Coaching is also moving towards blended training. Integrating coaching i courses and eLearning activities is not only possible, but it is also extremely fruitful. Alternation, within skills development plans, including coaching sessions and distance learning moments, favour the continuity of a course: the user is faced with a single route, dotted with milestones (discussion and agreement moments in the presence of a coach) and intermediate activities (e.g. online training courses) that are linked together create a clear path towards the goal of professional development. On-line tools, if properly used, provide real support for coaching programmes on both a planning and management level, to the benefit of increasingly stringent time and flexibility requirements. Through a shared space on a platform and specific tools, the coach and coachee can, for example, share notes and work patterns in real time on a remote basis. Some further examples of integration.
- Reminder from the platform: the online environment sends the coach and the coachee an automatic reminder of the sessions schedule.
- Check point on video chats: intermediate check points of the coaching path can be carried out via remote synchronous interaction tools.
- An agreed action plan: the action plan can be viewed and modified by the coachee, in terms of timescales and activities, at any time.
Of course, this evolution of coaching i towards a blended approach requires all the players involved in the process, especially the coach and coachee, to acquire a minimum standard of digital skills, a necessary prerequisite for using easy and effective new tools and to fully grasp the opportunities and benefits. This topic was discussed in posterLab no. 15: “coaching and eLearning for the development of leadership skills”. Alessandra Scapati