A coaching approach to strategic partnering

Overview

This two-day workshop will help you develop your skills as a strategic partner and equip you with the knowledge to take a coaching approach with both internal and external stakeholders. We will explore two perspectives: you as a strategic partner, and how you use a coaching approach to engage others to deliver.

You will develop your confidence in managing these relationships by using a variety of interventions to ensure your interactions are effective. The focus is on active learning and will involve group discussion, skills practice and practical exercises.

As part of the workshop you will receive feedback on your type and an MBTI ‘Type at Work Profile’. The workshop is run by an accredited MBTI practitioner and qualified coach.

Learning objectives

This workshop will help you to:

  • Secure new positions
  • Build the rapport and establish good working relationships in short time frame
  • Understand your work and communication styles
  • Flex your own behavioural styles to engage other effectively
  • Understand sources of ‘power’ and how to influence without position power
  • Use coaching skills and techniques to:
    • Influence with integrity
    • Deal with conflict effectively
    • Promote collaborative working
    • Gain commitment, manage accountability
  • Manage group dynamics and difficult individuals

Audience

This course is aimed at anyone who needs to drive performance and obtain outcomes from others where there is not a line management relationship. If you work with external stakeholders, providers or client groups or matrix manage, this course would be useful for you. If you are in a role where you need to promote collaborative working and drive an agenda to achieve outcomes without position power this workshop is for you.

Format

This two-day workshop is underpinned by psychological theory with a focus on practical application. You will have the chance to explore your behavioural styles and develop your ability to support change using the Myers Brigg Type Instrument (MBTI). This instrument looks at different approaches to working and communicating. We will look at the implications of your style preferences and gain insights into its strengths and limitations and how you can use this information to improve your effectiveness working with others where you do not have ‘position power’.

The focus is on active learning and will involve group discussion, skills practice and practical exercises. For you to get the best out of this module you will need to bring at least two genuine current issues on which you would like coaching. Examples of the issues people usually bring are:

  • Dealing with groups of stakeholders with different agendas
  • Challenges of matrix and virtual management
  • Needing to influence direction of providers without giving advice

Workshop outline

Day one

1 Working effectively with others – your work and communication style

  • The MBTI profile
  • The implications of my work and communication style
  • How others may perceive me, my strengths and weaknesses
    • What is rapport?
    • Flexing my style to build rapport

2 Working effectively with others – using a coaching approach to engage

  • 5 key coaching skills
  • Listening to understand
  • Questioning to move to effective outcomes
  • Co-CREATE model – coaching with an agenda
  • 15-minute outcome-focused conversations
  • Developing techniques to deal with conflict effectively

Day two

1 Power dynamics

  • The sources of power in organisations
  • Influencing with integrity
  • Stakeholder mapping

2 Delivering difficult messages

  • Direct communication
  • FACTs coaching model – challenging with integrity

3 Dealing with groups

  • ‘Hot’ group issues
  • Functional and dysfunctional group behaviour
  • Strategies for managing groups effectively
  • Practical interventions for getting effective outcomes

For a no-obligation discussion about running this programme for your organisation on an in-house basis, just give us a call on 01582 463462.