I often hear from managers that they don’t know how to approach coaching their direct reports. It appears the word coaching implies to them that they must have some special insights and skills which would qualify them to coach someone else. Most managers do not realize that they actually know a lot about the company, how things work, how things should be working and how it is going generally. Perhaps all they need is a way to get the conversation going?
Sometimes employees have questions, which are easy to address and other times you need time to get back to them with answers.
Coaching may seem a little less daunting if you had this checklist ( see download button above) of topics to discuss with employees as a group or as individuals. There is a lot to be said for group coaching sessions! They can also be very effective in developing a group of people who may roughly all have the similar development needs and questions for you.
As their manager, you can open a conversation covering one of the questions on the sheet and just state “I can imagine you may have some questions or would like to know more about….” (use one of the questions shown on the sheet). Once the conversation is kicked-off it often happens that the employee will start to bring up more specific questions that he or she may have.
This graphic shows the basic 4 steps that can be used to start and keep a good coaching relationship going. Trust is a key component and building trust is important – honesty, integrity and showing employees that you care about their work, their careers and their well-being all help to build trust.
Coaching can be a highly structured program requiring a lot of specialized communication and coaching skills and training. It can also be simply helping employees understand the basics around their roles, the company and how things work in their environment. It is your role as their manager to coach them and develop their knowledge, skills and competencies on an on-going basis. If you need more training and support with regards to coaching, do talk to your HR or L&D representative. In the interim, this conversation-starting summary sheet may be helpful to you!
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