Why aren’t you coaching your people? Here are seven top tips on how to do it well and get the best out of your staff.
A solid coaching relationship has 3 key elements:-
- Autonomy
- Shared responsibility
- Building new skills
Do you shy away from coaching because you’re worried about not having all the answers?
Interestingly, employees say they don’t want answers. They want probing questions that make them explore solutions on their own and understand more fully what they’re dealing with.
Here are 7 quick tips for managers who want to coach:
- Let the employee decide on the best options in a situation, then be there to coach when it’s needed.
- Encourage your employee to make decisions by using a give-and-take dialogue. Include questions, personal experiences and an “I believe you can do this” approach.
- Coaching conversations highlight areas for building skills. Identify what those are, help find the best way to develop the skills, then set new standards once they are learned.
- Be honest with yourself and don’t let fear stop you delegate
- Make sure all your direct reports have a project where they can learn something new
- Support the ambitions of each member of your team
- Ask yourself if there is a project you could be handing over to one of your team
Coaching is a key part of treating employees as partners. It gets commitment rather than compliance. And, it reflects a trust in the potential of each employee for bigger things.
Thanks to Steve Roesler: All Things Workplace
