Operational Coaching

A team leader coaching a colleague at her desk

Most team leaders are told to coach but are rarely shown how to do it in a busy operation. Operational Coaching is a practical course on coaching in the flow of work: at the desk, after a call, during a daily review or over video with a colleague working from home.

Much of the two days is spent practising. You will coach and be coached using real situations from your own teams, with feedback from the trainer and from other delegates. You will also plan how to protect time for coaching in your week, which is usually the hardest part.

The course is accredited by the Coaching Standards Council. Delegates who submit three recorded coaching conversations within eight weeks of the course receive a certificate.

Accreditation
Accredited by the Coaching Standards Council
Next course
9 March 2027
Schedule
Two consecutive days, 9 to 10 March 2027
Duration
Two days
Price
£1,150 plus VAT
Location
Woodstock, Oxfordshire

Who it is for

Team leaders, supervisors and quality coaches in operations of any size, including those who lead hybrid or fully remote teams. Lean Practitioner graduates often take this course next.

Modules

Operational Coaching is delivered through these modules:

Coaching in the flow of work

Why short, frequent coaching changes behaviour more than formal reviews, and what we have seen work in service operations. We look at how to fit ten-minute conversations into a working day without losing control of the operation, and how to choose which conversations matter when time is short.

Asking before telling

Question techniques that help team members work out their own improvements, so the learning sticks. You will practise open questions, silence and summarising in pairs, then learn when to switch to direct, specific feedback because the situation or the customer needs it.

Coaching from evidence

Using recorded contacts, case reviews and team measures as the basis for coaching, so conversations are about the work rather than about personality. We cover how to choose the right evidence, how to share it fairly and how to agree one thing to try differently next time.

Coaching hybrid and remote teams

How to listen in, review work and hold coaching conversations over video without them feeling like surveillance. We share practical routines from hybrid contact centres and back offices, and look at how to make each person's progress visible when the team is rarely in the same place.

Making time for it

Planning your week to protect around five hours for coaching, agreeing that time with your own manager and showing what it achieves. You will leave with a written coaching plan for your team and a short record you can use to track progress over the following eight weeks.