Coaching is one of the most critical skills to be mastered by supervisors and manager. Why is coaching so important ? because today’s environment has created more pressure to do more with less. The key to reducing pressure is to make the most of your most valuable resource: people.

The objective of this article is to help managers, supervisors, or co-workers coach employees to overcome barriers or hurdles and improve performance. If you have a sincere desire to develop and support your subordinates and the self-discipline to practice specific strategies, this module offers you creative coaching techniques to use in creating an inspiring working culture.

Coaching takes time, and it involves commitment, patience, persistence and a keen desire to actively participate in employees’ development. Throughout the coaching process, it is important to keep in mind that the main objective is to improve performance. Managers or supervisors should not jump to early conclusions when they identify a specific performance problem. As with any problem-solving process, the first and often the most difficult step is to identify clearly what exactly, precisely and concisely the problem is.

Why should Managers / Supervisors Know about Coaching?

Why should you improve your coaching skills? Check the following statements and compare your views with the author :

• Coaching is the most effective way of developing your employees
• It makes your job easier when your subordinates build their skills levels
• Improves productivity when employees know what the departmental goals are and how to achieve them

• High performing employees will help you reduce the anxiety and stress of increasing and multiple responsibilities.

• Avoids suprises and defensiveness in performance appraisals.
• Employees develop a high level of self-esteem and job satisfaction.
• Positive recognition and feedback increases staff motivation and initiative
• Coaches in an organisation, as in sports, are great influencers. They know how to bring out the best and the most in others. They also know that it is an on-going process and a primary responsibility.

• Coaching builds your reputation as a people developer; develops sharing of leadership responsibilities and increases team cohesiveness due to clarifies objectives

What is Coaching?

Coaching is an on-going process designed to help the employee gain greater competence and overcome barriers to improving performance.

Mariane Minor, faculty member at the General Electric Management Institute, New York, has defined coaching as a directive process by a manager to train and orient an employee to the realities of workplace, and to help the employee remove barriers to optimum work performance.

Coaching differs from training, which is a structured process to provide employees with the knowledge, skills and working attitudes to perform a job professionally. It is appropriate when the person has the ability and knowledge but performance has dropped, and he has not met the expectations. Coaching involves a change in behavior. The idea is to move the employee from where he is to where you want him to be.

Coaching is not the same as counseling. Counseling is problem solving directed at personal issues that are affecting or have the potential to affect performance. Very often counseling involves personal problems such as marital and family problems, emotional and psychological barriers. A manager or supervisor should not try to counsel, but should serve as a resource person, directing the employee to a skilled practitioner for further professional help.

Counseling, on the other hand, is a supportive process by a manager to help an employee define and work thru personal problems that affect job performance.
Coaching and counseling share many of the same skills, but differ from each other in certain aspects. The following diagram will help you differentiate the two processes :
Coaching Behaviours

In addition to above qualities, characteristics and skills, as an effective coach you need to demonstrate certain behaviours. Using the acronym COACH, we will review the following behaviours. Try to relate each one to yourself and your own situation.

• Collaborate. The coaching relationship is a collaborative one. You need to work with the employee to identify the performance problem, set standards and performance objectives, and develop a performance improvement plan. It becomes a matter of how can WE solve the problem.

• Own. You need to examine your own personal behaviour and accept some ownership for the problem along with the employee. Ask yourself: ” Did I make my expectations clear ?” “Did I provide the proper training?” ” Does the employee have the appropriate tools to do the job ?”

• Acknowledge. You need to acknowledge successes through reinforcement and also acknowledge an employee’s problems, feelings, and concerns. Acknowledging problems and concerns is not the same as overlooking them or allowing them excuse behaviour that is not at an acceptable level. For example, you can certainly understand an employee’s difficulty in juggling the multiple responsibilities of both home and work. However, the resulting chronic absenteeism or tardiness cannot be allowed to continue.

• Communicate. This is probably the most important behavior and the one most managers seem to find the most difficult. As we noted in the above lists, communication skills including listening, questioning, giving and receiving feedback are critical for success. You need to practice two-way communication on a daily basis. In particular, you need to clarify your expectations.

• Help. As a manager / supervisor, you are not only a coach but also an advisor, serving as a resource person and a guide to other resources, both inside and outside the organization. In addition to giving help, you should also be seeking help from your employees. For example, if you need to increase production, ask you employees to help you develop a plan or at least solicit their ideas. You will be surprised how creative and innovative people can be if you give them a chance.

