To coach or not to coach? Part 2 – by Dawn Stott

Summary

In a new series of blogs, Dawn Stott, Business Consultant and former CEO of the Association for Perioperative Practice (AfPP), discusses how coaching and developing teams can support patient safety and its outcomes. 

In part one, Dawn looked at the strategies and coaching methodologies that can be used to develop individuals and to support patient safety. In part two, Dawn looks at how coaching can improve individuals, and discusses the indicators of improvement, prosocial behaviours and the importance of good communication to improve culture and, ultimately, patient safety.

Content

Coaching can often make sense of the chaos around us – we don’t bring our best self to the table when we are functioning under stressful circumstances.

Inner self-empowerment through coaching involves helping individuals tap into their inner resources, their strengths and potential to overcome challenges, achieve goals and live a more fulfilling life.

It is a personal strength to be able to reflect on a given situation, previous behaviours and improvements for the future. In healthcare, professionals can be asked to act as a mentor or coach for a new member of the team or an apprentice working in the department. For any coach, recognising improvements in the abilities of others and their skills can be subjective and the signs may vary depending on the nature of the skill or activity. Some common indicators that someone has improved could be:

• A consistency in their performance and delivering high-quality work or positive results is a good sign of improvement. Especially if it is benchmarked against a starting point.
• As individuals become more skilled, they tend to perform tasks more efficiently. Improved efficiency may include completing tasks in less time, using few resources or achieving better outcomes with the same amount of effort.
• Confidence tends to grow as skills improve. As a coach you may notice your mentee becoming more assured in their abilities and it may be an indication that they have become proficient in the task.
• With improved skills often comes adaptability. Someone who has improved at their core tasks may demonstrate a greater flexibility and improved problem-solving skills.
• If mentors, peers or supervisors are providing positive feedback it suggests that the mentee’s skills have advanced.
• Continued learning and commitment to personal development are indicators of improvement. Someone who actively seeks new knowledge, embraces challenges, and learns from experience is likely to have improved over time.
• Depending on the nature of the skill, measurable improvements can be a straightforward indicator. 
• Advanced skills often lead to innovative thinking. If someone starts to come up with creative solutions, introduce new ideas or contribute to the improvement of processes, it is a sure sign of growth in their abilities.

Improvement is a gradual process and different skills may manifest progress in various ways. Additionally, it is essential to consider the context and specific criteria relevant to the skills in question.

If you the coach encourage kindness, it is a prosocial behaviour that can benefit society as a whole. These behaviours are often characterised by selflessness, co-operation and a concern for the wellbeing of others. Prosocial behaviours can manifest in various ways and in different contexts, which include:

• Kindness and courtesy: behaving in a considerate and polite manner towards others, promoting positive interactions in various settings.
• Helping others: assisting someone in need.
• Sharing and co-operation: pooling resources, information or skills with others and working collaboratively towards a common goal. Leaving your ego at the door and knowing that a joint success is as important as you achieving something alone.
• Empathy and compassion: understanding and sharing the feelings of others and showing compassion in response to their needs or challenges.
• Altruism: engaging in actions solely for the benefit of others, even when there is no apparent personal benefit.
• Conflict resolution: using communication and problem-solving skills to address conflicts in a constructive and non-aggressive manner.

It is safe to say that coaching can play a strong role in fostering prosocial behaviours by building self-awareness. A coach has the gift to help individuals understand their values, beliefs and the impact of their actions on others. By providing individuals with different perspectives, the coach can encourage individuals to develop an empathetic approach to given situations.

In my career journey, I have spent a lot of time with different types of people, working in different environments, latterly and mostly in healthcare settings. I have been fortunate enough to develop training packages, deliver training, encourage change and manage complex strategies in support of patient safety initiatives. Every time I ask the same question to different teams at all levels of the career spectrum – "how good is your communication?" I would say that 80–90% of people would say their communication was good but that of other’s was not as good as theirs.

We have a pre-conceived idea that we are great communicators, but the reality is that we are not. We can always improve and for a coach to help strengthen the communication skills of an individual is one of the most important elements within their role. Promoting active listening to enhance interpersonal relationships is a key fundamental of good communication.

Goal setting is key to coaching, giving the mentee tasks as part of the coaching programme is important and if the coach can assist individuals in defining and working towards goals that contribute to the well-being of others or society, that is a great achievement.

Ultimately, coaching for prosocial behaviour involves guiding individuals towards a mindset and behaviours that contribute positively to their social environment and the well-being of others around them. Supporting individuals to cultivate a growth mindset and promoting the belief that they can develop and improve themselves through effort and learning is crucial.

In part three, Dawn will discuss the importance of reflective practice and how it can be used to analyse patient interactions, clinical decisions and the overall delivery of healthcare interventions.

Further blogs from Dawn:

• To coach or not to coach? Part 1
• Developing cultural change in healthcare: Part 1
• Developing cultural change in healthcare: Part 2

About the Author

Dawn has worked in healthcare for around 30 years in many different roles.  She is a published author and a human factors/quality improvement consultant.  After 14 years, she recently stepped down from her role as AfPP CEO and is now – rather than putting herself out to pasture – pursuing opportunities that are her passion.

She has an all-round understanding of healthcare from primary care commissioning through to secondary care interventions.  Some of her previous roles have included commissioning new hospital and GP surgery builds, IT implementation programmes, customer care, team building and leadership training strategies. She also has a strong knowledge of charities and the legalities around running a successful and sustainable charity. Along with a colleague she has recently started a Yorkshire Charity Leadership group to support senior leaders in charities. From experience she knows it can be quite lonely at the top.

Since ‘retiring’ Dawn has also joined the British Association of Day Surgery as their Lay Member. She is looking forward to supporting their values and strategy. She is also working as a consultant for Pentland Medical on a project to support cultural change and standardisation of processes within the acute setting.

Her philosophy is that kindness is infectious and should be at the core of everything we do, kindness can support change and encourage growth for everyone around you, so BE KIND.