Coaching Implmentation Planning

 

To effectively address the complex issues within child welfare services, it is important to develop a deliberate and thorough coaching implementation plan. 

If you don’t know where you’re going, you might wind up someplace else.

~Yogi Berra

The coaching implementation plan can be quite detailed. Use the following questions as a starting point for creating an implementation plan.

Steps	Planning Questions
Step 1: Identify the vision (what the group wants to see happen).	§  Where does the agency want to be in one year after implementing coaching? §  What are the results or outcomes the agency hopes to achieve? §  Is the vision statement clear: When reading your vision statement does someone not working in your field understand what your agency hopes to accomplish? §  What is the purpose of coaching (for example, is it  to coach individual learners on the topic of their choice or on agency identified topics)?
Step 2: Identify the collaborative partners.	§  Are all of the necessary partners in agreement to effectively achieve the vision? §  Who will participate in the coaching process? §  Who are the practitioners targeted to receive coaching? Are they new to the field? Do they work in a particular content area? §  Does the coaching model selected use external practice leaders, internal practice leaders, supervisors, or a combination of these? §  How many individuals should be involved in coaching? §  Have all necessary internal stakeholders been considered for involvement in the development process (for example, departmental counsel, social work specialists, or representatives from the employee union, technology, research, and evaluation areas)?
Step 3: Examine present circumstances.	§  Does everyone involved in the coaching understand how the current process operates? §  What is the agency’s current professional development strategy? Stand-and-deliver training? Web-based training? Training followed by ongoing social worker and supervisor coaching by external consultants? Internal staff trained to be practice coaches? A combination of strategies? §  What are the agency’s beliefs about continuous learning and quality improvement?
Step 4: Identify the process for coaching.	§  Are only practice-focused elements the purpose of the coaching sessions? §  Are both knowledge and practice components the focus of the coaching sessions? §  Does each of the coaching sessions involve the same staff members, or does it involve coordination between staff members? §  How often will coaching occur onsite? Offsite? §  What is the period of time or duration in which coaching will occur? §  What kinds of resources are needed to ensure staff members have the time to engage in coaching? §  Will the coach be a staff member? §  What are the qualifications of the coach? §  Did the coach receive formal training in a particular coaching model? §  Will the coaches meet together as a group to reflect and obtain support? §  Will the coaches meet regularly with staff to develop and discuss goals and review progress? §  Are the goals predetermined and discussed at each session, or are they constructed jointly with the coach?
Step 5: Identify the form and type of documentation for the coaching.	§  Are the activities used to engage in coaching (e.g., discussion, observation) recorded? §  Are the processes and goals of each session recorded? §  What does the program data tell the agency about the kinds of changes needed? Based on this, what is their working hypothesis about the need for this change (i.e., what is driving the agency’s desire to implement a coaching model to support practice)? §  Will the coaching focus initially on a specific population or practice? §  What types of ongoing, advanced and/or refresher training sessions will be included in the ongoing implementation and training plan?
Step 6: Identify procedures for continuous quality improvement.	§  Has a practical and affordable evaluation design been developed? This should include collecting feedback from learners and evaluating the quality of the coaching, improvement in skill development? §  What form of outcomes measurement and budget analysis will be needed to document the economic value of this approach? §  For each evaluation strategy chosen, who will be responsible for doing what? What will it cost? What is the funding source? §  Once the scope of work, training plan, and sequencing and timing have been outlined, what is the budget needed to implement this project during the first 3 to 5 years?
Step 7: Identify funding and areas for sustainability	§  Can Title IV-E or other federal funds be used to help support the implementation? §  What are the most feasible funding sources? §  Could certain local or state foundations be a source of political, program, technical assistance or financial support? §  Who are the key stakeholders? Should they participate in the training or be provided with an abbreviated overview session (for example courts, judges, departmental counsel, mandated reporters, and service providers)?