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By James A. Baker
Founder
Baker Communications
July 2009
As a manager, you could spend all of your time going to meetings. Don’t. You could spend most of your time reviewing metrics and generating reports. Don’t. You could spend most of your time doing a lot of things, because a manager has a lot of things to do, but there is no more important use of your time than working with your team members to help them improve. Whether you are working with a new employees or a seasoned professional, there is always something you could be doing in the way of coaching and training that can help team members sharpen their skills, as well as solve problems that will boost their performance and boost the bottom line for your whole team.
You were not hired to this position to file reports and go to meetings. Your focus should first be on your team members. Successful managers have learned to bring out the best in the people they manage. Managers know that the needs of the organization are best met when the needs of the people they manage are met.
Managers are overwhelmed with all sorts of responsibilities, one of which is assuring that the performance of team remembers remains high. However, because of the stress of competing priorities, managers will often “manage” their sales team members, i.e., give instructions and measure performance, instead of coaching team members so that they consistently have the skills and confidence to succeed
A Two-Tiered Approach to Coaching
In any coaching situation – sports, sales, fine arts, or life coaching, to name a few – the key to success is to develop a strong relationship of success and trust with your team members. They have to know you, and they have to believe that you know them and that you have their best interests at heart. An effective coach must be able to provide instruction – even constructive criticism at times – in ways that leave the team member encouraged and motivated instead of feeling defeated. The best way to achieve this dynamic is for the coach to come alongside the team member to mentor and guide them as they build new skills and face new challenges. This will require the coach to adopt a two-tiered approach to the coaching process.
Demonstration Coaching: The most effective step you can take when coaching your team member – especially new team members – is to employ demonstration coaching. This approach involves real time, hands on activities that help the team member clearly grasp what your expectations are and what kind of skills they need to develop. Demonstration coaching can include role plays between the coach and the employee, with each person switching parts to help build a deeper understanding of the skill process. Also, the coach can take the lead in a real life situation and function in the employee role while the employee watches, in order to develop a solid understanding of what it will take to get the job done right.
Observation Coaching: Through observation coaching, the manager/coach monitors the performance of the employee as they execute their responsibilities, and then provides feedback in a follow up coaching session. Observation coaching is helpful because it provides the employee with a benchmark that reflects where they are now versus where they need to improve. However, the manager/coach needs to develop one other skill for either of these coaching strategies to be effective.
Socrates Was A Great Coach
The famous Athenian philosopher, Socrates (469 BC – 399 BC), made a lasting impact on Western civilization by refusing to tell people what to think; instead, he asked them what they thought and why. He used this art of asking questions to help his students engage issues and create buy in that accelerated learning and development. He would have made a great manager/coach.
Today, too many people mistake Telling for Coaching, but they are not the same. Telling is great for assigning tasks and communicating basic information, but telling is not enough to help your employees make significant growth in their skills. If you want people to learn and apply new skills, it is important to combine observing with asking questions, in order to guide them into insights they can use every day.
For example, instead of telling an employee that they need to do a better job of relating to customers on the phone, ask them to tell you what they think their strengths are at relating to customers on the phone, and then ask them to tell you where they think they could improve in this area. Then ask them what would help them improve, and how you could help them improve. Now the employee is engaged and thinking about the process of phone interaction, and looking for their own answers, instead of just listening to you tell them what they are doing wrong. Their motivation to get better will go way up and you will spend less time criticizing and more time empowering them to reach their own goals.
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Management Quick Tip – People Aren’t Mushrooms
This idea, which appeared recently on a management blog posted on About.com, makes good sense. Mushrooms grow really well when kept in the dark and fed horse manure, but that is not a great way to treat the people on your team. When managers become aloof and secretive, employees always suspect the worst and prepare for it. At the very least, they feel disrespected and assume that they are not valued as members of the team. While it is true that sometimes important management decisions must be kept under wraps, most of the time managers can and should be more open with employees about what they are thinking and doing. If you are just attending a routine executive meeting, by all means say so. There is now reason to be vague and mysterious about it. If you are thinking about making some changes to the way the team functions, why not ask the team members for their input? The more open and honest you are with them, the more they will support you when you need it the most.
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