Stop managing so much and start coaching more

In this time of unprecedented numbers of disengaged workers and overwhelming workloads start spending more time coaching. The process of coaching engages the hearts and minds of people, so you will more often get different results. The results can be immediate. When people feel valued and appreciated they respond with a higher level of motivation, they become more engaged in their work, they become more proactive in solving problems and collaborate more with team members. All of what I just described is a result of coaching, not managing. I’ve been working with managers to increase their coaching effectiveness and those are the tangible benefits and changes they observe in their employees. Coaching doesn’t require a huge amount of time; you can have a coaching conversation in less than seven minutes. These are what I refer to as the informal or spontaneous conversations that can be far more productive and powerful than the planned coaching conversations we most often associate with coaching. Set a goal to have at least one informal coaching conversation each week and begin to reap the benefits.

Adaptability

I was talking to a colleague yesterday who teaches a Certified Personal Care course and we were discussing the value of being adaptable. I began thinking about this and decided that this just isn't a skill that applies to a variety of business situations this is an under rated life skill. I often discuss adaptability in the context of behavioral styles and creating effective relationships to achieve the results or outcomes we desire. The more I thought about my conversation the more I realized this is a life skill we are not teaching our business students. Being able to adapt to different people and situations will determine your success in life and business. I constantly stretch myself to increase my ability to adapt. And one of the ways I do that is to take the time to reflect on my approach to a particular situation, or how I interacted with a particular person or client. Then I ask myself a couple of questions. What went well? What would I do differently next time?

Tips for Increasing Accountability

Holding people accountable for their results/outcomes/performance is a common challenge for all managers. So a question recently came up: "How can I tighten accountability? When you are coaching to increase employee performance/potential here are a few tips:

• Always set clear expectations
• Gain agreement when setting action items
• If a situation/issue arises follow-up the same day or within 24 hours. Don't lump this discussion with any other discussion or previously planned follow-up out of convenience-it dilutes the importance of the issue/situation and it decreases accountability
• Be specific when setting follow-up dates to discuss progress on action items