Welcome to the digital era!

It is also true within the business coaching community.

Getting past my scepticism, curiosity and the wish to stay ahead of times made me make the step to go online!

I have recently started coaching online as an enhancement to my usual face to face practice. I use it both to allow additional sessions with clients I usually meet personally and also have coaches with whom I only work remotely.

I had of course used video platforms for recruitment interviews and feedback discussions but coaching is another type of work.

Here are my first impressions of online coaching.

What are the benefits of online coaching?

  • You are absolutely flexible and can meet your coach from home, at the office, even in a quiet place at the airport
  • As a company, you can offer coaching to more employees at all levels
  • You have potentially access to more coaches than just locally

I found the personal connecting to my clients to be of really good quality although we did not sit in the same room. Their feedback on “chemistry” was matching mine.

I usually keep the sessions shorter (1 hour maximum as opposed to 1,5-2 hours) but can take place more often than face to face coaching
sessions. They are enhanced by learning activities between the sessions in relation to the goals and topics of the client.

The coachee is, if you will, in that respect fully empowered and responsible for her/his own development and learning.

So what are potential drawbacks?

It is still pretty difficult to make use of certain techniques or visual tools when using video. My face to face coaching normally involves
the use of cards, chairs, flip chart or other creative methods to reflect and open perspectives.

But there is room for creativity and innovation in this field so let’s stay tuned!