RightToLead.com

Coaching has fast become one of those buzz words in management circles. Business coaches have sprouted in all walks of life like a good crop of spring grass. Like all things, done well with effective methodology coaching can be an excellent way to increase performance. However it is often done incorrectly and inhibits rather than encourages good performance techniques.

Most business coaching is results based. It looks for where there are problems in the results but doesn’t often fix where the problem is occurring. With some thought this can be turned around to a different focus that produces excellent results.

To be truly effective coaching needs to look at the behaviours individuals are using to achieve their goals. This means that the coach, usually the frontline manager, needs to be intimately aware of what the required critical behaviours are to achieve the desired performance.

The critical behaviours aren’t difficult to identify if you spend some time with a high performer, who regularly achieves or over achieves their targets. They will have naturally figured out what the behaviours are and will be consistently executing them.

Rather than a behind-closed-door coaching session once a month, rethink the term coach. Think about a sports team, the coach is out their on the field with them as they practice, giving pointers. Feedback isn’t given a week later or a month later, what relevance would it have then? Feedback is given there and then, it is detailed and accurate. Then it is effective.

As a frontline manager you need to think of yourself in these terms. Get out there amongst your people. This is where your time is best spent. Many of the frontline manager’s I work with spend half of their time coaching, out there on the floor. To have a greater understanding of the effectiveness of their coaching, they track everything. They note what the goals are, what behaviours they’re working on, and what types of conversations are held with whom.

Try not to bite off more than you can chew. Limit yourself to working on only a couple of behaviours at a time with each person. Decide these together with the individual; make sure they are engaged with the process.

When coaching on a behavioural level it is important to develop a feeling of a safe environment. To ensure this develop a ratio that is heavily weighted to positive feedback to corrective feedback. I have found that four positive comments to every corrective comment is a good balance.

This balance allows your people to feel confident in what they are doing right. They become so self-assured in this process their openness to change gradually increases, which snowballs allowing for sustainable change over time. This translates to sustainable business improvement.

Anyone can call themselves a coach. But to be effective the coaching needs to be behavioural based with deep understanding of the critical behaviours required to meet the goals.