Directive to Non-Directive Coaching?

How to achieve a Non-Directive state sooner?

We are Agile coaches and coach the team to adopt the Agile ways of functioning.

Initially, we may start the journey with Directive and subsequently, we coach the team to own their journey without us so that we may proceed into non-directive form.

How fast we can transition to Non-Directive coaching? that the coaching questions all of us are asking.

In directive coaching, the coach sets objectives for the individual or group, recommends procedures to obtain those objectives, selects resources, observes the performance of the individual or group, and provides them an evaluative comment.

The coach is the professional and tells the individual or group what to perform.

Directive coaching is Sermonic! It is another form of teaching or training. The coaching involves expert knowledge of achievement in the indicated situation (e.g. a Swimming coach requires experience in Swiming to coach the team members).

Involves telling, suggesting, advising, and demonstrating what requires to be worked out from the perspective of the supervisor.

In non-directive coaching, the individual or group is the expert, and they set the Plan. The coach encourages them to figure out through that plan and thus exercise their own competence to bring about the outcomes they choose.

Non-directive coaching is facilitative. It is based on deliberate understanding and structured problem-solving. The coach requires knowledge, particularly of how to support individuals’ understanding and problem-solve for themselves.

As a Non-directive coach, we raise coachee's understanding and awareness.

Coachee's are in a position to bring about their best answer and learning.

Coachee's buy-in and in-charge of these ways of operating;

Their performance is enhanced in a sustainable manner, and They learn to self-diagnose, self-generate and self-correct.

We as a coach chose to reach to Non Directive mode faster.

This technique provides the coachee or team to show the process, establishing his/her or their own inferences. The benefits of this coaching competence are long-lasting.

When managers tell an employee something, research shows that only 10% of individuals are expected to recall it accurately after 3 months. If they serve non-directive coaching, that number goes up to 95%! (The Power of Non-Directive Coaching, Lauren Buys, Human Capital Review). The impact of training is also increased threefold when followed-up with coaching.

With this approach, the coachee comes to a result that qualifies their individual demands and is, thus, more feasible to pursue it.

The coach doesn’t have to be an expert on the coachee’s specific issue in order to be successful.

Also, the coach doesn’t have to be an expert on the coachee specific issue in order to be successful.

The coach desires to inquire compelling queries.

The coach desires to continue open-minded, non-judgmental, and listen.

Example :

In Direct coaching:

Coachee: Coach, I am getting a lot of defects from my code? I’d like to bounce some ideas off of you.

Coach: Let us see the various test cases you have written. Let me look into the various use cases you have to think through.. etc

In Non-Direct coaching:

Coachee: Coach, I am getting a lot of defects from my code? I’d like to bounce some ideas off of you.

Coach: What are the different types of tests you are doing?

Coachee: I have executed all the Agile Testing quadrant testing.

Coach: What else could you do? Who else have you talked to about this? Did you speak with the Architect and PO?

Who else is affected in this situation? Did you speak with our Business Analyst to get some more use cases? 

and so on.... The Coachee will get some idea and will figure out what next can be done to minimize defects from the next sprint onwards.