Better Self Awareness = Better Performance.
Coaching gives someone protected, confidential time to think about and discuss how they work, normally with someone from outside the organisation who can sometimes ask the questions internal colleagues cannot. We provide coaching support to people at every level, from people in early stage careers, those stepping into their first supervisory role, through to senior leaders. Conversations are based around workplace challenges, practical issues and helping identify options for resolution.
Coaching is a structured series of one to one conversations about how somebody works, typically focused around identifying and resolving workplace based issues and challenges, such as behavioural style, impact on others, decisions made, and difficult situations.
Support is always practical and forward looking. A coach does not provide the answers, they help the individual figure out their own answers and act on them.
Coaching works well because it is always confidential and the person asking the questions normally has no direct involvement in the operations or politics of the team or organisation.
Many people at work may have nobody who provides honest, constructive feedback to help them understand how they may come across. Coaching helps fill that gap.
White Cube Consulting are not counsellors or therapists. We offer professional workplace coaching, focused on improving capability, behaviour and performance at work. Therapy and counselling are better suited to addressing psychological difficulties, past trauma and clinical mental health concerns, and always best delivered by properly qualified professionals. Where it becomes clear that somebody would benefit from therapeutic rather than workplace coaching support, we will always say so and can suggest any appropriate referral.
The Coaching we provide is focused on how someone performs at work.
It should never be a substitute for proper line management support and development.
We are usually approached for one of these main reasons and sometimes more than one can apply.
Coaching is often assumed to be for executives. In our experience it can be equally valuable at an earlier career stage. The people we coach range from early stage careers, employees in their first supervisory post, managers running functions and leaders running businesses.
We keep our approach simple and any up front commitment is normally minimised to an introductory session. This helps evaluate whether the employee / coach fit is right, and to check that coaching is the correct approach before continuing with any additional development orientated sessions.
So, we normally start with one session. The first conversation is used to establish the relationship, draw out key issues and opportunities from the individual’s own perspective, and begin to scope out the next steps and an early stage action plan. It also can settle something more fundamental: whether the person actually wants to receive support. Coaching only works well with a willing participant, so we are always keen to establish this in session one if we can.
Typically, we offer around three to five follow on development sessions depending on the defined need. Each session normally runs to around an hour and a half, usually a couple of weeks or so apart. This gives the employee some time to take on board any discussion, learning and to action anything required between sessions.
Preparation, follow up notes / action write ups are included in any coaching session costs.
Sessions are scheduled around operational requirements. We prefer in person sessions where practical, but can also work via Teams or Zoom. Recent coaching assignments have included individuals based in Aberdeen, London, Mexico and offshore. Where a conversation is better held away from somebody’s own workplace, we can also provide a private meeting room available for hire at our Union Street offices in Aberdeen.
If further support may be useful at the end of any initial block of sessions, we always agree it separately and get client sign off. We never try to sell open ended coaching retainers.
Progress is typically judged on any tangible outputs, what the individual says has changed, and what their line manager or HR has observed.
Coaching support is rarely delivered as a purely stand alone service. Coaching conversations can be considerably more effective when supported by objective evidence or when enhanced by additional development interventions.
Confidential individual coaching built around the person’s own goals. Common areas we cover include interpersonal communication, handling difficult conversations, delegation, confidence, professional standards, and the impact somebody’s behavioural style may have on the people around them.
A customised 360 report helps gather honest, structured feedback from colleagues, line managers and direct reports. We deliver an initial feedback session, help the individual make sense of the report without becoming defensive, then provide development based coaching to help address any priority areas the employee wants to work on.
Reports such as Belbin, DiSC leadership and management styles, management judgement scenarios and a range of other validated profiles can be selected to best support the individual and any issues at hand. As an independent consultancy we are not tied to one provider, so we always aim to find the best report for the person and the need.
Where support for a wider team or management population is required, we can run 360 reports and provide feedback for each person, followed up by individual coaching support. We also provide behavioural team profiles like Belbin, our own bespoke team effectiveness report and facilitated workshop and action planning sessions.
Not every coaching request is about one person. Sometimes two perfectly capable colleagues simply don’t get on with each other, and the impact of that on a team can be considerable.
For interpersonal conflict related situations we sometimes take a different approach. Each person is provided with a behavioural profile and an individual session first, to allow them to describe the situation from their own perspective objectively and without prejudice.
A joint session then follows, carefully structured to help raise the issues constructively and start to find common ground that both parties can work towards. Further individual or joint sessions can be arranged depending on any needs identified, with progress checked and monitored throughout. Behavioural profiles can be particularly useful in this scenario, because they can help facilitate discussions about differences in working behavioural style using a common language. And there is no right or wrong style, just different.
Joint coaching can be a great deal cheaper, and considerably less damaging, than losing either employee.
Coaching support adapts well across sectors, because most of the underlying issues of communication, confidence, delegation and personal impact are commonplace regardless of the type of organisation. What can change are things like the operating context or culture, and understanding that matters.
Our experience as an Aberdeen based consultancy extends across a wide range of sectors including;
Several examples of coaching work we have delivered can be found on our case studies page, including individual executive coaching, new leader programmes and 360 Degree Feedback based coaching across groups of managers.
The first session helps establish the relationship, understand the situation from the individual’s own perspective, identify the main issues and opportunities that matter most to them, and begin to shape a way forward and action plan. It is used to check whether coaching is the best support method. If somebody has been “conscripted”, rather than “volunteered”, it tends to become clear quite quickly. We would rather address and try and rectify this than “soldier” on for the sake of it.
The content of a coaching conversation always stays between the coach and the individual unless they give their explicit permission to share something. What is shared with the organisation is normally limited to broad development themes, progress against the agreed focus areas, and whether the sessions are being effective. At the end of the process we also ask the line manager or HR what difference, if any, they have noticed. Individuals are told exactly what will be reported back before any coaching begins, as without that clarity it’s difficult to build trust.
It can, but only if the person comes round to wanting support. Somebody acting defensively at the start of the process is quite common, particularly where performance or behaviour has already been raised with them. A good introductory session will often set them at ease and help move them from being defensive to starting to open up to receiving support. If somebody remains unwilling, we tend to find that arranging more sessions may not change that. So we will always have a very honest conversation and let you know if we can, or cannot, help.
Yes. We coach in person whenever practical and also over Teams or Zoom for remote sessions, including individuals based outside the UK. In practice many coaching engagements can become a mix of both, arranged around the individual’s travel and work commitments. Online coaching works perfectly well for most situations, although a first session in person is valuable where it can be arranged.
Whether you have one individual who would benefit from dedicated support, a newly promoted manager finding the step up harder than expected, or a group of leaders who have just received 360 feedback and need help acting on it, we can help.
Contact us for an exploratory discussion, always on a no obligation basis.