The OSKAR Coaching model combines insights from solution-focused therapy and organizational development. Over the years, it has gained recognition for its effectiveness in boosting team performance and enhancing coaching outcomes. In this blog, we dive deep into what the OSKAR model is and its applications in training and coaching.
What is the OSKAR Coaching Model?
The OSKAR coaching model is a solution-focused framework designed to drive team excellence. It consists of five distinct steps:
Outcome: Sets the stage by defining the coachee’s goals and objectives.
Scaling: Measures current progress using a 1-10 scale to identify areas for improvement.
Know-how: Leverages existing knowledge and resources to help attain goals.
Affirm and Action: Recognizes what’s working well and outlines actionable steps for progress.
Review: Reflects on progress and maintains accountability through regular evaluations.
This model shifts the focus from problems to solutions, motivating coachees to achieve their goals through structured guidance. By employing this model, you can foster an environment of continuous improvement and clarity in goal-setting within your team.
Origins of the OSKAR Coaching Model
The OSKAR coaching model, recognized for its solution-focused approach, was developed by Mark McKergow and Paul Z. Jackson. Published in 2002, this model has significantly influenced the coaching landscape by incorporating insights from solution-focused therapy and organizational development.
Mark McKergow is an acclaimed leader in solution-focused approaches, while Paul Z. Jackson has extensive experience in organizational change and management. Their combined expertise has created a robust framework for coaching that thrives in diverse settings, from corporate environments to personal development programs.
The inspiration behind the OSKAR coaching model stemmed from the creators' desire to shift focus from problems to solutions, motivating coachees to identify and pursue their desired outcomes. By blending principles from solution-focused therapy with practical elements of organizational development, McKergow and Jackson crafted a model that is both forward-looking and inherently positive.
Stages of the OSKAR Coaching Model
To maximize the benefits of the OSKAR coaching model, it’s essential to understand each of its five distinct stages. Each stage serves a specific purpose in guiding the coachee toward solutions and improvement:
1. Outcomes
This stage focuses on what the coachee wants to achieve from the training sessions. This phase is dedicated to helping the coachee clearly define their goals and objectives. By understanding what the coachee aims to achieve, the coach can tailor the session to be more effective and results-oriented.
Key questions during this stage include:
What do you want to achieve?
What are your objectives?
How will you know you have achieved your goal?
These questions are designed to bring clarity and focus to the coachee’s aspirations. This phase is not just about setting goals but also about understanding the deeper purpose behind them. The clarity gained here acts as a beacon for all subsequent actions in the coaching process.
2. Scaling
The Scaling stage of the OSKAR coaching model aims to measure the coachee’s current progress and help them identify areas for improvement. This is achieved by using a simple scale, typically from 1 to 10, to facilitate a clear understanding of where they currently stand and where they aspire to be.
Core Objectives of Scaling:
Measure current progress on a tangible scale.
Identify strengths and areas needing improvement.
Develop a roadmap for advancing towards the desired goal.
During this stage, coaches typically ask a variety of open-ended questions to gauge the coachee’s current state and their future aspirations. Some examples of effective questions include:
On a scale of 1 to 10, where do you currently see yourself in achieving your goal?
What does a 10 look like for you? How will you know when you’ve reached it?
What steps can you take to move from your current position to the next level on the scale?
This method of self-assessment is particularly useful in the context of workplace coaching, where continuous improvement is key. The simplicity of scaling helps coachees visualize their progress and make incremental but impactful changes.
By effectively utilizing the scaling stage, the OSKAR model of coaching ensures that coachees have a clear and measurable path towards their goals, enhancing both motivation and accountability.
3. Know-How
This stage focuses on the coachee’s existing skills and knowledge. This stage helps coachees recognize and harness their available resources, enhancing their ability to achieve their goals effectively. By understanding what they already possess, coachees can identify gaps and areas where further development or additional resources might be needed.
During this phase, the coach might ask a series of insightful questions such as:
What do you already know that can help?
What past experiences or successes can you draw upon?
