July 13, 2010
Coaching is just one tool that a manager must use to be successful. Used in the right situation at the right time, coaching can make the life of a manager immensely easier. Conversely, a manager will end up extremely frustrated if they try to coach employees who need something else from their manager, whose situations do not call for coaching, or who flat out don’t want to be coached. Learning how to recognize when and when not to coach is just as important as learning how to coach.
Coaching is a dialogue that leads to Awareness and Action. When an employee has the skills and ability to complete the task at hand, but for some reason is struggling with the confidence, focus, motivation, drive, or bandwidth to be at their best, coaching can help. Employees typically struggle because one of three things is in their way:
1. Skills and Abilities—They currently lack the skill or ability to complete the task at hand; this relates to Aptitude.
2. Themselves—They currently lack the motivation, focus, chutzpah, confidence, or commitment to complete the task at hand; this relates to Attitude
3. Outside Factors—They currently are being affected by things that are largely outside their control, such as not having the Available Resources, changing market conditions, ineffective vendors and partners (internal and external), or poor relationships with various stakeholders and colleagues.
If an employee needs to develop specific skills and abilities, coaching is not the answer. You don’t teach someone how to create a budget for the first time by asking him curious questions in an unattached manner! You teach someone a new skill by giving him the proper instructions for that particular task. If you tried to coach him, you would end up driving yourself crazy and your employee out the door. To that end, when determining whether coaching is the right tool to use in a certain situation, first ask yourself this question:
- Is this about Aptitude? Is there a lack of skills or ability getting in the way of the employee’s success?
If the answer is “yes,” then your answer to whether or not this is a coaching situation is “no.”
If, in fact, the answer to the first question is “no” or “not really,” next ask yourself:
- Is this about Attitude—his confidence, commitment, enthusiasm, focus, chutzpah, frustration?
If the answer is “yes,” then you have a situation that is primed for coaching. You will want to create a dialogue that helps the employee become aware of what they are doing and then help them develop an alternative action that will lead to better results—in short, coach them.
If the answer to the second question is “no,” then most likely the answer to the next, and final, question is “yes.”
- Is this is about an outside factor getting in the way of success (i.e., lack of Available Resources, changing market conditions, poor relations with another stakeholder(s), or lack of direction or support from me)?
If the answer to this question is “no,” you need to reevaluate the answers to all three questions because, chanc are, you’ve missed something along the way. If the answer is “yes,” you have two more questions to ask yourself:
- Does the employee have the skills and abilities to effectively deal with the outside factors in order to be successful?
- Does the employee have difficulty dealing effectively with the outside factors despite having the skills?
The answers to these questions will lead you down the same path as before. If the employee needs skills, teach him, but be sure to do it while utilizing coaching skills such as concern and listening. If he needs help with his attitude, coach him, but be prepared to offer suggestions and teaching tips along the way—dealing with outside factors can be tricky and there may be some skills you can teach as you go.