The director was to lead the rollout of a corporate business change within his division. He feared the company was underestimating the potential impact of the change on employees, and hence their productivity for which he was accountable. He felt inexperienced to handle a change of this magnitude. However, he was reluctant to raise his concerns with the company in case this would be career limiting.
The director engaged the coach privately, without the knowledge of his company.
A series of coaching conversations served three purposes. First, to transfer change management skills to the client so that he felt competent with the corporate planning process. Second, to diagnose situations, draft deliverables and suggest actions for implementation locally as required by the client, and based on information provided by him. Third, to serve as a confidential sounding-board to the client at a highly stressful time.
Where possible, coaching drew on tools from the methodology in use within the company. Other times, the coach designed models and assessment tools for the client to use himself, or with his team.
Such tools addressed change impact, risk and readiness, stakeholder management and communications planning. At key points, the coach shaped implementation by providing analysis and recommendations based on information provided by the client.
The outcome was that the company’s new operating model was implemented by the division without damaging performance standards. The director also gained the confidence to challenge the Board on some of its assumptions, helping overall Programme planning to be more robust.