Standards Australia (2011) define Skills Coaching as coaching that focuses on the acquisition or improvement of work-related skills. Examples of such skills include (but are not limited to) delegation, time management, active listening, questioning, feedback and performance management skills. The purpose of skills coaching is to build capability, rather than achieve particular work-related targets.
While skills coaching can be conducted as a stand-alone intervention (e.g. following a skills training course), it is often a subset of a wider coaching intervention involving performance and developmental coaching strategies. When conducted as a stand-alone intervention, skills coaching may be done in small groups, as part of a workshop or in a one-to-one format. Coaches engaged in skills coaching can be expected to have:
- Knowledge of the process of skills acquisition
- A clear understanding of the skill being coached and its relationship to the coachee’s goals and context.
- Competencies in supporting the coachee to acquire and develop the particular skills targeted in the coaching.