There are many reasons to take the Time Management 2.0 approach when consulting with a client, but once the decision has been made to switch from 0.0 or 1.0, a peculiar obligation falls placed on you, the consultant/coach.
Your focus shifts from trying to get the client to pursue a particular, fixed outcome (typical of the 1.0 approach) to being open to a wide range of outcomes — so wide in fact that it’s impossible to see what he/she will decide to create before you start. That doesn’t mean that you must be a pushover, who will be happy with anything that might take place.
Instead, you need be quite “strict” about certain things in order for your clients to get the maximum value. What are they?
1. They need to understand
As you enter Phases 4 and 5 in particular, you’ll be teaching new ideas and asking them to apply them immediately. They’ll learn from you in one minute, and apply the concepts in a self-evaluation exercise in the next. Needless to say, they need to understand the concept in order to use it effectively, and you must ensure that not only is your teaching sound, but also that their learning actually takes place and that they’re not simply nodding their heads in faux-agreement! The first few times you may feel as if you don’t really know what you’re doing… but that is to be expected as you gain the necessary experience.
2. They need to own their system
Essential to the time management 2.0 approach is that you are not teaching them a foreign system, but trying to enhance what they already have, and are doing. They may not fully accept the idea that they are the architects of their own system, and full owners. If they don’t, then they are likely to go through the motions without being fully responsible for the changes they decide to make. As their coach, you’ll need to be strict on this point.
3. They need to be conservative
As they do their personal evaluations you need to help them to be as conservative as possible. It’s far better to err on the side of caution, and for them to be a little pessimistic about their current capacities. The reason is simple: it will keep them focusing on the right improvements, and not assume that they have mastered a particular habit when, in fact, they haven’t.
These are pretty simple mindsets to master, and will help you be an effective guide as they master the combination of assessment and learning that takes place in Phases 4 and 5. While they are numbered sequentially, I have discovered that it’s best to do a little teaching before each assessment, and cycle between the two activities.