The Changing Playing Field The playing field is changing in our business world. Changes are driven by four key forces outlined below. Emergence of the Information Age Emerging technology creates higher expectations for productivity and responsiveness Ready availability and transmission of data creates information overload Greater Competition Business improvements and innovations Multinational consolidation Entrepreneurial spirit Increasing Customer Demands More choices for consumers Customers want it all: price, quality, service Word of mouth is faster via Internet Volatile Workforces Less employee loyalty Diverse workforces Varied generational needs Labor shortages Because of these, supervisors are under great pressure to do more with less. They are expected to be a liaison between employees and management, to increase productivity, to increase quality or service, and to build employee morale. To do this, many turn to the example set by those who serve the role of a coach-coaches of winning sports teams, voice coaches, and mentors in all areas of personal and professional development. While the challenges are great, supervisors who can adapt and learn to coach for better results become extremely valuable to their companies. Coaching is an essential skill for all supervisors, and those who master it have learned key behaviors and characteristics that produce positive results. Coaching Behaviors of Supervisors Research in work settings have established that these are the coaching behaviors of the least effective and most effective supervisors: Worst Coaches Best Coaches Set unclear expectations Establish clear expectations Set vague goals/standards Set clear goals/standards Give limited or vague feedback Give regular feedback Observe performance irregularly Observe performance regularly Provide only negative feedback Give constructive feedback Give limited positive recognition Offer little training Recognize and reward accomplishments Give sporadic advice Provide regular training Spend more time on technical or administrative matters Give helpful advice Invest the time to help Listen ineffectively Listen effectively Have poor people skills Have good people skills Leadership Character Kouzes and Posner are researchers and consultants who conducted an intense study of leadership in the 1980s and 1990s. Their study identified behavior and characteristics of the most successful leaders. Their results were published in the book The Leadership Challenge. As a supervisor, you will be a leader of people. Notice the coaching characteristics you identified in the Worst/Best exercise. Consider how they relate to the top five traits created by Kouzes and Posner as described below. 1. Honesty This involves ethics and integrity; people whose word is steadfast 2. Forward Looking This involves longer-term thinking, not just short-term thinking 3. Inspiring This means the ability to motivate or "fire people up" 4. Competent Leaders are students of the game and are knowledgeable or willing to learn 5. Fair-Minded This involves treating people consistently and, again, doing what's right Who you are speaks louder than what you say. If you want people to put in extra time, you have to. If you need more teamwork, you be a team player. If communication problems exist, be a good listener. If more training is needed, you attend also. If respect is an issue, give others respect. If a decision needs to be made, make it. On the next page is a coaching inventory. Rate yourself to discover your potential! The Coaching Process There are two major types of coaching: formal and informal. By embracing the coaching concept, supervisors get more done in less time by helping the employees succeed. Coaching is the art of high performance. If you practice informal and formal coaching, employees may not like some of your decisions, but they will still respect you and get the job done. Informal Coaching Informal coaching involves the day-to-day relationship between the supervisor and the employee. First of all, is the relationship built on trust? All employees have what is called an emotional bank account. Author Steven Covey describes this in Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. It is either positive or negative. If it is positive, trust is present, and results and performance are good. If it is negative, trust is absent, and performance often suffers. Just as with a real savings account, an emotional bank account requires deposits before you make withdrawals. So what do you do to make the emotional bank account positive and increase trust? Think about what you would want from a supervisor. Think about all the principles and practices we have discussed so far. Many of these points under informal coaching are examples of the techniques and strategies you have been working on throughout Excellence in Supervision. If these kinds of actions are everyday practices, you'll create a surplus in the emotional bank accounts of employees. This is crucial because, at times, you'll have to make the tougher decision: change work hours, require overtime, discipline an employee, follow through on an unpopular decision by management, or act in opposition to an employee's idea of what is best. These are withdrawals, often viewed negatively. With a surplus of positives in the emotional bank account, employees will stay motivated. Formal Coaching From the scoring sheet for the Coaching for Excellence Inventory (page 69), you'll notice there are five steps to the coaching process. This is for formal coaching. Formal coaching means talking one-on-one with employees to help them improve performance. Coaching involves a mutual problem-solving effort and it usually takes 30 to 60 minutes. Spending a few minutes on a problem isn't formal coaching, it's more likely just telling the employee what to do! Another goal of formal coaching is developing employees' skills at thinking through problems and identifying solutions on their own. As a result, in the future employees will come to you with solutions to problems, not just the problems. Under what circumstances do you do formal coaching? First, do it to help poor or marginal performers do better. Second, do it to help a good performer excel or handle a delegated project. And third, use it in times of change. Remember, you have to schedule coaching sessions or you will never seem to find time for them. An office supervisor had an employee who generally met expectations except for the accounts-receivable goal. She usually missed timelines. After learning how to coach, the supervisor met with this employee weekly for 30 minutes. Following the coaching steps, the supervisor helped the employee meet the goal. The employee had some ideas for the action plan that helped integrate all her work. Afterward, monthly one-onone goal meetings kept the employee on track. The Formal Coaching Process Here are more details of the formal coaching process. Preparation: 1. Set clear goals and expectations. (Identify the employee's skill, motivation, and performance level.) 2. Do your homework and review the employee's current performance. 3. Provide regular performance feedback. Use informal coaching strategies regularly. 4. Set aside the time for a coaching meeting (30-60 minutes). Create a positive, friendly atmosphere. The Coaching Process: 1. Review the goal/expectation. (Start the coaching session by clarifying the goal. Ask the employee to describe it.) 2. Assess the current level of performance from employee input. Ask the four key questions below. You will ask other questions, but these are the core questions: Overall, how are you doing? What's working? What isn't working? What can you do better or differently? Compare the employee responses to your observations and knowledge of their results. 3. Provide feedback and guidance. Comment on what the employee says. 4. Develop action plans with employee input. Give your ideas for the plan. Put the ideas for improvement in writing, add your recommendations, and gain agreement. 5. Establish follow-up steps. Summarize the discussion and set a specific date and time for the next meeting. COACHING WORKSHEET: SAMPLE Name: Bill Jones Date: 2/15 1. Performance Goals: What is the key goal we are working on? Improving the customer satisfaction rating to 95% or higher. 2. Assess performance: Employee Input: Supervisor, ask four key questions-take notes on comments Overall, how are you doing? What's working well? What isn't working? What will you do better or differently? Observations/results: Supervisor, note your observations of performance and any available data, such as customer survey results Experiencing fewer complaints Rating of 93.5 (last quarter) Evidence that employee is following through on action plan 3. Provide feedback/guidance: How about follow-up calls after customer contact? No thank-you notes 4. Develop action plans: Employee's ideas: Act more courteously-say please, thank you, etc. Greet promptly-in less than one minute Supervisor's ideas: Do follow-up calls-within two days Send thank-you notes-daily 2. Establish follow-up steps Next meeting 2/28 at 3:00 p.m