686 - Idea: Nano-Coaching and Nano-Mentoring
September 22, 2011 Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - September 22, 2011.
#686 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
55,472 Readers - http://www.masie.com - The MASIE Center.
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Idea: Nano-Coaching or Nano-Mentoring (Very Short Burst Support)
Today, I am starting the DESIGN of my Welcome Keynote for Sunday night at Learning 2011. Each year, I look at an emerging trend or opportunity for learning, made available as an affordance by new technologies or new behavioral patterns. This year, one of those is:
“Nano-Coaching or Nano-Mentoring”
Consider the opportunity to provide daily or weekly VERY SHORT coaching or mentoring from a person with expertise to the learner/worker who is attempting to learn or improve a process or behavior.
When I say VERY SHORT, I do not mean 15 minute conversations. In fact, Nano-Coaching may happen via email or Instant Messenger and could be as quick as 3 minutes. My source for this model is a good friend and colleague Marshall Goldsmith, who was my coach and would call me every evening for 2 minutes to ask me a series of quick questions, including “How often did you finish the sentence of one of your staff?” or “Did you un-delegate a task to your team?”
Nano-Coaching could be delivered from a variety of sources:
- Mentoring Call Center (internal or external).
- Manager Delivered.
- Retirees as Contract Mentors.
- Peer within an internal Social Network.
- Crowd-Sourced to a Collaborative Process.
On a very personal note, I have been using Nano-Coaching for a quest to get healthier in my 61st year. Since March 1st, I have been working with a doctor in Arizona on a changed diet and increased level of exercise. Every day, I enter the specifics of all that I have consumed and any exercise, along with periodic weigh-ins. I get weekly emails with comments, suggestions and even pushes (“stop eating so many avocados - they look healthy but are pretty fattening”). And, every few weeks, we talk for a few minutes.
A number of our Learning CONSORTIUM members have been experimenting with Nano-Coaching as a support or alternative to traditional training approaches. They are seeing some dramatic increases in effectiveness and even have tracked how Nano-Mentoring can boost average sales per field representative. It is a live version of Performance Support for learning or behavioral change.
We have a lot to consider and experiment with Nano-Coaching, like what technology to use, methodologies, frequency and where it is not appropriate or effective, as well as the global implications in other cultures.
I am very excited to explore Nano-Coaching. It has helped me get much healthier, lose 50 pounds and have even more energy. I believe that we can, as a field, develop some very intriguing designs that leverage Nano-Coaching. I would love to hear your thoughts, reactions or examples. Please send me an email to emasie@masie.com
To access this article on my Design Blog, go to: http://tinyurl.com/nanocoaching
Special Note: We have updated the listing of over 220 sessions to be offered at Learning 2011 - check it out at http://www.learning2011.com/sessions
Yours in Learning,
Elliott Masie.
email: emasie@masie.com
MASIE Center Seminars, Events and Services:
* Learning 2011 - Nov 6 to 9, 2011 - Orlando, Florida.
* Membership in The Learning CONSORTIUM
Info and Registration: http://www.masie.com