The Coaching Process

Anyone can learn to be a coach. By applying the following step-by-step process, you will improve the performance of individual team members and get the results you want.

• Step One: Problem Identification. The co1 ach describes the current undesirable performance-related behaviour that is observable, measurable, non-judgmental and can be changed. Telling someone he has a ‘ bad attitude ’ is not descriptive; it is judgmental. Try to eliminate the word ‘attitude’ from your thought process when dealing with employee performance. A simple example is the employee who is frequently late. In describing this unacceptable behaviour to the employee, you cite specific documented dates and time periods that you have observed. Be careful not to rely on hearsay.

Using the employee you identified earlier as a case example, describe the current behaviour including the situation and the employee’s actions. Remember to be as specific as possible and focus on behaviour not attitude.

• Step Two: Employee Response. Give the employee an opportunity to explain or question. Use open-ended questions such as ‘ What do you think is the problem ?’ ‘ What is keeping you from getting to work on time ?’ In the tardiness case, the employee may give the standard excuses or may reveal a real problem preventing him from being punctual.

Make a list of open-ended questions you could ask the employee in order to uncover any underlying problems. Brainstorm some possible reasons the employee may give you. Of course, when you really deal with this individual, be aware that you may hear things you had not anticipated and keep your mind open to other possibilities.

• Step Three: State Expectations. As a coach you need to state clearly what you expect of the employee. For example, the manager of the tardy employee restates that he expects the employee to be at his work place and ready to work by 7:30 am. The use of empathy is very important at this stage. You might begin by saying: ‘I understand that it must be difficult for you to manage all your responsibilities; however, the fact remains that you are expected to be here on time and you have not been doing so.’

Again, for the sake of this exercise, state very specifically what you expect the employee to do or not to do. Include an empathy statement.

• Step Four: Get Agreement. At this step the employee may try various ways to escape the issue and accept no responsibility for his behaviour, but your careful documentation will be invaluable here. Through two-way communication, you and the employee should agree on the problem and the impact it has on the organization and others. If the employee is frequently late, that action places additional burden on others because it may also create resentment that affects the entire office environment.

With your case employee, identify the impact of that person’s behaviour on others or on your operation.

• Step Five: Improvement Plan. This step is critical. You and your employee must collaborate to identify clearly the desired behaviour. It will be very easy to tell the employee what he should do. The two of you should establish goals that are specific, realistic, attainable, simple, and time-bound as well as strategies for overcoming barriers to reach those goals. Once again, use good questioning techniques to get the employee to state what he plans to do to solve the problem.

To the tardy employee you might ask: ‘ What do you think you can do to make sure you get here on time ?’ In this manner, you are placing the onus on the employee and making him or her take appropriate ownership. By the same token, you will want to ask what you can do to help. It may be that what the employee wants you to do may not be appropriate or possible. If that is the case, it is a good starting point for further discussion and may be even some negotiation. The employee may offer a solution you had not considered.

What are some open-ended questions you could use with your case employee?

• Step Six: Gain Commitment. In this step, the employee commits to changing behaviour or improving performance by stating exactly what he is going to do to improve the situation. The tardy employee who has difficulty in getting to work on time may need to get organized the night before and/or get up earlier. Once you gain agreement and commitment from the employee, ask the employee to summarize the discussion.

How would you determine if the employee has indeed made a real commitment to improving performance?

• Step Seven: Set a Time for the Next Meeting. Before concluding the coaching session, you and the employee will need to agree on a time to meet to discuss progress. The next meeting should give ample time for the individual to practice the new behavior, yet not so long that he/she assumes the matter is forgotten.

With your case example, how long do you think you should wait before the next meeting?

• Step Eight: Monitor and Follow-up. It is important to monitor the employee’s specific feedback in the form of comments, instructions and suggestions. For example, the manager/supervisor reinforces the behaviour of the formerly tardy employee by saying, ” Ahmed, I’ve noticed that you’ve been to work on time every day, and I really appreciate the extra effort to make that happen.” Another example of reinforcing positive behaviour may be, ” Ahmed, you handled that project very well. Although you couldn’t meet the deadline, you gave the management a choice and allowed them to make their own decision.” Immediate praise is a powerful reinforcer. If you want the behaviour repeated, you need to let the person know.

Using your case example, write down some ways you could monitor the employee’s progress. Remember, however, you are doing this in isolation. In the actual situation, the employee would help determine the appropriate plan of action.

