The Concept

The reasons for a Corporate Coaching programme are the same as for any other consulting project - clients are faced with operational problems, such as inadequate processes, non-functioning organisations, untrained management and staff, unsatisfied customers, too little revenue, too high working capital, insufficient internal communication, and of course the desire for financial benefits.

Instead of getting a team of consultants in, ideally the company should be able to deal with their own problems and assign management and key staff to the project.

A coach is needed to compensate for the lack of management consultants. His role would be to:

- Undertake a thorough analysis of the operation and areas where improvements are wanted,
- Come up with a business case for the project with estimated benefits,
- Design a project plan, divide the project into areas, and take part in the selection process for project members,
- Work on the project governance, such as steering committee selection, communication structure, reports, etc,
- Continuously train the whole project team in all relevant areas like project management and area development,
- Follow-up weekly on the project progress, oversee the project plan, and empower the project team. The key tasks for coach are: challenge, develop, coach, train, design, implement, follow-up, fine-tune.

Talking consulting language, the role of the Corporate Coach is similar to the one of a Project Director who would typically be responsible for more projects at the same time. The Corporate Coach though has to be more down-to-earth and give much more input and take on an active role in project delivery.

Does this work? Yes. I have seen it work. In the last few years I have managed several projects under similar circumstances. That is the reason why I came up with the idea for Corporate Coaching. 

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Roland Brunner (Corporate Coaching - Management Consulting)