Building Rapport in Coaching

Developing Mutual Understanding and Trust

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Many of us naturally work at building rapport with others in our everyday relationships, both at home and at work. In coaching, building this rapport is even more important.

For coaching to be successful, coaches and coachees (the people being coached) must work together and share information about each other. So it's essential for them to be "on the same wavelength." Then the coachee can trust the coach, and feel emotionally safe as the relationship develops.

In this article, we'll look at ways you can build and maintain trust and rapport with the people you're coaching. This helps you get the best from your coaching relationships.

Building Trust

Mutual trust is critical in a coaching relationship, and building rapport can help people gain that trust. David Maister, an expert in professional relationships, identified the main characteristics of our behavior that help to build trust as credibility, reliability, intimacy, and care.

You can apply these characteristics to improve coaching relationships, as follows:

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