Using Feedback

The importance of feedback in the coaching process cannot be stressed enough. Keep in mind the following guidelines for effective feedback :

• Be descriptive rather than evaluative. Describe observable behavior not judgments on your part. Be careful not to put the employee on the defensive.

• Be specific rather than general. Describe the behavior in the context of the actual situation.

• Discuss only behaviors the employee can change. Some people have shortcomings over which they have no control.

• Be timely and do it frequently. Hold the discussion at the earliest opportunity after the behavior has occurred.

• Take into account both the employee’s needs and the organization’s needs. Remember to look for a win-win situation.

• Communicate clearly. Check for clarity by asking the employee to state his understanding of the discussion.

• Do it when the receiver is ready to receive it. Keep in mind that timing is everything.

Recognising and Rewarding Positive Behaviour

Feedback and reinforcement need to be followed with recognition and rewards. Individual recognition teamed with incentive programs can be very effective but should be tied to organizational goals and individual performance and valued by the employee. If, for example, your organization is committed to responding quickly to customers, then you should reward the employee’s efficiency in returning phone calls or resolving complaints. That reward could be public praise, special privileges, choices of flex time, schedules, vacations, or tangibles such as gifts, money, plaques, theater tickets. The reward should depend on the person receiving it. The employee with young children may appreciate given more scheduling flexibility whereas someone on a limited income would value the opportunity to work overtime.

Measuring Success

One of the ways you can measure your coaching success is to solicit feedback from your employees on how you are doing. One easy and relatively risk-free method is to ask each employee to complete a brief “agree-disagree” questionnaire – anonymously, of course. Your questions (or statements in this case) could include but need not be limited to the following:

Another approach would be for you to respond to the list according to how you see yourself, give the same list to your employees, then compare your self-perception with the perception of others. It could be a real eye-opener. Regardless of the outcome, you now have valuable data that reinforces the positive approach you are already using or identifying areas for improvement.

The secret of success is not in doing your own work, but in recognising the right person to do it.

One of the most crucial and challenging tasks for managers and supervisors is to apportion the work among the employees they manage and supervise. A lot of managers and supervisors frequently complain that they have too much to do and too little time in which to do it. Unchecked, this feeling leads to stress and ineffectiveness. In many cases, executives could greatly reduce their stress by practicing a critical management skill – delegation.

Delegation is the assignment of authority to another person to carry out the specific job-related activities. It allows a subordinate to make decisions; that is, it is a shift of decision-making authority from one organisational level to another lower one.

Delegation should not be confused with participation. In participative decision making, there is a sharing of authority; with delegation, subordinates make decisions on their own. Effective delegation pushes authority down vertically through the ranks of an organisation.

Mastering the art of delegation makes you a professional manager; it is an effective means of developing your employees, and a key to the organizational prosperity.

The inability to delegate has led to the downfall of many executives – from the top-notch managers to the first-line supervisors. Successful businesses, regardless of size, encourage not only their managers and supervisors but also others to master the art of delegation. Historically, delegation has been a vertical process, with managers delegating to subordinates in a clearly defined hierarchical structure. Today’s successful businesses are emphasizing both horizontal and vertical delegation. With the growing emphasis on teamwork, the ability to influence and delegate to others over whom you have no direct control is critical to the team’s success.

Whether delegating vertically or horizontally, delegation must be accompanied by effective coaching. Delegation will not be effective unless managers and other designated supervisors and coaches work with employees to help them develop the skills needed to get the job done. Effective delegation also requires good communication and a high degree of trust between the delegator and the delegatee.

Delegation is not task assignment. Task assignment is simply assigning work to an individual within the duties and responsibilities of his position. Delegation, on the other hand, involves the manager giving someone the responsibility and authority to do something that is normally part of the manager’s job.

Delegation is not “dumping.” Managers should take special care to make sure that the employee does not think he is trying to “dump” unpleasant assignments on him. If delegation is not done properly, employees feel put upon and resent what they perceive as ‘ I’ve to follow the boss’s order ’.

Delegation is not abdication. The manager still has the ultimate accountability for the assignment. That’s why it is important for you to establish appropriate controls and checkpoints to monitor progress. Besides, managers should give delegatees the appropriate authority to act along with clear expectations including any boundaries or criteria. The manager, however, should try to avoid prescribing HOW the assignment should be completed.

