TIPS 4 THE COACH (Part 11)

Identifying and Analyzing Areas for Coaching.

• Assess the abilities of the employee and act accordingly. Be careful not to "overtrain" or "overcoach" a seasoned person. (Jill Andrews)
• At the end of a project provide each team member with three things "to keep doing" and "three things to work on". Provide information in writing to recipient of feedback and then meet with each other one on one to debrief and provide the feedback. (Lynn Smith)
• Coach Only on First Hand Data: One of the best ways to lose credibility is to coach someone on a performance or behaviours that have been reported to you by a third party. Suggest to the third party that they coach the performer on their observations. (AKimball)
• Identify Coachee's Needs: Getting a coachee to "buy" an performance improvement idea is like getting a potential customer to buy a product or service. The more you know about their vision, objectives, challenges, and skill development wishes, the more compellingingly you can offer your performance improvement ideas. (AKimball)
• Give them homework. Ask them to write down their victories or the things that they have done well every day for a week. Tell them that they have to write at least 10 things daily that they did well. The next time you meet with them have them pull out their week's accomplishments. Have them pick the most meaningful 3 out of the 70. Ask them to tell you about those three, and why they were so meaningful. This exercise will help them in their own development of key skills and teach them to focus on their most important daily activities. It also allows them to see there accomplishments and successes. Many people are severely challenged to come up with their daily successes. Yet, they can always tell you what they didn't get done. This exercise is very impactful when repeated over several weeks. (Susan Williams)
• Ask the person you are coaching what they want to work on. Ask them why they want it. Ask them what steps they feel would help them. Offer your ideas for resources only after going through both of the other steps. (Susan Williams)
• Ask the coachee to summarize the problem (or specify the goal) in a single, simple sentence. Keep probing the coachee until she or he is able to do this. This discussion helps the coachee clarify the situation and identify the critical factors. (ST)
• Everything your client says or does is important - the coach has to work out how it is important. Focus ALL your senses on analysing performance - eyes, ears, nose, guts, and brain. Don't snoop. Get permission first before observing the coachee's job performance. (Gabrielle)