What resources do you need to reach your goals?
These questions are designed to prompt self-reflection and a comprehensive assessment of the coachee’s current capabilities. It’s all about identifying and amplifying strengths that can be applied to current challenges.
Incorporating tools like Creately can highly enhance the implementation of this phase. By providing a visual workspace, Creately allows coachees to create detailed visual maps of their skills and resources. This can include:
Creating skill matrices
Using mind maps
Developing resource plans
These visual representations not only make it easier to see where the gaps are but also help coachees to plan actionable steps more effectively. By connecting skills and resources with tangible goals, the Know-how stage becomes a powerful step in the OSKAR model for empowering individuals and driving progress forward.
4. Affirm and Action
This stage affirms what is going well and identifies actionable steps. Focusing on positive aspects and actionable tasks keeps the coachee motivated. This phase helps identify what is working well in the coaching process and assists in determining the actions that contributed to these successes. By concentrating on achievements and effective behaviors, this stage helps coachees maintain high motivation and clarity.
Guiding questions in this phase include:
What’s going well?
What actions can you take next?
Integrating visual collaboration tools like Creately can significantly enhance this stage. Creately provides a visual workspace where coachees can map out their action steps using data-linked tools. This facilitates effective monitoring and integration with existing project management workflows, ensuring that the coaching process is both collaborative and sustained.
5. Review
The final phase in the OSKAR coaching model is the review stage. This step involves evaluating progress and maintaining accountability to ensure continuous improvement. By consistently reflecting on the actions taken and their outcomes, the coachee can make necessary adjustments to further their growth.
Reviewing progress regularly is essential in keeping both the coach and coachee aligned with their goals. This stage includes asking probing questions such as:
What progress have you made? This question helps the coachee reflect on their achievements and areas that still need work.
What steps have you taken? It encourages accountability by requiring the coachee to detail the specific actions they have implemented.
What obstacles have you encountered? Understanding the challenges faced can help in strategizing better ways to overcome them in the future.
How can you maintain or improve your current progress? This focuses on sustaining positive actions and refining strategies for improvement.
Regular reviews also allow for celebrating successes, no matter how small, which boosts motivation and morale.
Using Creately within the OSKAR model allows you to map out progress visually, making it accessible and understandable for both the coach and coachee. The visual workspace brings clarity and focus, ensuring that the review process is thorough and effective, leading to sustained improvement and team excellence.
Benefits and Weaknesses of the OSKAR Coaching Model
Pros of the OSKAR Model
The OSKAR model of coaching offers several distinct advantages that make it a popular choice among HR professionals, team leaders, and performance consultants:
Increased Motivation: By focusing on non-problematic aspects and solution-oriented outcomes, individuals feel more motivated and engaged in their progress.
Sustainable Results: The repetitive emphasis on best practices and positive behaviors ensures long-term improvements.
Clarity in Goal Setting: The structured, step-by-step approach ensures clear and realistic goal setting, aiding in both short-term and long-term objectives.
Cons of the OSKAR Coaching Model
Despite its many strengths, the OSKAR coaching model has some potential drawbacks:
Overemphasis on Affirmations: Sometimes, the focus on what is working well can overshadow critical areas that need improvement.
Outcome Overshadowed by Ratings: The continual use of scales and ratings might divert focus from the ultimate goal, leading to a scenario where the process becomes more about ratings than actual outcomes.
Understanding these limitations is crucial for HR professionals and coaches to tailor the model to their specific needs and ensure a balanced approach. Tools like Creately can help strike this balance by providing visual data representations and actionable insights, ensuring that affirmations and outcomes are properly aligned throughout the coaching journey.
Differences between OSKAR and OSCAR
The OSKAR coaching model and the OSCAR coaching model are both popular frameworks in the realm of performance coaching, but they diverge in some significant ways. The key difference lies in the ‘K’ and ‘C’ of their acronyms. In OSKAR, the ‘K’ stands for Know-how, while in OSCAR, the ‘C’ stands for Choices and Consequences. This distinction marks a fundamental shift in focus between the two models.
