The Focus of Coaching Over the Phone

I've noticed that coaching over the telephone (or Skype if it's a good connection) brings a focus to the conversation that in-person coaching doesn't.

A coaching session on the phone is focused more fully on the client's needs and agenda, and less on the social requirements of meeting together. For one, you can cut the socially required 30 mins of small talk prior to and after an in-person coaching appointment. Instead, replacing it with what the coachee, not society, really needs. A busy schedule keeps many coaches and clients from pursuing face to face meetings. It takes time to travel to meet, and time to get ready. Many more people will commit to coaching if it's just a twice a month one hour call.

But is telephone coaching as good as in-person?

Better, says an article in today's International Herald Tribune. It says, "The late Canadian media guru Marshall McLuhan said that radio is a "hot" medium, whereas television is a "cool" medium, meaning that radio, like the telephone, forces you to focus entirely on the voice, the spoken word, making them much more intimate. You can acquire more information in listening to what people are saying and how they're saying it, than searching for visual clues."

I also find that I'm less distracted in my office using the phone (if I've turned off my email program like a good coach) than if I'm meeting somewhere outside.

What's your experience? Comment here.