How coaching can make a difference before the next World TB Day
Coaching can be a valuable tool for any healthcare center or project.
During this time when we acknowledge the 2016 World TB day, I want you to remember this public health principle:
“Effective TB programs need to be managed by effective program managers and delivered by effective healthcare providers.”
I remember one time RGH was asked to evaluate a TB project. Our team’s first task was to talk with the program manager in the Ministry of Health. She had just returned from a trip to TB conference, looked tired and had a pile of reports to read on her desk. We acknowledged how busy she was and meeting our team was probably an imposition on her time. She thanked the team and said something we will never forget: “I must thank you. If it weren’t for you, I would not know what this project is doing. Please tell me more about it.” This made us realize that the project RGH was evaluating did not have a working and productive relationship with the TB Program Manager and she was not getting the help she needed to improve the country’s TB program.
We kept talking and I told her what the project we were evaluating was supposed to do. I asked her how she made use of all the donors and projects that are supporting her; the Global Fund, Stop TB, and others, to name a few. She said she was trying to have regular meetings with all of them to stay on top of what everyone was doing. She said she wished she had a better way to monitor them, and asked if we knew any systems. We proposed various ways to do so and she started to take notes. We kept asking questions. When she finally looked up at us, she did not look that tired or overwhelmed anymore, but interested and motivated. She stopped and thought for a moment, and then she said we had helped her decide on a reporting system that every project and donor would follow to help her track progress of the TB program. She thanked us for our help and said she would like to stay in touch with us to keep talking.
When we reported this conversation to the donor who was sponsoring the evaluation, they became more interested in leaning about the coaching because this uncovered and solved priority problems that affected the performance of the TB program. That was what really mattered.
The importance of this informal coaching was evident to all of us, including the project leaders themselves who were able redirect their approach from a donor-driven agenda to one that met the needs of the country’s TB program.
RGH has been using formal and informal coaching for a long time now. We have been teaching how to coach for many years, and every time, I am happy to see how empowering the approach has been in addressing the persistent problems of TB and other public health programs. Here are the seven reasons why coaching worked for this TB program manager:
- It addressed one of the barriers to her effectively managing the TB program.
- It made use of all the resources she already had.
- It was action-oriented.
- It was simple and made her job easier.
- It offered measurable results.
- It inspired the manager to overcome her challenges.
- It did not require long-term involvement of the donor but a re-orientation of its approach.
To learn more about coaching or become a global health coach visit the RGH website or request a free coaching consultation. I am sure you will be inspired too.
