Coaching is a much misunderstood term, explained partly by its increasing use in a number of different fields like sport and life coaching. Perhaps it is not used as widely in the community pharmacy setting as in other businesses settings. Experience of speaking to managers suggests that the following points are all common reasons why people struggle to introduce or adopt a coaching approach.

'I don't have the time to coach people, it's hard enough just to get the job done.' Every organisation has issues about performance and about time. The structure and pace of work allows less and less time to think about what we are doing and why. The antidote to this destructive cycle is the creation of some reflective space. Coaching is an opportunity to call a halt to the frenetic pace of day-to-day life in a pharmacy. Done well it enables people to challenge what they are doing and why, to identify and commit to a better approach and to work out how to overcome any barriers to improved performance. More capable staff are able to take on a wider range of tasks and can free up time to spend with customers, with other healthcare professionals or simply reflecting on how to develop their business.

'We don't need coaching in my pharmacy, everything is fine and we don't have any problems.' Many people think that coaching is just about turning bad performance into good. This is not the case. Coaching is also about turning good performance into better performance and continually raising the bar.

'Isn't this just training by another name?' Training is also concerned with helping people improve their performance by developing their knowledge and skills. Coaching, however, differs in a fundamental way. Rather than 'putting in' it is more concerned with 'drawing out'. With coaching we are holding up a performance mirror for people, helping them to see for themselves the situation, the consequences and encouraging them to define a solution and take ownership of it.