Delegation involves three important concepts and practices: responsibility, authority, and accountability. When you delegate, you share responsibility and authority with others and you hold them accountable for their performance. The ultimate accountability, however, still lies with the manager who should clearly understand that :

- Responsibility refers to the assignment itself and the intended results. That means setting clear expectations. It also means that you should avoid prescribing the employee HOW the assignment should be completed.

- Authority refers to the appropriate power given to the individual or group including the right to act and make decisions. It is very important to communicate boundaries and criteria such as budgetary considerations.

- Accountability refers to the fact that the relevant individual must ‘ answer ’ for his/her/their actions and decisions along with the rewards or penalties that accompany those actions or decisions.

Benefits of Delegation

Benefits to the Manager / Supervisor

• Makes your job easy and exciting
• Reduces stress and makes you look good.
• Frees you to do what you should be doing
• Develops trust and rapport with your employees
• Grooms your successor so that you can move on to bigger and better things. Often managers and supervisors derail their own advancement by not having someone to take their place

Benefits to the employee

• Provides professional growth opportunities
• Develops their professional knowledge and skills
• Elevates their self-image and ultimately self-esteem
• Enhances their confidence and value to the organization
• Brings them personal satisfaction and a sense of achievement
• Gives them opportunities to be involved with decision making which in turn leads to more commitment and increased morale

Benefits for the organization

• Saves money
• Promotes teamwork
• Brings about professionalism
• Increases productivity and efficiency

How Well Do You Delegate?

Here is an opportunity to learn how well you delegate. This exercise will help identify your strengths and determine where improvement would be beneficial. Circle the number that best describes you and then total the numbers and rate your skills and standing :

The higher the number, the more the statement

1. Each of my subordinates know what I expect of him 5 4 3 2 1

2. I involve employees in goal setting, problem solving and productivity-improvement activities 5 4 3 2 1

3. I place my personal emphasis on planning, organising, motivating and controlling rather than on doing tasks others could do 5 4 3 2 1

4. When assigning tasks, I select the assignee thoughtfully 5 4 3 2 1

5. When a problem occurs on a project I have delegated, I give the employee a reasonable chance to work it out for himself 5 4 3 2 1

6. When I delegate work to employees, I brief them fully on the details of the assignment 5 4 3 2 1

7. I see delegation as one way to help employees develop their knowledge, skills and expertise 5 4 3 2 1

8. When I delegate a project, I make sure that everyone involved knows who is in charge 5 4 3 2 1

9. When delegating a task, I balance authority with need and experience 5 4 3 2 1

10. I hold my employees responsible for results 5 4 3 2 1

A score between 41 and 50 suggests you are on target. A score between 31 and 40 indicates you are just getting by but could improve. Anything below 40 means you immediately need to make changes in your delegation skills.

Barriers to Delegation

Exhaustive research proves that the biggest barrier to delegation is you, the manager. When managers are asked why they don’t delegate more, they often give the following excuses :

• It takes too long to explain
• My employees resist responsibility
• It is easier and quicker to do thing myself
• My employees lack experience and competence
• If you want it done right, you better do it yourself
• No one on my staff is quite capable of doing the work
• My employees won’t like me if I expect too much of them
• I can do the work in my department better than anyone else
• My people are already overworked. I can’t overload anything on them

Although managers / supervisors offer the above excuses, the real reasons may be discovered in the following list:

• What if the other person messes up the task; I am still accountable.
• If someone else can do my job, maybe I won’t be needed anymore.
• I am the manager; I am supposed to have full control over everything.
• I’m comfortable doing the job I’ve been doing for a long time. If I give that up, then I have to concentrate on the responsibilities of my new job which I am not comfortable with.

Be honest with yourself. What are the REAL reasons you don’t delegate as much as you should ?

Sometimes employees resist or fail to accept responsibility for some of the following reasons:

• They may feel that the task is being imposed on them
• They may not have the skills, knowledge or ability to do the job
• They received no reward or recognition in the past for a job well done.
• They may fear criticism from the manager if they don’t do things exactly as he expects.

Study this list, and think of some other reasons. Then ask yourself if you have in any way contributed to employee resistance.

