Coaching over outsourcing

Why partnership is the best way to deliver new ideas in your organisation. 

Eleanor & Lianne both believe that the most effective and cost-efficient way for an organisation to develop new ideas that truly stick is to work alongside external partners like coaches, rather than entirely outsourcing the work. Here’s a recent conversation:

Eleanor: So Lianne, before we formed the Supporter Experience Collective along with Emily and Craig we’d already worked together. You were tasked with rejuvenating Christian Aid Week and you brought me in to coach you to deliver that. Why did you decide to get a coach rather than have someone deliver the work for you?

Lianne: Different approaches had been taken to trying to reverse the fortunes of Christian Aid Week, some work was done entirely in-house and some entirely outsourced. When we decided to take a more radical route I knew that I needed to lead it as I understood the organisational culture and had the internal relationships. I also knew it was going to be tough and I would need support. When we met, coaching seemed like a great solution!

Eleanor: I always say to the people I coach that we work as a partnership and this is a great example of that. You were the expert in your organisation and supporters. I supported you to harness that by bringing in outside knowledge and enabling you to apply it confidently.  

In our regular one to one coaching sessions I shared tools, advised you on workshop plans and and enabled you to fit it to your world at Chirstian Aid. You achieved some great outcomes didn’t you? 

Lianne: Yes. I’m so proud of what was achieved by my team - some of whom you supported with their individual projects as well - and I couldn’t have led that without some external support. There had been nearly a decade of income decline and that trend has started to slow down. 

Once we gained traction it was amazing to see how the mindset of lean and agile - and my favourite, design thinking! - started to get picked up across the organisation. I loved running a Design Sprint to look at how we could shift the way we worked with high value groups. I’d read the Sprint book but taking people away from their work for a whole week felt a little scary. Your coaching gave me the confidence to give it a try and a few hours of coaching to get us going cost 100s of pounds instead of the 1000s it would have cost to have someone external facilitate it.

Eleanor: We chatted recently about how previous organisations we’ve worked for had spent lots of money, sometimes six figures, for pieces of strategy work or creative development which didn’t make an impact. Of course we sometimes have to take risks, but we’ve both found that when it comes to creating successful new ideas, it’s all about the implementation - it’s hard for an external agency to do this well as they don’t know each unique situation. 

Lianne: It’s very frustrating as the solutions proposed can be spot-on but if the buy-in isn’t there you might as well not bother. We’ve both seen that coaching, co-creation and partnerships between an internal expert and an external advisor can be extremely valuable. 

Eleanor: Many people I coach find it lonely leading new things and creating change in an organisation. I remember you saying coaching helped give you the confidence to continue, even after setbacks. 

Lianne: This is so true. I’m very emotionally engaged in my work, I’ve tried not to be and I’ve got better but it’s also part of what makes me a good fundraiser... I’m sure I’m not the only one in our sector! This is why coaching was so helpful because you helped me step out of the day-to-day madness, get perspective and celebrate my successes. It was affirmation when I needed it and challenge when I needed it… That time out helped me make more progress professionally but I also saw it as an act of self care.

Eleanor: And this forms a big part of our values as the Supporter Experience Collective...Our aim is to build capacity in the charities we work with and make an impact on the sector as a whole. Coaching is integral because it accelerates and spreads change… I know that even though you’ve moved on from Christian Aid these ways of working continue to be developed and adopted. I love it!