‘I’m not sure it’s my role’, was a comment we received recently during a presentation on mental health conversations in the workplace.

We may notice that a work colleague or client is not their normal self. Perhaps their behaviour has changed or the language they are using and their demeanour is different.

But the person in the workshop was worried that they didn’t really ‘feel it was their place’ to approach the person.

It's not uncommon to wonder whether it’s your job to start a mental health conversation or actually how to do that. Alternatively, whether you should get others involved, for example HR.

In addition, as a manager or coach, when do you take off your coaching hat, and focus on a mental health conversation?

Thursday 10th October marked World Mental Health Day (WMHD) 2024 in Australia and the WHO states that World Mental Health Day is an opportunity to ‘raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and to mobilise efforts in the support of mental health.’ And the official theme of WMHD is:

It is Time to Prioritize Mental Health in the Workplace

Therefore, we thought we’d use the Coaching Café to focus mental health conversations in the workplace. So join Natalie and Paula as they focus on mental health in the workplace and talk about the role we can play, including what to say, what not to say and overcoming barriers to the conversation.

Watch the webinar of this episode or read the blog by visiting our website.

Contact The Coaching Café Podcast

• Stay up to date on our socials @Opendoorcoaching
• Tweet at us @theopendoorcoach
• Email us at learn@opendoorcoaching.com.au

Thanks for listening!

Breaking down the barriers to mental health conversations in the workplace

Thursday 10th October marks World Mental Health Day (WMHD) 2024 in Australia and the WHO states that World Mental Health Day is an opportunity to ‘raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and to mobilise efforts in the support of mental health.’ And the official theme of WMHD is:

It is Time to Prioritize Mental Health in the Workplace

At Open Door we are obviously super happy to hear this theme; given as an Alumni it is something we have all focussed on for many years. In our Coaching Café we have heard from people with lived experience, talked about a coaching approach and the boundaries between coaching and other support services and trained 100’s of people in mental health conversations. We have also supported Organisations who advocate and support people in mental health, through our fitness and fundraising efforts like the Push Up Challenge and The Black Dog Institute’s One Step Forward.

We can all be proud of these efforts as an Alumni. And, we can continue the work and the advocacy.

Therefore, we thought we’d use the Coaching Café for the next couple of weeks to focus mental health conversations in the workplace. In particular, raising awareness around the barriers to mental health conversations. And importantly, how to overcome the barriers.

Join Natalie and Andrew Figtree (former Group Captain for the Air Force) for the Coaching Café and in particular, Figgy will bring his experience as a Mental Health First Aid practitioner, Air Force coach and veterans affairs advocate, to give us some ideas about how to break down barriers to mental health conversations.

Watch the webinar of this episode or read the blog by visiting our website.

Contact The Coaching Café Podcast

• Stay up to date on our socials @Opendoorcoaching
• Tweet at us @theopendoorcoach
• Email us at learn@opendoorcoaching.com.au

Thanks for listening!

‘Have you ever had anyone cry in the coaching session?’

The answer is yes, it does happen.

Not too often.

But whether it is disappointment, frustration, anger or alternatively joy, relief or enthusiasm, in our coaching practice in the workplace, we need to be aware of how to manage strong emotions, in our coachees and in ourselves.

We have covered a number of topics over the past weeks to explore real workplace coaching scenarios, including: coaching when people have too much on their plates, coaching when you know the answers and coaching ‘when it is easier to do it myself’ and when is it ‘not the right time for coaching?’ and coaching upwards. Throughout these conversations we have explored the role of coaching, coaching principles and ICF competencies and great coaching questions.

With this in mind, join us for this Coaching Café where wrap up the series on exploring very real workplace coaching scenarios. We will focus on an important topic – managing strong emotions in coaching and reflect on how to hold the space for the coachee and for ourselves.

Watch the webinar of this episode or read the blog by visiting our website.

Contact The Coaching Café Podcast

• Stay up to date on our socials @Opendoorcoaching
• Tweet at us @theopendoorcoach
• Email us at learn@opendoorcoaching.com.au

Thanks for listening!

‘These tools are really great, but can you use the tools to coach someone who is under-performing?’

It’s another question that we often get asked during our coaching programs and we have a very strong opinion on the answer, which is:

YES. In fact, coaching could be the ‘make or break’ difference between an increase or further decline in a person’s performance.

With this in mind, join us for this Coaching Café where we continue our theme of Coaching Cafes: exploring very real workplace coaching scenarios; and we focus on Shifting under-performance through coaching

Watch the webinar of this episode or read the blog by visiting our website.

