8580-503 Reviewing your Own Ability as a Management Coach or Mentor

Unit Overview

8580-503 Reviewing your own ability as a management coach or mentor is a unit in the ILM level 5 qualifications in coaching and mentoring that improves understanding of individual ability in relation to the mentoring and coaching responsibilities in the organisational context. As a manager, an individual should be able to effectively improve the performance of others. This involves being able to effectively coach ad mentor as techniques of performance management and giving feedback to other employees.

This process requires the individual to effectively assess their personal behaviours and skills as a coach and mentor, identify the strengths and weaknesses and the various plans that can be put in place to improve their performance as a management coach or mentor within the organisational context. The leaders and managers soul also be able to conduct coaching in an approach that is ethical and legal hence ensuring they are able to achieve the desired goals and objectives of the mentoring process without any forms of bias. As such, it is critical to ensure that the learners are provided with the knowledge and guidance to achieve these duties and responsibilities.

8580-503 Reviewing your own ability as a management coach or mentor is a unit that is designed to provide the management coach and mentors with training to effectively assess themselves and determine the need for improvement in relation to mentorship and leadership. The main purpose and aim of this unit is to enable managers to review their ability to perform the duties of management coaches or mentors. This is a critical requirement for different levels of leaders within the organisation. The unit is taught in 7hours of guided learning and has a contribution of 3 credit values towards the completion of the ILM Level 5 qualification in mentoring and coaching.

Suitability of the Unit

All leaders within the organisation should be good mentors in their areas of responsibility. This involves being able to effectively influence individuals in this area of responsibility to ensure that they improve performance by being good coaches and mentors. 8580-503 Reviewing your own ability as a management coach or mentor is a unit that is designed to build the ability to review and reflect on personal performance as a management coach or mentor.

The unit is, therefore, important for individuals within the organisation who are tasked with the responsibilities of developing others or are in a position of influence within which they can impact the performance of others as mentors and coaches. While this unit is designed to meet the learning needs of senior managers and top managers within the organisation, it can be pursued by other stakeholders within and outside the organisational context.

The unit helps the learners to build an understanding on approaches they can use to improve their coaching and mentorship abilities. Reviewing personal performance is critical and external consultants, private coaches and mentors, as well as other leaders within the organisation, can pursue this course to improve their impact and influence on others. Employees can also pursue the unit to ensure they are able to effectively impact more junior workers as well as prepare them for future leadership responsibilities.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the unit, the learners should be able to:

• Conduct an assessment analysis based on evidence of individual ability as a coach and/ or mentor involving their personal skills, knowledge and behaviour

• Use the assessment to determine the strengths and weaknesses in personal behaviours, knowledge, and behaviours as a coach and/ or mentor

• Review coaching activities undertaken within an organisational context examining the processes, patterns and outcomes of the activity

• Evaluate personal skills as a coach or mentor with a focus on self-awareness, approach, communication skills and relationship management

• Identify approaches to ensure personal coaching and mentoring approaches are ethical and non-judgmental

• Provide evidence based on personal reflection on actual coaching and mentoring activity using examples and evidence

• Identify the effectiveness of tutorial supervision

• Show understanding of recording and keeping logs of personal progress and development as a coach or mentor

• Provide a plan for future development with a minimum of 12 months of development as a mentor or coach

Key Areas of Learning

8580-503 Reviewing your own ability as a management coach or mentor covers the process and ability to effectively evaluate personal performance as a coach or mentor within various contexts. Some of the main areas of learning within the unit include:

Assessment of Skills, Behaviours and Knowledge as a Coach or Mentor

This area of learning helps the learner to identify the skills, abilities and knowledge that are required for an effective coach or mentor. The learner is introduced to different models that are applicable in reflective practice, such as Kolb, Critical incidents and arcs to attention. They are also guided to understand coaching and mentoring codes applicable within t eh workplace. Lastly, the learner is guided to conduct an effective self-assessment by being taught various tools and techniques of assessment.

Reflection on the Effectiveness of Personal Coaching or Mentoring Practice

This area of learning helps to identify the personal abilities and skills that are related to coaching and mentoring. The learner is introduced to non-combative challenging strategies that help to change their inappropriate attitudes and behaviours to ensure they are able to meet the needs of their clients. It helps the learner to identify the needs of the client beyond the competence of the coach hence putting up strategies using support services to me these needs. The learner is guided to identify the factors that impact the coaching and mentoring situations and developing strategies to address poor personal relationships within the workplace

Development Plan as a Coach or Mentor

This area of learning helps the learners to effectively develop strategies that they can use to improve their coaching and mentoring abilities in future. After identifying areas of weakness, the learner is guided to develop strategies that they can use to manage time and build sustainable networks that contribute to shaping their abilities and performance as a coach or mentor over a long period of time.

Wrap up

On completing the unit, the learner is put through an assessment. The assessment is aimed at determining the mastery of information that has been taught and assigning the credit values. A written assessment is used as the main tool to determine the mastery of content within the unit by the learner.