Technology and Coaching, Like Love & Marriage?

Published January 24, 2012

Technology Can Broaden Coaching

Coaching is a highly personal experience, but “technology” – broadly speaking – can expand the reach and impact of a coach. Technology can be as basic as “smart phones” and as sophisticated as Internet meeting connections. Smart phones, for example, allow the person being coached to reach out to the coach at times previously not scheduled. They also allow the coach to reach out to the client from locations other than his/her office. This freedom of location and of contact serves both very well. In the case of the client, accessibility saves him/her from the knee-jerk reaction that coaching is not of value if the coach is unavailable.

Increased Flexibility of Time

Ready availability by phone or texting doesn’t mean the coach must answer right then. Instead, it allows flexibility to create a stated time window within which to respond to the client needs. When that occurs, even if the coach is not immediately available, the client knows the answers to the immediate issue will be forthcoming shortly, not tomorrow or next week. Obviously, there are modifications, but that should be discussed with the client in advance, such as for vacations and other absences by the coach. And even in these circumstances, technology makes it possible to shorten or eliminate communication gaps.

Increased Visual Technologies

Where visual aids are helpful to address the challenges being faced, the Internet and graphics programs like Power Point® create coaching tools that were not available before the current generation of technology. Some people are visual learners and a computer-generated diagram, graph or flowchart can be an important tool for successful coaching.

Implementing a Project Management System

Another example is the use of technology as a solution. An attorney told me he was stressed because he had so much business that he was worried about inadvertently failing to do something essential for a client. We discussed how he dealt with open files and I recommended that he use a project management system that would graphically keep track of the details. In just a week the attorney reported that the system worked so well that he had his best night’s sleep in months.

Coaching as an Interactive Process

All such technology is useful, but it is not a substitute for personal interaction between coach and lawyer. The best coaching experience is an active and interactive process – a dynamic partnership between coach and client, and one in which roles and approaches can change. It is essential that the coaching client defines and conveys to the coach what the client “really wants” and works in partnership to achieve it. If the technology-fixated lawyer says of every task, “I don’t need a coach, this should only take me 10 minutes to do,” the result could be an overwhelmed practice that is either headed for ethical lapses or financial difficulties. In this, as in all other snares, the coach can be an objective sounding board to show the lawyer that, despite what technology can do, no one can do it all without help.

Categorized in: Coaching

Audience type: Associates, Large Law Firms, Small Law Firms, Sole Practitioners