Choosing a Coaching Program: To DIY or Not to DIY

You don’t make any decisions without hours of research, evaluations, and debate. Deciding that your organization needed a coaching program was hardly an impromptu decision. No, it was preceded by intense investigation before it was decided that it was right for your organization.

That, as you know, is not the end of the question. Now it’s time to decide which coaching program is right for your organization.

During your research you’ve come across quite a few coaching programs, and while many of these coaching programs share similarities, they are all different enough that you can’t leave the choice of coaching program to chance. They have different strengths, bring different benefits, have different focuses, but you can only choose one, and you want to choose the one that’s best for your organization.

At this point, you might be considering a slightly different approach. After all, if you want the best coaching program for your organization, why shouldn’t you just create a coaching program tailor-made for your organization. Why shouldn’t you do a little bit of mixing and matching until you have a DIY coaching program that is fits all of your organizations needs perfectly?

SHOULD YOU DO-IT-YOURSELF?

With all Do-It-Yourself projects, there are certain things that you should take into consideration before moving forward.

First, make sure that it’s an investment you want to make and that you understand what that investment is. A successful DIY coaching program will require an investment of your organization’s money, time, knowledge, and experience. And as anyone who has become entrenched in a DIY project knows, you may end up investing more of those things than you initially planned.

Weigh the potential predicted and unanticipated costs and risks against the benefits of a program you custom build yourself.

IS DIY THE ANSWER?

Is DIY the answer? That’s for your organization to decide.

While some of the above considerations may seem daunting, maybe even overwhelming. Do-It-Yourself coaching programs are something that you and your organization should genuinely consider as you determine which coaching program to go with.

A DIY program will allow you to tailor make a coaching program to perfectly meet your organizations needs. You will also, due to being the creators of the program, know the ins and outs, know the intention behind each element of the program, know the pitfalls you need to be careful to avoid.

No One Knows Plumbing like a Plumber

Does your organization have someone who knows the ins and outs of coaching to help you create your program?

One pitfall that’s easy for organizations to fall into is looking at all of the coaching programs they see and just trying to mix and match them to get what they think they want. Unfortunately, these organizations are also among the first to come away from their coaching program in despair, wondering why it just isn’t working.

You don’t want to base your coaching program off of what you can find on the internet. Webinars on creating coaching cultures, blog posts detailing how coaching works, and informational articles explaining important frameworks are all excellent materials, and can certainly teach you a great deal. However, while these materials might help you build a foundation and framework, you will risk missing out on the small nuances that impact long-term success.

This nuance may not seem important, and perhaps some missed elements won’t be. “For want of a nail the Kingdom was lost,” or so the proverb goes. You need to be careful that you don’t risk missing those pieces of nuance that will lead to a truly successful coaching program. You need someone who knows what nuances are important, which small elements will create the coaching program right for your needs.

You need more than Google. You need an expert.

Think of it this way. While there are some home renovation projects that you can teach yourself and still come out with marvelous success, you would hesitate before trying to tackle a project as essential, and as potentially disastrous, as plumbing without really knowing what you were doing.

Your coaching program is that essential. If you want it to be effective, you need to ensure that someone in charge of creating your coaching program is not just knowledgeable about coaching, but an actual expert. Someone who can help your organization avoid the pitfalls and the stalls that are inherent to implementing any sort of program into an organization.

Summer Projects Aren’t a Weekend Thing

Do you have the time to properly create, implement, and revise a coaching program for your organization?

You wouldn’t try to take your summer project of renovating your basement and try to get all of the work done in a few spare weekends. Handling such a time intensive project with that sort of mindset would lead to cut corners, hasty solutions, and an end result that is far less than what you’d hoped for. The same principle applies to the creation and implementation of your coaching program.

So, take a look at your schedules and deadlines and decide whether you are willing to invest the time to do this right. That way, you won’t have to do it again.

Size Doesn’t Matter, Except When It Does

Is your organization the right size for a DIY coaching program?

Initially this may not seem important, after all if the coaching program works on a small scale, surely it will work on a larger scale as well.

That, however, is not always the case. The logistics of implementing a coaching program get exponentially more complicated the larger your organization gets. And planning a program to tackle those logistics can be a headache.

It’s like comparing the work and effort of painting a single room to painting your entire house. Except you’ll be working on an organization-wide level, and with something far more complex than adding a few layers of paint to a wall.

That’s not to say that with enough effort you can’t make it work. But it’s important to look at the size of your organization and decide whether you are ready to handle the implications of a larger organization.

No Commitment-phobes Allowed

Are your senior leaders willing to commit to and help you implement this coaching program?

While any coaching program, be it DIY or otherwise, will function better with the buy-in of your senior leaders. When it comes to a DIY coaching program their commitment is essential. In a DIY coaching program, you’ll have limited outside help. It’s all on your organization

Your executives are the people who determine organizational priorities, they are the role models and standards. If they put the time and effort into your coaching program, if they make the implementation of the program a priority for managers and individual contributors, your chances of successful coaching program implementation are not to be underestimated. If your executives aren’t willing to do those things? Then you might be in trouble.

WHEN DIY ISN’T THE ANSWER

After asking yourself the necessary questions and taking into consideration all of the elements your organization may need in order to successfully implement a DIY coaching program, you may come to the conclusion that that’s not the route for your organization.

Here’s the good news.

• There are a variety of coaching programs out there to choose from, and you will almost certainly find a coaching program that will work for your organization.
• Even then, almost all coaching programs have room for customization to better work with your organization.
• Full-service coaching programs have been heavily tested. There is far less worry about trial and error, and perfecting a system, because that’s already been done.
• Working with a full-service coaching program cuts down on the time you have to invest in comparison to a DIY coaching program. It will still take time, of course, but it will be far easier to accommodate with your schedule.
• Working with a full-service coaching program does not require you to know everything there is to know about coaching. Instead, you’ll be able to learn as you go. While you may never become a coaching program expert, you will also have no need to be one.

Working with a full-service coaching program will still take an investment of your time and money. But in return you get expert knowledge and experience, as well as support, encouragement, and a source for all your questions.

It is important to never underestimate how important that knowledge and experience can be. A full-service coaching program will help you avoid many of the pitfalls that come with the implementation of any sort of organization-wide program. A full-service coaching program will also have insights on how to best customize their program to benefit your organization. Their goal is to help you be successful.