From the virtual back to physical – Helen shares her coaching reflections

From the virtual back to physical – Helen shares her coaching reflections

Our executive coach, Helen Smith, shares her reflections on returning back to face-to-face coaching after a period of purely online coaching – and what she has learnt along the way.

In the year of 2020 when things went a bit sideways – one of the practical things we needed to do was move all of our coaching online. Although we already did a hybrid of coaching, combining online and face to face, I remember feeling sad that I would not have that face-to-face interaction with my coaching clients.  And I don’t think I was alone in this as a coach. I recall a group supervision session where this was the main focus – how could we maintain coaching standards whilst everything was done online? How as coaches that have a natural curiosity about people and depend on interactions and whole body communication, could we move to a totally virtual world?

In hindsight, I think I adjusted very quickly and from checking in with my clients, it seems that they were still able to get what they needed from their sessions and to go on to make amazing developments in their lives. After a while of online coaching, my computer had almost become my security blanket – I would always have whatever I needed for a coaching session to hand. As something popped into my head – a model, an article, a process – that felt relevant to share with my coachee, I would be able to offer it to them instantly. I had my little routine before logging on; going for a walk around the block to clear my head, then make my brew and sit down at my desk to be fully present. No interruptions, no unfamiliar environments, no adjusting to whatever the environment presented. Just me, with my brew, in my comfy listening space with everything to hand that I could possibly need.

Recently, I have been able to return back to some face-to-face coaching. I must admit to feeling that combination of slight nervousness alongside excitement – not knowing where the one ends and the other begins. That was what got me thinking about how my coaching has developed over the last couple of years and what I have learned from doing purely online coaching. I think I felt nervous because of the change back to what was now out of the ordinary – the removal of my security blanket of familiarity, my walk, my brew, my desk. The unknown of what I might need and not having it at the touch of my fingertips.

I realised that I needed to step back into that space of purely trusting the words, the relationship building, the listening. The imperfectness of scribbling out ideas onto a blank piece of paper and creating the space for my coachee to navigate the answers from within themselves. The joy of purely being curious. And, oh, what a joy it was!

The time of moving my coaching entirely online has helped me to develop as a coach. It enabled me to be brave and try new things and to then develop my confidence in using them. It gave me opportunities that would otherwise never have presented themselves. And amongst all that time of change and at times (literal) isolation, I was growing and developing. It has taken stepping back into the face-to-face world to enable me to fully appreciate this and to take my learning into my physical coaching space.

I have always loved coaching from the day I discovered what it was. It just makes sense. But this recent experience has made me fall in love with coaching all over again.

 

Let me know how you have found your return to face to face coaching and share your thoughts with us on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn

Helen xx

Director of People & Development