Coaching is an essential part of performance development. Employees need managers who can successfully coach them to improve. Additionally, the coaching should help them develop and grow in their careers. Coaching is helping someone perform better in their job or any other area they are striving to improve.
Reframing is one of many coaching skills used for a solution-focused approach to problem-solving. It helps employees improve how they view challenges, remain focused on their goals, and develop consistent behaviors. This post will cover reframing and three methods you can use in your next coaching session.
Reframing is seeing a current situation from a different perspective. Managers use reframing as a coaching tactic during problem-solving, decision-making, and learning. It helps the employee resolve the feelings of being stuck in a situation they feel is hopeless. Reframing as a coaching tactic helps employees feel empowered to act and learn simultaneously.
As a coach, you can bring reframing to your coaching sessions to reframe problems and cultivate creative and critical thinking skills. The three reframing methods in coaching are brainstorming with the rule of three, questioning the question, and challenging assumptions. Below I break down each technique so you can start adding them to your coaching process.
Brainstorming with the rule of three
People tend to believe they are already aware of all the options. As a result, they typically feel they have no options or choices to choose between, or they pick the lesser of the evils. So to coach an employee through the solution-finding process, help them reframe using the rule of three.
In this method, coaching with reframing requires three different ideas to begin brainstorming. One solution is bad. Two solutions are a debate. However, three solutions are brainstorming. Getting the employee to brainstorming mode with the rule of three encourages creativity. It empowers them with the idea there could be a dozen different possibilities. Essentially, reframing with the rule of three gets the employee unstuck, and that is what reframing coaching is all about.
Question the question
Surprisingly, simply reframing a question will shift perspectives and dramatically change the problem’s focus. For example, ask the employee what problem they are trying to solve during the coaching session. Starting with this question gets the employee to state the problem. As a result, it brings clarity to the situation.
Next, follow up with, “is this the right problem to solve right now?” Asking your employee this question next gets the employee to look for unexplored options within the same problem. So, questioning the question changes the lens through which they view the problem and refocuses it. As a result, you will find different sets of solutions.
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Challenge assumptions during a reframing coaching session
We have deeply ingrained assumptions about how things are or ought to be. As a result, it is difficult to challenge perceived limitations or rules. Even more, they are a huge blindspot while problem-solving. The final method for reframing during the coaching process is to help the employee challenge the assumptions.
Assumptions exist within your industry, organization, and personal lives. Those assumptions will impact how your employee views problems and limits the solutions they develop. For example, have you ever started a new job and asked why something was done a particular way only to get the answer, “because that is how it has always been?” That is a prime example of accepting the status quo and not challenging the assumptions. So, make a list of those assumptions and talk through what would happen if you did the opposite.
Reframing is one of many solution-focused coaching methods. It helps your employee change their perspective on a problem. Additionally, it keeps them focused on their goals and develops consistent behaviors. Add these three reframing techniques to your coaching process to help employees work through problems and develop creative solutions to improve their performance.
What examples of reframing have you used to help employees develop better solutions to your organization’s problems? Add them to the comments below!
Last updated on December 3rd, 2022 at 09:23 am