OSKAR Model
Outcome: Sets clear goals and objectives for the coaching session, enhancing clarity.
Scaling: Measures progress on a 1-10 scale, aiding in identifying and bridging gaps.
Know-how: Leverages existing skills and knowledge, focusing on resources that the coachee can utilize.
Affirm and Action: Recognizes what’s working and outlines actionable steps for improvement.
Review: Continuously assesses and reflects on progress made, ensuring accountability.
OSCAR Model
Outcome: Similar to OSKAR, it establishes the desired result from the coaching session.
Situation: Analyzes the current state to understand the context of the coachee’s challenges.
Choices: Evaluates different options and paths available to achieve the outcomes.
Actions: Identifies specific steps to take in pursuit of the goals.
Review: Regularly checks on progress and adjusts plans as needed.
Comparing Applications
| Feature | OSKAR | OSCAR |
| Goal | Facilitate effective coaching | Facilitate effective coaching |
| Focus | Leveraging coachee's know-how and actionable affirmations | Evaluating choices and understanding situational context |
| Best Suited For | Scenarios with readily available resources and skills | Environments requiring decision-making and situational analysis |
| Key Emphasis | Optimization of existing capabilities | Understanding of decision paths and context |
Real World Examples of Application of the OSKAR Coaching Model
The OSKAR coaching model has been implemented across various industries to notable success. Here, we outline some real-world examples showcasing its impact on team performance, productivity, and employee satisfaction.
Case Study 1: Technology Sector
Company: Leading Tech Firm
Challenge: The organization faced declining team morale and a dip in productivity. The leadership decided to implement the OSKAR coaching model to address these issues.
Outcome: The coaching sessions began with defining clear outcomes, setting tangible goals, and understanding each team member’s individual aspirations. This was done using the Outcome and Scaling steps of the OSKAR model.
Impact:
Increased employee engagement with 30% improvement in team collaboration.
Productivity levels boosted by 25% within six months.
Employee satisfaction scores rose by 20%, as reported in internal surveys.
Case Study 2: Healthcare Industry
Organization: Major Hospital Network
Challenge: The hospital network needed to improve team performance and patient care quality. They adopted the OSKAR coaching model to address these challenges.
Outcome: By leveraging OSKAR’s Know-how and Affirm and Action phases, the hospital identified existing strengths and areas needing improvement among staff. This phase was crucial for streamlining processes and enhancing skill sets.
Impact:
Improved patient care quality, reflected in a 15% decrease in patient complaints.
Enhanced teamwork and communication, resulting in quicker response times in critical situations.
Professional development of staff with a 40% increase in completed training programs.
The hospital utilized Creately’s collaborative tools to create visual workflows and training plans, making the OSKAR coaching sessions more efficient and engaging.
These case studies illustrate the practical benefits of adopting the OSKAR coaching model in diverse environments. Using tools like Creately to visually map goals and track progress can enhance the effectiveness of such coaching practices, resulting in measurable improvements in performance and satisfaction.
How Does OSKAR Model Help Improve Workplace Coaching
The OSKAR coaching model stands out as a robust framework for enhancing workplace coaching by providing a structured process focused on solutions rather than problems. This approach ensures that coaching sessions are not merely reactive but proactively geared towards achieving tangible outcomes. Here’s how the OSKAR model contributes to team excellence:
Impact on Team Excellence
Solution-Oriented Approach: By emphasizing desired outcomes and solutions, the OSKAR model helps teams focus on what they want to achieve rather than dwelling on problems. This shift in mindset fosters positivity and motivation.
Structured Process: The five stages of OSKAR—Outcome, Scaling, Know-how, Affirm and Action, and Review—provide a clear and systematic method for guiding coachees towards improvement. This ensures consistent and effective coaching engagements.
Ongoing Reviews and Adjustments: Regular reviews embedded in the OSKAR model help maintain accountability and enable continuous reflection and adjustment. This iterative process is crucial for sustained progress and long-term success.
