Shadowing or accompanying days are a rich observation opportunity for the understanding and observation phases in innovation projects or as a coach to grasp the current situation and the current potentials in a team through an “uninvolved perspective”.
Shadowing opens up important system and context experiences and knowledge to the innovation coach. This means that the innovation coach quickly becomes a competent discussion partner because he is equipped with “insider knowledge”. This is often an indispensable prerequisite for successful coaching, especially in innovation coaching.
In the preparation of the first “shadow day”, the following points in particular are also agreed upon:
– Which days are particularly favorable for getting the richest possible spectrum of impressions of the team and its work?
– When do the shadow days begin and end?
– How is the team prepared for the presence of the coach?
The innovation coach accompanies the individuals or the team everywhere in the company, but always stays inconspicuously in the background and does not lead any conversations or discussions. After only a short period of familiarization, the coach is virtually “forgotten” by the participants. The participants can always do their work unmolested. This “letting it flow” causes participants to neglect or even ignore the coach’s presence and thus behave in their usual routines and patterns.
During the day, the coach logs for himself all impressions, observations and sensations. Likewise, he learns to understand the business of the company and its value creation. Finally, various forms of reflection are offered, from flash to detailed reflection.
A few days later, the joint detailed processing of the observations then helps with the individual formulation and conceptualization of the actual innovation coaching. Potentials, goals, focal points and priorities can now be described with the “Insider Coach” in a much more handy, targeted and practical way.
