Organisational Benefits of Coaching Outdoors

27 May

“Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature’s inexorable imperative.”
H G Wells

Before jumping straight into the organisational benefits it’s relevant to consider what the organisations are facing, the expectations of their leaders and then, their objections (if any) to coaching outdoors. With this backdrop we can then consider how coaching outdoors can help.

In the course of my research I spoke to a senior executive working for Mars who asked me for “a clear compelling articulation of why we should take on the extra challenge of setting the right environment and how the extraordinary results make it a no brainer.”

So here goes…

What are organisations facing?

Our world today is facing major health, economic, environmental, political and technological change. The speed of developments in these areas affects all of our lives. Globally we see some key trends:

Global pandemic panic, impact and management
Climate change and increasing scarcity and ethics of resources
An increasing global population and with it rapid urbanisation
Emergence of the digital era
The exponential rate of change in the development of technologies
An increase in individual empowerment and therefore expectations
Greater cultural and generational diversity in the work place than ever before

And the demands on business leaders specifically?

To be an adept conceptual and strategic thinker

Be able to create an engaging and trusting culture
Have deep integrity and be able to be honest, humble and vulnerable
Lead collaboratively and not necessarily from the top
Know yourself and your purpose, be authentic
Have exceptional EQ, not just IQ
Be able to deal with ambiguity and be agile

As a result, we know that leaders are finding increasing difficulty balancing work and life, being time poor and not always cash rich! Feeling overwhelmed with what is expected of them, the size of their role and the amount of data and information they are expected to have a handle on. Experiencing the pressure of deciding which are the critical focus areas when so much data is available and the game is always changing. And knowing, in the ever-growing matrixed organisation, how to get things done with conflicting agendas and unclear reporting lines. Add to that, just as leaders think that they have achieved something, it’s all change - change is the only constant and it is becoming more rapid! It is no wonder that employees are at risk of burn out and that organisations are focusing on resilience and wellbeing to help their staff survive.

What objections are raised to coaching outdoors?

It is not hard to see why coaching is on the rise and how it can contribute to supporting todays leaders navigate their way though. It’s also not difficult to understand why the main objection to coaching outdoors is the perceived time commitment involved. In fact, it is the only organisational objection I (and other coaches I’ve spoken to) have ever come up against (there have been other personal reasons for clients not wanting to be coached outdoors but not corporate reasons). There has been the objection of ‘I need to be in the office’ but when lightly explored, this is not true for all day, every day, so there has been some flex.

When I first began offering coaching outdoors to my clients and organisations, I expected some resistance around it being a bit ‘tree-huggy’ or concern over weather or physical capability but these have not come up once, neither has psychological safety.

So it’s all about time…

What are the organisational benefits of coaching outdoors?

A wealth of studies have now demonstrated that being outdoors is associated with psychological and physical well-being. According to Dr Matthew White of Exeter university, a brief nature fix of just 10 minutes can begin to lower our stress levels. Connecting with nature can help us feel happier and more energised, with an increased sense of meaning and purpose, as well as making tasks seem more manageable. My clients report having a greater sense of perspective when they are outside. ‘What was a big issue seems somehow diminished in the fresh air.’

Already we can see that coaching outdoors is time efficient; mental and physical wellbeing along with improved perspective. And that’s before mentioning the demonstration of corporate responsibility to health through supporting coaching outdoors.

So, the return on investment (ROI) both of money and time is already looking high. What other benefits are there?

The time and space is crucial for reflection, learning and change. When working outside space is created for this to happen. Clients site the journey to the location as a chance to ‘disconnect from the office and to breathe’. They often say that they’ve used the journey to prepare for what they’d like to get from the session. The journey back gives them the opportunity for reflection and consolidation before being back in ‘endless meetings’.

Getting to the heart of the issue and making progress happens sooner outdoors. I believe this is due to clients being more open, connected and thoughtful. The space around us, and not being face to face, also increases honesty in us both which has a magical effect of increasing the pace of change.

The bottom line is that the change is deep and sustained and takes fewer sessions. Now if that’s not good for saving time and increasing ROI then I don’t know what is!

And finally, being outdoors can be a vehicle for softening our collective tread on the earth as we come closer to nature and more appreciative of our responsibility to look after it.

The Time Is Now

I was talking about coaching outdoors to an ex Mars colleague recently and she mentioned that the majority of people (90%) in her sector of the business now go out for a walk at least once a day. We reflected on how it used to be that those who were already converts to the outdoors, or the ‘healthy bunch’ used to go out but now it is almost everyone. She said the management team all have their development conversations outside walking and that 50% of line managers one to one conversations were outside, whether that be in person or over the phone.

I asked what had made the difference, she replied; “The general wellbeing agenda that the business has been following for a number of years and crucially the GM going outdoors for all his one to one conversations.”

Finally, not only has Covid-19 re-connected people with nature, the UK governmental advice of daily exercise in the fresh air has gone a long way to making being outside the norm and increasing the nations awareness of the physical and mental benefits from being outdoors. There has never been a better time to suggest that your coaching sessions take place outside, the door is most definitely open!