Long-term Benefits for Organizations
Improved Performance: By focusing on specific outcomes and leveraging existing skills, teams can enhance their performance and productivity. The model’s emphasis on scaling and reviewing ensures that progress is measurable and continuous.
Enhanced Motivation: The positive focus of the OSKAR model increases motivation among team members. Affirming what works well and building on these successes creates a more engaging and supportive work environment.
Clarity in Goal Setting: Clear goal-setting within the model helps teams understand their objectives and the steps needed to achieve them. This clarity is vital for effective planning and execution.
Integrating visual tools like Creately aids in mapping out goals, tracking progress, and visualizing resources, making the coaching process even more effective.
How can tools like Creately enhance the implementation of the OSKAR model
Visualizing Goals and Progress
The OSKAR coaching model thrives on structure and clarity, and visual tools like Creately can significantly enhance its implementation. First and foremost, Creately allows teams to create visual representations of goals set during the Outcome phase. This makes it easier for coachees to understand and focus on their objectives. Utilizing frameworks like SMART goals template within Creately can help to further streamline this process.
In the Scaling phase, keeping track of progress on a scale of 1 to 10 can be challenging. Creately’s data-linked tools enable effective visualization and tracking, making progress much more tangible. Coaches can design custom scales to monitor skill levels and improvement over time, thus providing a clear view of where the coachee stands and where they aim to be.
Collaborative Planning with Data Tools
The Know-how phase in the OSKAR model benefits greatly from Creately’s capabilities for mapping existing skills and resources. By leveraging mind maps and flowcharts, coachees can easily identify the knowledge they possess and what additional resources they might need to achieve their goals. Creately’s collaborative features allow multiple team members and coaches to contribute, ensuring a comprehensive skill and resource map.
During the Affirm and Action phase, detailing what actions to take next becomes more streamlined with Creately’s integration with project management workflows. Coaches and coachees can outline actionable steps and monitor their implementation in real-time. This not only boosts clarity in action planning but also empowers effective monitoring to ensure all steps are followed through.
The Review phase is also enhanced by Creately, as the platform supports data-rich review sessions. Coaches can present progress visuals and update scaling charts, making it easier to reflect on improvements and identify areas needing further attention. Automated tracking of key performance indicators within Creately ensures accountability remains high, driving continuous improvement.
Final Thoughts
The OSKAR coaching model stands out as an innovative approach that promotes a solution-focused mindset, driving teams toward excellence through structured steps. By concentrating on the Outcome, utilizing Scaling methods, leveraging existing Know-how, encouraging Affirm and Action steps, and consistently embracing a Review process, teams can achieve sustainable growth and improvement. Each stage is meticulously designed to clarify goals, track progress, harness skills, and affirm positive actions.
The power of the OSKAR model lies in its clear, linear framework that directs both coaches and coachees towards productive interactions and progress tracking. This approach not only facilitates goal setting and performance enhancements but also fosters a culture of continuous improvement and accountability.
Moreover, integrating visual tools like Creately can significantly enhance the implementation and effectiveness of the OSKAR coaching model. Creately provides a visual workspace that supports every phase of the OSKAR model:
Visualizing Goals and Outcomes: Use Creately’s mapping tools to define and represent coachee goals visually, making the Outcome phase more engaging and clear.
Tracking Progress with Scaling: Utilize Creately to create progress trackers and scales that visually represent coachee development, aiding in the Scaling phase.
Mapping Skills and Resources: Creately’s data-linked tools facilitate the Know-how phase by mapping out existing skills and identifying gaps.
Planning Actions: Collaboratively plan and document actionable steps during the Affirm and Action phase using Creately’s project management integrations.
Reviewing Progress: Regularly review progress with data-linked visual dashboards, emphasizing the importance of the Review phase.
In conclusion, the OSKAR coaching model, when paired with the right tools like Creately, can revolutionize workplace coaching. By offering a structured yet flexible framework, it ensures that teams remain motivated, goal-oriented, and continuously improving. For further reading on coaching models, check out our GROW model template .
