Be a Better Manager by Coaching Your Employees
At Xenonex we provide executive coaching in order to maximise the
potential of individuals and teams through raised self-awareness. Coaching skills enable managers to build
stronger bonds with their team members, support them in taking ownership over
their own learning, and help them develop the skills they need to perform at
their peak.
You
can be significantly more effective as a manager — and enjoy your job
more — by engaging in regular coaching conversations with your team
members.
Here
are five key tips, edited from “ You Can’t Be a Great
Manager If You’re Not a Good Coach” by Monique Valcour, to get you started.
Listen deeply. You can open a coaching conversation with a
question such as “How would you like to grow this month?” Your choice of words
is less important than your intention to clear your mind, listen with your full
attention, and create a high-quality connection that invites your team member
to open up and to think creatively.
Ask, don’t tell. In a coaching conversation, it’s essential to
restrain your impulse to provide the answers. You succeed as a coach by helping
your team members articulate their goals and challenges and find their own
answers. This is how people clarify their priorities and devise strategies that
resonate with what they care about most and that they will be committed to
putting into action.
Create and sustain a
developmental alliance. While
your role as a coach is not to provide answers, supporting your team members’
developmental goals and strategies is essential. The more you follow through on
supporting your employees’ developmental plans, the more productive your
coaching becomes, the greater your employees’ trust in you, and the more
engaged you all become.
Focus on moving forward
positively. Often in
a coaching conversation, the person you’re coaching will get caught up in
detailing their frustrations. While it can provide temporary relief to vent, it
doesn’t generate solutions. Take a moment to acknowledge your employee’s
frustrations, but then encourage them to think about how to move past them.
Build accountability. In addition to making sure you follow through
on any commitments you make to employees in coaching conversations, it’s also
useful to build accountability for the employee’s side of formulating and
implementing developmental plans. Accountability increases the positive impact
of coaching conversations and solidifies their rightful place as keys to
organizational effectiveness.
Xenonex has extensive
experience in developing and embedding coaching within organisations. To find
out more contact Jo Watson, Business Development Manager on 01423 876371 or
email jo.watson@xenonex.co.uk