About the Skill Effective managers are increasingly described as coaches rather than bosses. Just like coaches, theyre expected to provide instruction, guidance, advice, and encouragement to help team members improve their job performance.

Steps in the Coaching Skill

Analyze ways to improve the teams performance and capabilities. A coach looks for opportunities for team members to expand their capabilities and improve performance. We recommend the following coaching behaviors. Observe your team members behavior on a day-to-day basis. Ask questions of them: 

Why do you do a task this way? Solve Can it be improved? 

 What other approaches might work? 

 Show genuine interest in team members as individuals, not merely as employees. Respect them individually. Listen to each employee. Create a supportive climate. Its the coachs responsibility to reduce barriers to development and to facilitate a climate that encourages personal performance improvement. Create a climate that contributes to a free and open exchange of ideas. Offer help and assistance. Give guidance and advice when asked. Encourage your team. Be positive and upbeat. Dont use threats. Ask What did we learn from this that can help us in the future? Solve Reduce obstacles. Assure team members that you value their contribution to the teams goals. Take personal responsibility for the outcome, but dont rob team members of their full responsibility. Validate the team members efforts when they succeed. Point to what was missing when they fail. Never blame team members for poor results. 

 

3. Influence team members to change their behavior. The ultimate test of coaching effectiveness is whether an employees performance improves. You must encourage ongoing growth and development. Recognize and reward small improvements and treat coaching as a way of helping employees continually work toward improvement. Use a collaborative style by allowing team members to participate in identifying and choosing among improvement ideas. Break difficult tasks down into simpler ones. Model the qualities you expect from your team. If you want openness, dedication, commitment, and responsibility from your team members, you must demonstrate these qualities yourself