Symptoms of Poor Delegation

There are many symptoms of poor delegation, and can be seen in the working habits of the manager, the attitude of the employees, or the overall productivity of the organisation. Check from the following list the symptoms that are visible in your department / organisation :

• Deadlines are frequently missed
• Some employees are much busier than others
• Competent employees feel frustrated and bored
• Manager is usually too busy to talk to employees
• Employees are assigned the tasks with proper training
• Employees are unsure of their authority and responsibility
• Employees’ suggestions are often neglected and overlooked
• Employees frequently request transfers to other departments
• Manager never has time to visit the employees’ work stations
• Changes in plans and objectives are not passed on to employees
• Communication flow is very slow, incomplete and often too late
• The department/organaisation is plagued by slow decision making
• Manager sometimes intervenes in the task without informing subordinates
• Manager insists that all incoming/outgoing mail must first pass through him
• Manager does not meet the deadline; often takes the office work to his home and sometimes delays / postpones his vacation because of the work load

If you have checked one or two of the above statements, you should look very carefully at your delegation practices …… and emphatically ask yourself why these conditions exist in your department / organisation.

What and to Whom to Delegate

1. The very first step in delegating the task is to identify what should and should not be delegated.

Do delegate …

• Making day-to-day minor decisions.
• Minor staffing problems such as scheduling, shift change etc.
• Anything your employees are expected to do when you are not there.
• Jobs that can develop employees in other areas for potential promotion
• Answering routine questions. Make the employees think for themselves
• Routine clerical duties ( e.g.; filing, counting, sorting, routine reports ).

Don’t delegate …

• Morale and off-job problems.
• A job no one else in the department is qualified to do.
• Personnel issue such as hiring, firing, or disciplinary matters.
• Assignments from your boss that he expects you to do personally.
• An emergency or short-term task where there is not time to explain.

2. The next step is to select the appropriate delegatee. Think about the delegatees personality as well as his skills. This is an important consideration when presenting the assignment to the chosen person. Some people may want and need a great deal of detail and explanation; others respond better to a simple statement of expectations and guidelines, then want to be left alone.

The Delegation Process

1. Determine what you are going to delegate. Then take the time to plan how you are going to present the assignment, including your requirements, parameters, authority level, checkpoints and expectations. It is a good idea to write down these items and give a copy to your delegatee in order to minimize miscommunication.
2. Choose the right person. Assess the skills and the experience of your employees as objectively as possible. Don’t be too quick to choose the person who you always know you can depend on.

3. Give an overview of the assignment including the importance of the assignment and why you have chosen the employee for the job.

4. Describe the new responsibility in detail, outlining sub-tasks, defining any necessary parameters, and setting performance standards. Make sure the employee understands his/her level or degree of authority. Let the employee know who he/she can turn to for help as well as other available resources. By the way, make sure that you notify those affected by the delegatees power.

5. Solicit questions, reactions, and suggestions. At this point you may want to ask the employee what approach he/she might take.

6. Listen to the employee’s comments and respond empathetically. This step helps to get employee “buy-in” and will also help you determine if the employee does indeed understand what is expected of him/her.

7. Ask the employee for commitment and offer help or some type of back-up assistance. An employee who already feels overwhelmed may worry about completing the assignments already on his/her plate. It is your responsibility to help establish priorities and relieve some of the pressure by getting someone else to share some of the delegatees routine tasks for the duration of the assignment.

8. Be encouraging. Express confidence in the employee’s ability to successfully handle the new responsibility.

9. Establish checkpoints, deadlines, and ways to monitor progress. The entire discussion should be a collaborative process. You should strive for mutual agreement.

10. Keep in contact with the employee and observe the checkpoints the two of you agreed to. However, don’t hover. Remember, delegating means letting go.

11. Recognize and reward the person for his/her successful completion of the assignment.

Avoid Pitfalls

1. Reverse or upward delegation. Sometimes employees feel they don’t know how to do what they were delegated. In this situation, you may find them coming back and asking you what to do. Many managers fall into the trap by taking the assignment back. To avoid this situation, called the reverse delegation, make the employee think and solve the problem for himself.

This is the perfect opportunity to practice coaching skills. Begin by asking the employee various open-ended questions to find out what has already been done and what the person thinks should be the next step. Offer help and support, but don’t take back an assignment that you have delegated to someone else.

2. Dumping. You may think you are doing an excellent job by delegating an assignment to one of your employees and may wonder why the individual is not excited about the opportunity. The only reason in this case is most probably the poor communication. It is easy to assume that the employee knows and understands your motivation, but often the employee perceives that he is being “dumped on,” that is, taken advantage of. To prevent this from happening, take special care to explain the benefit to the employee. Remember to point out the WIIFT – What’s In It For Them.

3. Grabbing the glory. Some managers seem to overlook the importance of giving credit where credit is due, and take credit for the delegatees’ hard work. Make sure that you give the appropriate recognition and then quietly appreciate yourself for being a great delegator.