I have been in the position of coaching in an educational situation on several occasions, but without formal training. I will definitely put to practice what I learned!
David,
I love your attention on the aspect of listening; too many people separate it from communication when it is definitely a part of the whole.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Misty,
questions are a great way to coach employees as it allows them to do a lot of the discovery themselves.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
The first thing I do is identify those individuals that show promise in the coaching process and would be willing to participate in the process. We then identify a key area for skills gap or a performance problem. Most of the time I already have a good idea where the issues are due to empirical observations.
The most important communication skill is a difficult question to answer. In true communication, which is a two-way process in coaching, I believe that all communiations skills are equally important. I believe more importantly is the communication process. That is to say know when to use active listening skills, know when to ask questions, observing body language, and know when to speak. It believe to be an effective communicator you need to know when to speak and when to listen. I think it is extremely important to give the coachee your full attention when listening - your actions show you are interested in the person and what they are saying is important to you.
Preparing for coaching sessions I always review the employee's information such as meeting notes from our last session, goals, etc. I have my notes from observations I conduct prior to the session and prepare open questions for the meeting.I think the most important communication skills would be listening. Hearing the employee's answers to questions I ask such as, "If you could do that presentation again, what would you change or do differently" tells me whether they recognize what they were doing right or wrong.
Michael,
yes communication is the key to effective coaching & leading.
Dr. Ryan Meers
There are some great comments in this dicussion!
I definitely agree with them all. In order to effectively coach you need to be prepared!Sometimes the preparing stage takes longer than you hope but it is necessary if you want anything accomplished in a coaching session. I also believe listening is important step #2. It's like the saying "God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason" Use your 2 ears!
Thanks everyone for great comments
I think communication is very important!! You need to keep the lines open at all times. It helps at both ends of coaching.
Donald,
you are right that we have to prepare well for these sessions. We occasionally have the chance to "coach in the moment" but on the whole these sessions should be well-planned.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I think the preparation process is extremely important and often times neglected. If you take the time to empathize with your report, you will be in a better position to “see through his or her eyes†– making it much more likely that you will be able to effectively guide the employee to the desired result.
Regina,
all of these are great points. I want to emphasize the importance of being in the right mind set & making sure the other person is as well. As you pointed out this can really hurt the coaching conversation if we are not in the right mind set.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Whenever I am preparing for a coaching session I always make sure I have all the facts about what the issue is being coached. I learned early in my career never to go into a coaching session unprepared. Be able to give specific, concrete examples of a behavior or situation that occurred and never go on someone else's word. Additionally, ensure that you are in the correct mindset. If a person is in a bad mood, that can sometimes affect how they word things or portray themselves and put the person being coached on the defensive. If that happens there is less chance of the coaching session being successful. Lastly, I take notes and provide a completed copy of the notes taken to the person I've coached. This does a few things: 1) it is a record of what occurred, 2) it shows the person that was coached that you are serious about the situation, 3) it reiterates the points made during the coaching session, and 4) provides the person that was coached an opportunity to corroborate or correct anything in the document.
The coaching process is very easy to do abserve and assist why do you have to make any more diffucult. You should be stern and to the point and not be an overbearing boss.
I am with Mr. Wolfe, if we do not listen and coach students we do not gain their attetion or respect. Managing them pushes students away. Coaching is what I have tried to use even when managing employess.
I believe in backing up my thoughts about the coaching principle, I want to observe the situation from different angles to make sure it was not a one off situation.
Once I have confirmed my thoughts I put together my questions to point the coaching down a path to success.
Coachings need to be positive and motivational, the worst thing that could happen is to loose the trust of your direct report.
Some great points Kim. I think it's a great idea to ask them how they think others are seeing their behavior as that helps emphasize that their are results of their behaviors.
Ryan
I begin by observing the employee over a reasonable time period, especially if there have been complaints by clients or other employees. I don't like to take complaints from others as the only guide because their emotions, feelings towards the employee, or influences from others may taint their actual view of the issue. Once I have determined that there is a valid issue, then I meet with the employee to discuss my observations.
I make sure that the employee has my full attention and is provided adequate opportunity to express their feelings on the issue being addressed.
I also believe that positive feedback is critical. It will never be a meeting of progress if the employee feels that they are being attacked and must go on the defensive.
I like to ask them to try to see how others may see their behavior as negative or disruptive and then work with them to find a solution that works for both of us.
Troy,
Thank you for laying out a great strategy to approach coaching of others.
Ryan
There are many different ways to prepare for a coaching session and the same goes for leading a coaching session. Depending on the person, you may have to change your style of coaching and mentoring. I start by observing the person in their daily routines. You need to know the person you will be observing (at least a little, coming from my point of view, I do observations all the time at work). Again depending on the person you are coaching and mentoring you will need to know how that person accepts and reacts to a coaching and mentoring session. It is easier to deliver if you have some type of relationship with them. Each person can appreciate coaching on many different levels of acceptance.
William,
Good plan. I also like to use coaching situations to discuss the person's plans, dreams, goals ,etc. I've found that if I only use coaching for correction of problems, pretty soon they dread talking to me so when I can mix in other conversations it's a bonus.
Ryan
