Applied Coaching Research Journal Research Journal 3 | Page 26

APPLIED COACHING RESEARCH JOURNAL 2019, Vol. 3
Building the foundations
Due to the novel concept and informal ways
of learning being unfamiliar to the staff, it was
important to build in structures to the programme
to enable it to be successful in meeting the coaches’
needs and delivering The Albion Foundation’s vision.
Each CoP was allocated a staff ‘leader’ who would
take responsibility for the group initially. A staff
leader development session was organised to upskill
leaders, taking the form of a CoP. In the session,
staff discussed ideas around how to ensure quality
learning took place and retain coaches within the
CoPs. In addition, staff determined how they wanted
their CoP to work, including how they might set up
activities and discussions and what their roles and
responsibilities would be. In particular, how they
could cultivate group responsibility and ownership
from the coaches involved. This ensured that the
‘leaders’ bought into the CoP approach and took
ownership of their group.
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Similarly, it was felt that the coaches would need
some training to assist with developing their
reflective skills prior to the start of the CoP. As a
result, an introduction to reflection session was
delivered as part of a Level 2 multi-skills training
day to provide coaches with the opportunity to
reflect in-action during the day and reflect on-action
at the end of the day. Coaches were introduced
to reflective models they could use as well as
considering how they could critically evaluate the
conversations at the CoPs and place them into their
own personal context. The training was delivered as
part of the Level 2 multi-skills training day to give
coaches something meaningful to practise reflecting
on.