Holding Clients to Account
Holding clients to account and supporting them in following through on the actions identified is one of the key roles of a business coach.
As with other areas, the better the action plan, the easier it is to carry this out. If actions have target dates, it is easy to identify when they are overdue and the clearer the description of an activity, the less chance of ambiguity or misunderstanding.
Holding clients to account and supporting them with follow through can take many forms including:
- Regular reminders of what has been agreed
- Reminders of the reasons and motivations for carrying out actions
- Clarification if the client is unclear about what was agreed
- Assistance with ‘how’ to carry out actions when the client is struggling
- Keeping track of progress towards achievement of outcomes
- Reminders of the consequences of not following through on agreed plans
- Encouragement when things are not going well
- Praise and recognition when clients do follow through
- Reworking of action plans if necessary
- Routine reviewing of progress at the start of each meeting
As with all aspects of business coaching, identifying what works well for each client is key and the effectiveness of the holding to account is likely to improve as the coach gets to know the client better.
Whilst the coach has a responsibility to hold the client to account and support them with follow-through, the client is ultimately responsible for their own actions.
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