Why online coaching is becoming more popular every day
Online coaching has become increasingly popular in recent years. This is not such a surprising development, considering that nowadays many of our daily activities take place online. We shop online, keep in contact with our friends through social media and chat apps, and digital video conferencing tools are getting better by the day. The use of video conferencing has also grown rapidly since the corona crisis. The educational and corporate industry are using it on a large scale, now that people are forced to work from home. And also activities such as music lessons and yoga are being offered online.
The provision of online services is therefore becoming more common every day. This applies to the coaching and counselling services as well. Coaches/counsellors are increasingly offering their services online, whether or not forced by the corona crisis. This may seem strange to some, but the experience is that it can work very well, and it certainly has its advantages.
The benefits of online coaching
Online coaching can help lower a number of barriers:
Time and money
- Online coaching can be done from anywhere you wish. All you need is a quiet place, a smartphone, tablet, or laptop and internet access. This means that it is easier to schedule sessions with clients. Moreover, there is no travelling needed, which means time is being saved and clients do not have to take extra time off from work. Online coaching therefore saves both time and money.
- This also applies to you as a coach: if you normally visit your client, you will also save on your own travel-time and costs.
Geographically
- Through online coaching you can reach a larger geographical area, since you are no longer tied to a specific region. This offers opportunities to coach/counsel people on the other side of the country, or even on the other side of the world.
- With online group coaching and/or relationship coaching, which is also possible online, not everyone has to travel to one specific location.
Content
- The possibility of being coached from the convenience of their own home/computer can lower the threshold for people with a very busy life, a physical disability (which can make traveling difficult), or people with for example an anxiety disorder.
- Clients can feel more comfortable to be open and honest when being coached online, since they feel a certain safety and sometimes even ‘anonymity’ behind the screen. This can mean that you can get to the core of the problem faster.
Health
- In times of (imminent) illness, such as the corona outbreak or an influenza epidemic, online coaching is of course a very safe option.
This is certainly not meant as a statement that online coaching is always a better option than coaching face to face (on location). For certain complex issues it may be necessary to have direct contact with the client. There could then still be a possibility to combine offline and online coaching. For example, guiding the client on location in the initial phase, and then switch to online coaching if needed or wanted. Of course, there may also just be a preference for face-to-face contact. There is nothing wrong with that. But even then: online coaching will most likely be an increasingly important (and perhaps at some point indispensable) addition to your ‘physical’ practice.
Online coach training
The ACC has many years of successful experience in providing live online training. Our live online training programmes are a great way to increase your online coaching/counselling skills. After successful completion you can coach-counsel people both online and face-to-face. Are you interested in learning more about our training programmes? Then click here for our live online programmes “Coaching and Counselling Year 1″ and ” Coaching and Counselling Year 2″.
