One of the things we hear frequently is that new and growing coaches would like more opportunities to see how different coaches approach different coaching situations. In other words, they would like more opportunities for the powerful tool of observational learning. If you aren’t sure this tool can work for you, consider the following points.
Observational learning has been around for a long time, but it wasn’t until recently that experts / scholars really started paying attention to it to better understand what observational learning is and how it works. Albert Bandura, a Canadian-born psychologist, gets credit for developing and popularizing Observational Learning Theory. His new idea – learning could occur through the simple processes of observing someone else’s activity. According to Bandura, learning can occur by watching others and then modeling what they do or say. There are specific steps in the process of modeling that must be followed if learning is to be successful. These steps include;
- Attention
- Retention
- Reproduction
- Motivation
These four steps used in sequence allow us to acquire the ability to engage in new behaviors or apply new skills simply through observation. Here is a little more about each step;
- Attention — attention is critical to making sure you catch the details
- Retention — the individual remembers what was noticed
- Reproduction — the individual produces an action that is a copy of what was noticed
- Motivation — the environment delivers a consequence that changes the probability the behavior will be emitted again
Appling this to learn a new coaching skill might look something like this;
- Observer listens and watches coaches in action. The observer pays attention by listening to what is said by the coach and coachee and watching non-verbal communication that occurs between the two.
- Observer uses proven methods to remember what was observed. This could be note taking, recording the communication and a feedback session where key points are discussed, dissected and reinforced.
- Observer uses what was learned in the observed coaching session. This is key. The sooner the skill is used the better as we have the “forgetting curve” working against us. Work done by German psychologist Herman Ebbinghaus provides an actual mathematical representation of the exponential rate at which we lose a memory “if no attempt is made to retain it”. Roughly 70% of a memory is lost within the first 24 hours!
- Observer receives feedback on the applied skill. Either positive or negative feedback is received, and the observer adjusts accordingly.
The tool of observation is powerful and often helps coaches get to an aha moment when it comes to tackling coaching challenges. When observing others coach, they can see the skills used and start to really ‘get’ the power of coaching.
You’ll have the opportunity to try out observational learning during our next webinar. We will have live coaching sessions with real coaches and real situations for you to observe. This will be a unique observational learning opportunity and a lot of fun in the process.
Attend the webinar to start the observational learning process (Attention and Retention), then go out immediately and practice what you observed to complete the process (Reproduce and Motivate) and ingrain the skills.
Read more about the webinar and register here.
