Coaching meets digitalization

"Organization, digitalization and design" were the topics at the 5th International Coaching Congress on 12 and 13 June 2018 in Olten/Switzerland.

Prof. Dr. Matthias Schmidt (Görlitz) and Prof. Dr. habil. Carsten Schermully (Berlin) gave the opening keynote at this year's 5th International Coaching Congress on June 12 and 13, 2018 in Olten/Switzerland. On the topic of "The future of work - the future of coaching", the two work and organizational psychologists presented new ways of learning in the world of work.

Innovation cycles in the fields of communication and technology are becoming shorter. Due to new demands on people, we need new forms of learning and development for organizations. The interplay between people and organizations is the subject of almost every coaching session. The development of organizations towards digitalization is associated with far-reaching changes: new forms of leadership, media-supported communication, democratization of decisions, growing co-responsibility, virtual teamwork, internationalization. Where does coaching come into play here? What contributions can coaching make?

These topics were discussed with practitioners and academics in workshops and presentations at the 5th International Coaching Congress. Dr. Douglas Riddle (Harvard Medical School) was connected via video transmission from the USA. After many years of working in organizations, the CCL senior focused again on the core of coaching, which he called "transformative conversations". Dr. Jonathan Passmore (Henley Business School) from the UK presented the results of coaching and mentoring research.

The second day of the congress began with another interactive controversy. The debate between entrepreneur Barbara Josef and Dr. Joël Luc Cachelin focused on the opportunities and risks of the digital working world: from rosy red to pitch black. Prof. David Clutterbuck (Oxford Brookes University) posed the provocative question: When will artificial intelligence take over coaching? The subsequent panel discussion took up the theses raised and highlighted the challenges this poses for coaching and coaches.

At the end of the conference, there were calls for an increase in media skills and connectivity for coaches, but also for attention to be paid to what online coaching does to coaches. Prof. Hansjörg Künzli from the Zurich University of Applied Psychology warned that new online counseling services were being launched by self-help groups every day, that "online" had long since arrived in psychotherapy and that its effectiveness was indeed comparable to the "offline" form, which is why established coaches should not nobly avoid the new challenges.

Dr. Deborah Helsing from Harvard University's Graduate School of Education set a thought-provoking mood by exploring the question: What if organizations welcomed employees' 'whole selves'? What if you had an open and honest feedback climate? This was then discussed intensively, as the current change processes in organizations also offer these opportunities.

For Prof. Schmidt, the conference once again offered new starting points for cooperation with scientists from the UK and the USA. The Institute for Coaching Studies already has long-standing research collaborations with the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland and the ZAHW. The fifth edition of the "Coaching meets Research" congress offered a rich mixture of topics, formats and cultural perspectives. As the themed labs showed, scientific progress is now taking place in a good exchange between theory and practice.