Week 5: The Role of Goal Setting
For coaching or mentoring to be effective, those involved must have an ultimate goal toward which they are working. Without such goals, it is difficult to measure progress. Perhaps the goal is to improve a personal skill or move upwards in an organization. This goal setting provides the focus around which coaching and mentoring can occur.
Pursuing goals often requires change, which can be challenging for many. For this reason, it is important to involve a coachee in the goal-setting process. It is also important that the goal is specific and measurable so the coachee has a focus. Progress toward goals should be reviewed and evaluated on a regular basis, and changes should made if and when necessary.
When developing goals, it is important to think about short-term and long-term growth. Goals should be challenging but not unattainable. Assessment models are designed to support the change process and can help in the development of goals. Consider how these assessment models could be used to develop goals that will facilitate the change process.
To prepare for this Discussion, review this week’s Learning Resource.
• Review this week’s Learning Resources, especially:
o Performance Goals for Employees: 8 SMART Examples – Officevibe
o 44 Examples of Performance Goals – Simplicable
o The GROW Model of Coaching and Mentoring – Skills From MindTools.com
Respond to at least two of your peers’ postings in one or more of the following ways:
• Based on how your colleague described performance goals and end goals, provide an example of each.
• Considering your colleague’s discussion of assessment models, what measures could be used to gauge success?
• 3-4 paragraphs
• APA citing
• No plagiarism
1st Colleague – Natasha Mills
Natasha Mills
The Role of Goal Setting
The whole idea of coaching is anchored on the achievement of a specific goal. Coaching managers, as well as the coachees, only know that the resources they invested in the coaching process were not wasted when goals are achieved. The realization of the overall goal needs the setting of performance goals in-between the coaching process. Hunt & Weintraub (2017) cite several reasons for the setting of these performance goals.
For instance, performance goals provide room for follow through, which assesses how much the coachee has learned in order for the coach to make adjustments or introduce new things to learn. This process is almost impossible in the absence of performance and end goals. “In the absence of some type of goal, or marker, it will be hard to assess progress for the coaching manager or the coachee” (Hunt & Weintraub, 2017, p.206). The follow through, in turn, shows the coachee that the coaching manager cares by keeping an eye on what the coachee is doing.
Managers ought to deeply understand the roles of performance goals and end goals in coaching. This deep understanding will help them adopt best practices when coaching, leading to positive outcomes and a return on investment. Hunt & Weintraub (2017) state that some managers often express skepticism when it comes to setting performance goals and implementing follow through processes. Their skepticism can be attributed to the notion that by doing that, they are micromanaging the coachees. Micromanaging is a term that has a negative connotation and linked to ineffectiveness. As a result, the managers tend to adopt the practice of attaching the development planning form to the performance appraisal form.
The approach can be counterproductive because it mostly leads employees to identify development goals that correspond with what the managers want while ignoring their own goals. Therefore, there needs to be mutually agreed-upon goals that will improve the commitment of the coachee, as well as those of the coach, fostering the occurrence of change. “A clear statement of mutually agreed-upon and clearly specified goals is more likely to result in the attainment of those goals than a less precise or more implicit goal-setting process” (Hunt & Weintraub, 2017, p.210). It is critical to ensure that the set performance and end goals of the coaching process are specific, time-bound, challenging, aligned with business goals, developed mutually, and few in number. Hunt & Weintraub (2017) provide these as the characteristics of the most effective goals that support the change process.
Coaching managers have at their disposal various assessment models that they can use to evaluate the coaching process and facilitate the desired change. Flaherty (2010) proposes three major assessment models, including the five elements model, the domains of competence model, and the components of satisfaction and effectiveness model. The author argues that a coaching manager’s decision to use any of the assessment models should be dependent on the ability of the model to bring meaning to the observation the coach makes of the employee’s actions. This is because the coach is not concerned with the role of revealing the truth. Rather, the coach is concerned with building competence in the coachee (Flaherty, 2010).
The five elements model, for instance, has five areas of observation. The areas are immediate concerns, commitments, future possibilities, personal and cultural history, and mood. These areas are crucial to determining the borderline between the coach and the coachee (Flaherty, 2010). The second model, which is domains of competence, presents a pyramid with three major domains. At the bottom of the pyramid is self-management, followed by relationships with others, and finally facts and events. Flaherty (2010) claims that a different kind of thinking is needed for the different kinds of domains. Lastly, the components of satisfaction and effectiveness is the simplest (Flaherty, 2010). It includes elements of intellect, context, will, emotion, and soul, all of which are the necessary competencies for effectiveness and satisfaction of the coaching process. A coaching manager may choose any of these assessment models to facilitate the change process depending on set goals because each model will direct the coach to different behaviors to observe.
Flaherty, J. (2010). Coaching: Evoking excellence in others (3rd ed.). Burlington, MA: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.
