisation's strategic approach; draws on extensive case studies and posits some best practice principles, then addresses some of the key questions around this topic. This paper also draws on interviews with over 50 internal coaches over two years, and several other research papers on this topic.FindingsThe paper illustrates how training leaders to be internal coaches is a more scalable, sustainable and robust approach to driving change and improving performance than hiring external coaches. Early indicators are showing significant increases in retention, engagement, productivity and performance, as well as ROI (17X), across organisations that have developed internal coaching.Practical implicationsData are critical to understanding coaching impacts within organisational contexts. Thanks to those organisations using measurement, impacts to the business can be determined.Originality/valueThese positive data are significant for organisations making decisions around introducing coaching initiatives, driving organisational change or adopting a coaching culture.