Contact The Coaching Café Podcast

• Stay up to date on our socials @Opendoorcoaching
• Tweet at us @theopendoorcoach
• Email us at learn@opendoorcoaching.com.au

Thanks for listening!

‘These tools are really great, but can you use the tools to coach upwards?’ It’s a question that we get asked often during our coaching programs. And it always comes with a sense of hesitation or concern.

Of course, we say that you can coach upwards, downwards and sidewards, but how feasible is that? Should I coach upwards? Can I coach upwards? Do these tools work upwards? And what if you are in a hierarchical organisation?

With this in mind, join us for this Coaching Café where we continue our theme of Coaching Cafes: exploring very real workplace coaching scenarios; and we focus on What about coaching upwards?

Watch the webinar of this episode or read the blog by visiting our website.

Contact The Coaching Café Podcast

• Stay up to date on our socials @Opendoorcoaching
• Tweet at us @theopendoorcoach
• Email us at learn@opendoorcoaching.com.au

Thanks for listening!

We have covered a number of topics over the past weeks to explore real workplace coaching scenarios, including: coaching when people have too much on their plates, coaching when you know the answers and coaching ‘when it is easier to do it myself’. Throughout these conversations we have explored the role of coaching, coaching principles and ICF competencies and great coaching questions.

Following on from this, another scenario we often get asked about is: when is it not the right time for coaching? The question often comes when people who are new to coaching are thinking ‘coaching is great…but…’. The ‘but’ is questioning when is coaching most appropriate, and when should the manager be doing something else, for example telling, directing, mentoring, advising or intervening.

This tension about ‘what is my role’ and ‘what is appropriate’ is not just a simple matter of understanding the difference between coaching, directing, mentoring and other techniques. We can think about the scenarios from a number of perspectives including risk versus reward and ethics or values.

With this in mind, join us for this Coaching Café where we continue our theme of Coaching Cafes: exploring very real workplace coaching scenarios; and we focus on when is it not the right time for coaching?

Watch the webinar of this episode or read the blog by visiting our website.

Contact The Coaching Café Podcast

• Stay up to date on our socials @Opendoorcoaching
• Tweet at us @theopendoorcoach
• Email us at learn@opendoorcoaching.com.au

Thanks for listening!

It’s a real struggle in our workplaces right now. Leaders and managers and their teams are overwhelmed by their workload. Therefore, rather than coach people to grow and develop and give someone a learning opportunity, we hear people say: ‘it really is easier to deal with that pressing matter myself’.

Or perhaps they have tried coaching, and then we hear ‘coaching doesn’t work because an employee is not responding, so rather than coaching them, it’s easier to do it myself’.

We all know we need to delegate and that coaching assists with delegation. But when it comes down to it, delegating can be difficult. Particularly when the team is under pressure.

So how do you use coaching to assist in delegation? How do you coach people to pick up the slack, when it is their job and they need to perform better? Or alternatively, it’s not their job and you need them to step up?

There is a lot in this to unpack, so join us for this Coaching Café where we continue our theme of Coaching Cafes: exploring very real workplace coaching scenarios; and we focus on insights into coaching and delegation and how to overcome those moments when it is easier just to do it myself.

Watch the webinar of this episode or read the blog by visiting our website.

Contact The Coaching Café Podcast

• Stay up to date on our socials @Opendoorcoaching
• Tweet at us @theopendoorcoach
• Email us at learn@opendoorcoaching.com.au

Thanks for listening!

It’s a question that we get often in our Leader as Coach or introductory coaching workshops that goes something along the lines of: ‘Coaching is great. Asking them for options is great. But what if I know the answer?.’

The question is usually followed by an explanation about how the person asking the question is a subject matter expert and knows the way forward. Or perhaps there’s no time for coaching. Alternatively, a worry or concern about the options generated by the coachee, particularly when the coach thinks that the options might be risky or just unrealistic.

Even coaches with more experience may find thoughts might cross their minds about ‘better’ options or answers.

So join us for this Coaching Café where we continue our theme of Coaching Cafes: exploring very real workplace coaching scenarios and we explore situational coaching. In particular how to approach the scenario in the workplace, when you actually know that an option may not work, be the best alternative or is not feasible. Whether you are an experienced coach, coaching managers to coach their people, just starting out, or even coaching family members, it’s a topic that we can all explore and learn from.

Watch the webinar of this episode or read the blog by visiting our website.

Contact The Coaching Café Podcast

• Stay up to date on our socials @Opendoorcoaching
• Tweet at us @theopendoorcoach
• Email us at learn@opendoorcoaching.com.au

Thanks for listening!