In 2017 I shared an article on Pair-Coaching. In it, I shared some ideas & experiences around pair-coaching.
Now in 2020, I’ve had a bit more experience doing it. Not as much as I’d like, but more experience.
This article is inspired by an Agile Moose Herd conversation we had around the idea of – what would an apprenticeship program look like for coaching? And the notion of pair-coaching came up as a part of that activity. As would doing Dojo-based coaching simulations.
Questions from the Herd…
Do you have to work in pairs all the time?
Of course not. I think that’s probably the equivalent of mandatory pair-programming for every line of code. It simply doesn’t make sense.
In fact, there are some days when I’m “pair-coaching” where I/we don’t pair at all from a client coaching perspective. That being said, we do pair to prepare for coaching, debrief coaching, and strategize for upcoming coaching.
What are some of the “dynamics” of pairing?
There are a couple of things that come to my mind…
First, who will take the “lead coaching role” needs to be established before the pair engages in each direct coaching situation. The lead then does exactly that…lead or drive. They are the coaching voice for the coaching session.