Hunt, J. M., & Weintraub, J. R. (2017). The coaching manager: Developing top talent in business (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
2nd Colleague – Donna Tizzano
Donna Tizzano
RE: Discussion – Week 5 Tizzano Initial Reply
Hello Class,
Providing positive and constructive feedback is not enough to assist the coachee in changing behaviors and developing the skills and competencies needed to facilitate sustained change. Both formal and informal follow-through is essential for the coachee to achieve personal development (Hunt and Weintraub, 2017). Ongoing follow-through provides the coachee with learning opportunities through the coaching process and demonstrates the ongoing support of the coach (Hunt & Weintraub, 2017). Follow through begins with the coach and coachee collaboratively setting goals so progress can be measured and observed by both the coach and coaches.
When clear, quantitative goals are established, and employees are held accountable to attain these goals, the development of the employee is promoted, but it is critical that the coachee is engaged in creating these goals if there is hope for the change process to be successful and sustained and goals achieved (Hunt & Weintraub, 2017).
As previously stated, goals must be mutually agreed upon and very precise. As a coach and coachee begin to develop these goals, Hunt and Weintraub (2017) suggest considering the following question “What are you going to do differently? (p. 210). For goals to be effective, they must be specific, clear, measurable, and outcome-oriented (Hunt & Weintraub, 2017). There must also be a time frame for completion so that a coach can measure whether the goal has been achieved successfully. Goals that are effective are challenging and motivating for the coachee. Challenging goals help engage the employee and motivate them to achieve the established goal. Hunt and Weintraub (2017) share that when a coach and coachee develop goals, they should focus on only a few high-priority developmental goals. Hunt and Weintraub (2017) continue to describe effective goals by sharing that they are developed in a participatory fashion to encourage commitment to the goal. Lastly, goals should be aligned with the organization’s goals (p.210).
The development of goals is challenging since the coach must ensure that performance goals are created and focus on the behaviors and actions the coachee needs to change. Another factor that must be considered and addressed is how these behavior changes will support and align with the end goal. This is how the coachee’s performance changes, and successes, will be integrated into the organization to support and facilitate the change process on a bigger platform than just the individual employee (Hunt & Weintraub, 2017).
The relationship that a coach and coachee have must be built on a foundation of trust. The more we understand the coachee’s tendencies or preferences, the more a coach can use this knowledge to enhance the coaching experience and effectively assist the coachee in achieving their goals (Flaherty, 2010). Flaherty (2010) describes assessment models as a way to give “shape to our observations” (p.60). An assessment model helps a coachee raise their self-awareness and insight into their behaviors and actions, allowing them to collaborate with their coach to develop meaningful action goals (Young, 2019). Assessment models help the coach understand the underlying causes of a person’s behaviors and actions so they can use this information to identify effective ways to support and educate the coachee in ways to change behaviors and actions so these changes will be permanent changes for them moving forward (Flaherty, 2010).
Flaherty (2010) describes three different assessment models. The Five Element Model describes five areas of observation: Immediate Concerns, Commitments, Future Possibilities, Personal and Cultural History, and the Mood of the Coachee. Each element influences the behaviors and actions of the coachee. The second assessment model is the Domains of Competence which acts on the theory; that to accomplish something, minimal competence must be demonstrated in the following areas: self-management, relationships with others, and third, facts and elements, or the capacity to understand statistics, models, numbers, etc. (Flaherty, 2010). Each of these domains causes people to think differently, so people will naturally move toward the domain that is comfortable for them. The third assessment model described by Flaherty (2010) is the Components of Satisfaction and Effectiveness which lists the competencies of Soul, Context, Will, Emotion, and Intellect, representing competencies that are necessary for someone to feel satisfied and effective.
We cannot assume that every person’s personality, behaviors, and actions are molded into one type of assessment. People constantly change and develop throughout their lives; they are not stagnant. When we try and label an employee through an assessment, a coach may limit their potential and create a “self-fulfilling prophecy” where they begin to treat them according to the indicators in the assessment. Because of this treatment the employee does not develop or change (Flaherty, 2010, p. 60). A coach must consistently assess and reassess their coachee. Therefore, coaches must use assessment models as a resource to understand the reasons behind the behaviors and actions of a coachee. Then, they can use this information and understanding as a tool to help them develop specific, quantifiable goals and ways to help the coachee grow and achieve these goals (Flaherty, 2010).
Have a great week,
Donna
References,
Flaherty, J. (2010). Coaching: Evoking excellence in others (3rd ed.). Burlington, MA: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.
Hunt, J. M., & Weintraub, J. R. (2017). The coaching manager: Developing top talent in business (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Young, R., (2019, December). Assessments in coaching: Why and which ones? Forbes Coaching Council. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com>sites>2019//12/11>assessments-in-coaching-why-and-which-ones
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Week 5: The Importance of Goal Setting
For coaching or mentoring to be effective, individuals engaged must have a long-term goal in mind. It is impossible to track development without such objectives. Perhaps the goal is to improve a personal skill or move upwards in an organization. This goal setting provides the focus around which coaching and mentoring can occur.
Pursuing goals often requires change, which can be challenging for many. For this reason, it is important to involve a coachee in the goal-setting process. It is also important that the goal is specific and measurable so the coachee has a focus. Progress toward goals should be reviewed and evaluated on a regular basis, and changes should made if and when necessary
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