Why do project managers need coaching?

Three benefits of coaching for project managers and project teams.

According to The Chaos Report by The Standish Group, 65% of projects still fail partially or completely. Costs and deadlines are exceeded, and scope and quality leave much to be desired. This is a very sad statistic, and at the same time surprising. For decades, we have been able to reach for professional project management methodologies, including PRINCE2 (since 1989) and PMBOK (the first edition available since 1987), and yet projects are still risky ventures. We also have thousands of trained project managers in management methodologies on the market, and yet most projects fail or do not meet the client’s requirements.So what is the reason for project failure? According to Tom DeMarco’s research, it is mainly communication problems, problems with team selection, disappointment with the boss, client or co-workers, and lack of motivation to work, which is the cause and often the result of high employee turnover.

The Standish Group lists additional success factors:

commitment of team members;
management support;
project manager experience;
clear business objective.

As we know from observation and personal experience, methodological knowledge has its limitations – human nature and interactions between those involved in projects are key to their success. You need to “smell the script with your nose”, approach stakeholders with great sensitivity and respond to the dynamically changing project environment.

What can coaching bring to project management?

Coaching is not only a method for conduit cn mobile phone numbers database achieving set goals and increasing effectiveness invented by Americans in a competitive market in the 90s. It is also a continuation and response to the eternal desire to achieve perfection and to search for one’s own path and use one’s full potential in the company of a trusted guide. Coaching is a form of support focused on development and transformation, the effect of which is to be lasting and positive changes. In coaching reality, as well as in project reality, in order to implement something, we have to face change, and we risk and exert ourselves so that later it will be better (faster, cheaper, more convenient, etc.).

#1. Partnership and a climate of trust

Building a partnership and a climate of trust is fundamental in a project group. Managers, as well as team members, could learn a lot from trainers in this regard. The basis for building partnerships are:

opening up to the world;
honesty and sincerity in verbal and non-verbal communication;
high level of professional and personal ethics.

There is no talk of any tricks or techniques – a solid foundation of a strong and attractive character ready to make sacrifices in the service of others is what attracts collaborators and opens clients to partnership cooperation. A good coach’s workshop also includes communication focused on understanding the other person (above all, listening with one’s whole self; sensitivity to expectations, needs and intentions), and not just persuasion and convincing others of one’s arguments.

Truly deep respect and willingness to listen to the other person or their point of view change a lot in so-called relationships and I am convinced that if PMs communicated in a similar way to coaches,

cooperation on projects would run more efficiently and smoothly.

#2. Motivation and commitment

In coaching, the Co-Active model is popular australian companies are using ai to develop marketing strategies for this reason assuming a non-directive approach, so the role of the coach is not to answer the questions of the client or mentee, but to guide them in such a way that they themselves come to the right conclusions and solve their problem . The client sets the goal and defines the problem, but it is the coach who asks the questions, and the client, under his supervision, looks for solutions. Experience and research indicate that one’s own ideas are implemented with much greater motivation (and satisfaction) than the ideas of other people (including wise consultants and managers); not to mention the issue of responsibility for the consequences of one’s actions.

The coach brings out the best in the client during the conversation; he builds on the client’s knowledge, experience, strength and wisdom. After such a session, the client not only has a solution to the problem, but also a method for dealing with similar situations and a tool for more effective individual work in the future. Observing how employees increase their motivation and commitment to the tasks they perform with coaches would give managers a useful tool for dealing with the sometimes occurring stagnation and loss of energy in projects.

#3. Defining Clear and Realistic Goals

Coaching is goal-oriented. Many coaches use ej leads the SMART methodology, but these goals really come alive in the company of a coach – you can hear the applause, see the happy faces of people, new ways of being and the effects of actions are tangible. An improved project definition or business case with a coaching accent would not be just a dry and standard note about the mission or purpose of the project, which only the management board understands, and maybe not all of its members. After going through a coaching session, the goals “live” and are very attractive.

Developing clear and attractive goals is another skill that project managers could improve with coaches – by studying, for example, the T-GROW model (Topic, Goal, Reality, Options, Way Forward).