Сoaching in IT: how to get started and what should you be aware of

If you’re a manager looking to improve communication with your employees and looking for new ideas, coaching is a good place to start. Coaching is one of the four areas of the helping professions, which also include therapy, mentoring, and training. However, the focus on the future is the main difference for coaching.

Why exactly coaching in IT?

The IT industry attracts people who are focused on results and improvement. Quite often, the development of technologies and companies is so fast that people and their mindsets cannot keep up with this rhythm.

We agree that it’s much better to work surrounded by people who know what they want and how to achieve it. To build a team with such values and skills, a team leader should learn coaching skills.

Coaching is a universal tool that helps you choose point A and get to point B. This approach works directly with a person and will be useful for both professionals and managers. The point is set by the person and he/she chooses how to get there. According to the methodology, the coach’s task is to ask focusing or expanding questions, actively listen, and be there for the person as they go through their journey. In this case, coaching is universal both for those who have done a good job and plan to develop and for those who want to find support.

In my practice, I was able to work with representatives of each category, both professionals and managers. I also had the opportunity to work with developers, marketing managers, product managers, account managers, project managers, etc. Because coaching is universal, therefore, I was able to help so many different people.

But this universal nature has a flip side because that’s why many people think that coaching is easy and doesn’t require much effort.

But it’s not. About 20 years ago, it was common in our culture to believe that any friend or older relative could be a psychologist. But now we know the difference between a professional and a well-read person. Coaching is going through similar stages of acceptance in the global culture.

How to choose a coach?

A professional coach has a practical and theoretical base. To become a coach, you need to learn how to use your skills under the guidance of a mentor and supervisor. You also need to pass an accreditation program that will test your practical and theoretical skills.

The term “coaching” isn’t patented. Anyone can write it in their profile. Anyone can certainly be a coach, but they will not be a professional. Therefore, when choosing a person to whom you will entrust your life or career goals, you need to check their expertise.

The coaching profession is considered to be easier to acquire than psychology. To be a psychologist, you need to have a professional diploma. Instead, coaching is one of the fields of study within the psychology curriculum, and it can be a separate course of study.

Therefore, in order not to run into “professionals” without diplomas and skills, I recommend choosing a coach on the ICF website.

This will give you a guarantee that the coach is from the right side:

• Has a theoretical knowledge base and is constantly learning new things.
• Follows the ethical code.
• Commits to having their own supervision and mentoring sessions.

The ICF is a non-profit organization that develops coaching methodology and is the author of the Ethical Code.

According to the International Coaching Federation (ICF), the principles of coaching include:

1. Trust and confidentiality. Coaching is based on mutual trust between the coach and the client. It is important to maintain confidentiality to create a safe space for discussing personal and professional issues.
2. Focus on the client. The coach works with the client’s goals and needs, helping them find solutions that are consistent with their values and beliefs.
3. Active listening. A coach should actively listen to the client, ask questions, and clarify information to better understand the situation and help with development.
4. Expanding questions. A coach doesn’t give prepared answers but uses questions that help the client develop new ways of thinking and find solutions on their own.
5. Responsibility. The client takes responsibility for their actions and results. The coach helps the client identify the goals and steps that matter most to them.

ICF is one of the most powerful organizations that regulates the practice of coaching and provides certification. Their methodology is internationally recognized and standardized, which makes it different from others. An important methodology feature is the emphasis on defining the qualities and competencies of a coach, as well as establishing ethical standards and professional principles.

There is also a variety of coaching methods that may include different approaches, tools and techniques.

1. Transformational coaching. This methodology is aimed at deep change and personal development. The main emphasis is on rethinking values, beliefs, and life goals.
2. Cognitive coaching. This approach is based on cognitive psychology and focuses on changing the client’s thoughts, beliefs, and psychological patterns to achieve specific goals.
3. Career coaching. The main goal is to help the client solve professional issues, such as choosing a direction, developing in a specific field, and achieving career goals.
4. Emotional coaching. Focuses on managing emotions, developing emotional intelligence, and improving interpersonal relationships.
5. Sports coaching. It’s used to improve sports performance and develop sports skills.
6. Business coaching. Aimed at improving efficiency and productivity in the business environment, including leadership, teamwork, strategic management, etc.

ICF’s versatility helps to solve issues from all areas to achieve a complex goal. For example, in the case of a promotion from a specialist to a manager in an IT company, one session may be aimed at resolving an emotional issue, and another at a career issue.

How does coaching work in practice?

In a comfortable atmosphere, you sit down with your client and start asking questions that will help you identify: the current situation (point A), the desired result (point B), the availability of the necessary resources and skills, and their compatibility with your employee’s mindset to achieve the goals.

It’s important to mention that the coach always asks questions, but the responsibility for the result lies solely with the client, in this case, the employee.

From the practice…

I was approached by a developer who got his first position as a manager.

What were his starting points?

His point A: to move from a professional to a manager.

His desired point B: is to stop working overtime for the entire team and free up time for his personal life.

In each session, we discussed a separate topic that was relevant at the time and led to the reaching of the ultimate goal.

What was found and transformed?

1. The approach to colleagues’ training.

Professionals who get a leadership position are quite skilled and often do more work. The way out of this situation is to realize that training the team is a direct responsibility of the manager. But the necessity of doing something only by yourself is not anymore.

1. The approach to tasks.

Using a metaphor, we were able to visualize the backlog of tasks and understand that some of them are large in scale and some are small. And even if the small ones are always the first to be handled, the big ones remain in the backlog. Through a metaphor, we always look wider and find solutions not only to current but also to long-term issues. There is no emotional attachment in a metaphor, so it’s easier for us to take action.

3. Manager’s area of responsibility.

The developer was faced with the fact that not all colleagues in the team were equally professional. Some people understand him quickly, while others need a lot of time. Just like in the first point, we analyzed the changes. It turned out that 50% of a professional’s responsibility is to do a good job, and 50% of a manager’s responsibility is to train, prioritize, support, and control. These are the tasks that need to be focused on so that everything that depends on the manager can be accomplished.

Why are the coaching practices useful for a manager?

1. This helps to define what goals will be interesting for both your subordinate and your company.
2. Instead of giving clear instructions on how to complete a task, you pass responsibility to your subordinates, thereby stimulating their sense of responsibility and allowing them to choose the most appropriate way to solve the problem.
3. The manager learns to listen and understand the deep values of team members. Because coaching is always based on mutual trust between all parties, it opens the way to a deeper understanding of your employees and their needs.

So, if you’re ready to start at point A and finish at point B, I recommend

For those who want to find their coach:

• look for an ICF coach who can fully support you in solving a complex goal using a universal approach;
• look for a coach who follows an ethical code and has a consistent practice;
• start with at least a 12-session contract it will help you to get to the results and resolve all issues along the way;
• if you realize that the universal approach is not for you, you can always turn to a coach with a more specialized approach.

For managers ready to learn a new skill and try it:

• try to go through the contract with a coach and make sure that the method is effective for you;
• to begin with, you can use coaching elements such as active listening, delegating responsibility for the process and the result to the team, and the ability to ask questions out of curiosity rather than expertise. These three components will significantly improve teamwork;
• try the ICF methodology, as it’s universal and will help you to fully utilize the potential of the request and the team. The list of companies that teach this technique is also available on the official website, as well as useful literature that can be used for your training.