I believe breaking the difference between coaching and managing down to its simplest terms would be managing is getting the report to complete a task, while coaching is getting the report to grow in to a great employee while completing the task.
Coaching you are looking at better their performance and ensuring them the necessary tools to be successful.
Managing would be evaluating their on the job activity and performance.
Yes, when we as a leader can act as that guiding coach, not spoon feeding or telling others how to achieve their goals, but helping them discover the best path, that is very powerful.
Ryan
Great point on leaders!! Companies need more leaders and less managers/supervisors. The essence of leadership is the ability to influence behavior. Good leadership qualities lead to more satisfied advisors. More satisfied employees serve their customers/clients better, are more productive, take goals more seriously, and are invested in their own success, as well as meeting and achieving the team’s goals. When leaders bring good leadership qualities to the table, organizations operate more smoothly, which can decrease lost time and effort.
Agreed,
Coaching is the process of providing employees with the resources, knowledge, and opportunities they need to develop and become high performers within the organization. As a leader, you are the individuals’ primary coach. You are the person who will help them learn new skills, establish goals, and enhance their performance. Your coaching skills should enable employees to grow, develop, and achieve their goals.
Good point Jeremy. To me the Hawthorn study was a good example of how coaching plays into management/leadership & our productivity.
In the Hawthorn study, as I recall, initially the workers thought the researchers were the new managers. The researchers were engaging the workers in conversation & asking about what they were doing, etc. This caused productivity to rise, reason (when they asked the workers) was because they felt like the managers cared about their work & consequently them. This to me is the beginning point of coaching. A good leader/coach will engage his/her workers in discussing their work as well as their careers as a whole. The more we are in connection with those we lead/supervise/manage, the more we will be able to help them achieve their goals. Hope this answers your question.
Ryan
Jeffrey,
Several great points in here & I'm glad the course was beneficial. I am a huge believer in developing my replacement. In fact, the better we do at developing others, we may also be developing our next boss & that to me is a high level of success for a leader.
Ryan
I think it is all too common that managers separate themselves from their subordinates once they are promoted. Teams and organizations suffer as a consequence. There was a theory in fact, the Hawthorn theory, a company wanted to test and see what would increase productivity. They did a few experiments with the work force and nothing worked. (All of the tests were measurable).
Finally, they made a change that worked. They took the managers out of the second floor offices and made them work alongside their subordinate line employees. Immediately productivity increased. All they had to do was simply place their managers down on the floor with the other employees. How humanizing of them. Sorry, I can't stand bad managers.
How do you think coaching plays into this?
Sincerely, MBA
when you coach an employee, you are trying to help them achieve self improvment in their job performance. this will also make them a better employee for the company. I am a retired military veteran and we were always told to train our replacement so if anything happened to us, the mission could continue. the same thing applies in business, thogh we would be more likely to have a coronary than be shot by an enemy. i would agree strongly with the course that praise and support is very important. as a team leader i started all coaching sessions with a positive or two, I would then proceed with a few areas of oportunity for improvment, and end the session on a positive note. we had a term for this method, but I will use a more politically term, it was called a crap sandwich. the bread on either side was the positive and the crap in the middle was the areas needing work. i had great sucess with this method and was reminded of it throughout the course. i do have to say that your course is a lot more indepth than the simple methodology i was using then.
Yes and I would emphasize that coaching & managing can & should be found in the same person. Also, sometimes we, as leaders, have to be ready & comfortable switching back & forth between the two fairly regularly.
Ryan
A simple definition of manager is where someone is responsible for organizing and directing individuals, monitoring their work, and makes any necessary changes in order to accomplish a desired outcome. Basically, the manager will have a direct impact on the employee’s performance. A coach is going to be more involved with the professional side of the individual, providing leadership, supporting and counseling, along with guidance to achieve a specific goal to assist in their work and skills. The results should be positive which in turn leads to a more productive outcome. Now we can go back to manage that person
I agree with you. I think that both have to be intertwined when placed in a leadership position. A good leader knows when and how to combine them effectively. Thank you for the feedback.
Yes, I agree and also want to state that managerial skills are also a very important set of skills to have when in such a position. What we want to make sure is that we do not neglect the coaching/leadership aspect in the pursuit of productivity & results.
Ryan
A manager is an individual that controls, delegates, organizes and plans. Whereas, a coach is an individual that takes into account their direct reports goals, provides room for self – improvement and professional growth.
While it is the objective of both roles to attain productivity, retention and keep coast down in the process of reaching the companies goals; they differ dramatically in the approach used to attain the aforementioned.
Coaching provides empowerment. Coaching strengthens self-confidence, improving performance and boosting productivity. Coaching also fosters a higher sense of belonging and loyalty.
This is my opinion on the difference between the two roles. Do you agree?
Coaching is helping another to set and achieve goals. The coach will provide inspiration and motivate to the individual to move toward accomplishment of those goals. Management is working toward completion of a set established criteria.
I feel that the capable coach leaves room for them to be creative, delve into matters that are problematic, and have their version as well as the coaches to reach a positive solution.
Coaching allows feedback and participation. Hence the other is more or less giving a directive.
In addition, coaching fosters a relationship between the coach and coachee thus, yeilding a foundation for potential growth and understanding.
Coaching employees is the most difficult as it requires time, patience, practice and dedication from both parties. You may even find that you have to coach employees on your not managing them. This means getting them to think for themselves, to take risks, to recognize what needs doing and figure out how to do it.
I would have two say coaching is a team efort where both parties put out an efort to improve performance of one individual. Whereas managment is you exerting control over your employee and telling him how to improve his performance directly.
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