For Optimum Performance

Mentoring and Coaching

Objectives

At the end of this session you will be able to:

Identify the differences between coaching and

mentoring and know when to use which

Determine the characteristics of a good coach

Identify the elements of a good coaching session in

order to implement them

Establish the importance of communication in the

coaching process and

Identify how to give feedback to coachees

Content

What is Coaching & Mentoring

Characteristics of a Good Coach

Key steps in coaching for optimum

performance

Elements of a good coaching session

Communication skills for effective coaching

Session 1

What is Coaching & Mentoring

What is Coaching?Coaching is a process of helping another individual

realize their inner potential, delivering fulfillment to

both the individual and the organization.

‗TO COACH‘ Comes from the root meaning ‗to bring a person from

where they are to where they want to be‘

―Coaching is the art of facilitating the performance, learning and development of another‖

Myles Downey

Effective Coaching

Coaching is NOT… Leading

Managing

Instruction

Mandating

Disciplinary

Giving advice

Offering opinions

Coaching is not mentoring.

A mentor is usually long-term, while a coach is for

immediate performance issues.

Coaching vrs Mentoring

Coaching helps all your employees or team

members

When you coach employees, you improve their

ability to do their current jobs and increase their

potential to do more in the future.

Mentoring is reserved for your most talented

employees.

Work with talented people, help them advance, and

they will become assets now and allies in the future.

Ignore them, and they‘ll find someone else —

maybe a competitor — who appreciates their

talents.

Coaching vrs Mentoring Mentoring is for your exceptional employees, people

who show promise but need help to become top performers.

As a mentor, your responsibilities are to represent the company‘s values,

give pep talks,

offer instruction about your company‘s political structure,

influence decision makers to help your mentee, and

provide contacts and resources

A mentoring relationship shortens your employees‘ learning curve and increases productivity.

Faith left a secretarial position to sign on as administrative assistant to Dan,

head of purchasing. Faith had been unhappy with her previous job because

she hadn‘t felt appreciated. Dan recognized Faith‘s potential. Her professional

track record, although mostly clerical, indicated she was capable of taking on

more responsibility than the administrative assistant position required. He

started assigning projects that gave her an opportunity to stretch her potential

and each time, Faith excelled.

Pleased with her progress, Dan offered to help Faith advance in her job. In

effect, he became her mentor. He promised to put her in charge of several

projects of her own, assignments that would make her more promotable in the

future. He identified several skills she would have to develop to handle the

work and offered to help her if she encountered difficulties.

Faith was delighted. She agreed to meet with Dan on a regular basis to

provide updates on her work and accept feedback. And she set about

acquiring the skills she needed. The mentoring relationship gave Dan time to

work on other projects as Faith increasingly took on work he didn‘t have time

to do. As a result, he was able to complete a reorganization plan for his

department, saving the company $100,000. For her part, Faith became an

increasingly skilled worker. At one point, she uncovered a vendor scam that

would have cost the division more than $50,000. When, two years later, Faith

How Mentoring Works

Why is it important to coach?

Your organization‘s success depends on

developing employees!

Coaching is a key factor in attracting and

retaining the best employees

Employees are inspired to work to their greatest

potential when they are given support and

encouraged to develop their skills

It prepares both the employee and the

organization for the future

The new approach to coaching

The new approach to coaching operates on the

premise that

Everyone can be ―developed‖ through coaching

Employee development is every managers‘

responsibility and every employee‘s responsibility

as well

Moving employees through new challenges

strengthens their professional abilities

Development more likely means informal, on-the-

job ways of learning

A manager‘s role in coaching

As a Manager/Supervisor, your role as a coach is to:

Guide your employees by helping to match their skills,

interests, and work values with job opportunities.

Conduct frequent discussions of developmental needs.

Give timely and specific feedback about an individual‘s

performance against established expectations.

Provide opportunities for coaching, when necessary.

Act as informal teacher by being conscious of the behaviors

and attitudes you model.

Work with your employees to draft individual development

plans and follow through to achieve them.

Session 2

Characteristics of a Good Coach

A good coach To be a good coach, you must believe that

people want to do well on their jobs,

people want to grow professionally.

Your role is to help them gain the skills, abilities, and

knowledge they need to increase their potential and

improve their performance.

A good coach A good Coach Does Not Need…

To be right

To be the expert

To know the ―right‖ answer

To be in control

To ―fix‖ it

To heal it or make it better

You don‘t have to know a lot about what you are coaching your subordinate on. Coaches are effective because they leverage the individual‘s own knowledge, talents and expertise, not their own. This is not about instructions or advice

A good coach

A good coach knows when to coach…

During performance reviews

As part of performance assessment, particularly when you

realize that the subordinate has a particular challenge or

problem, either work related or not.

As part of a team setting

Usually to generate buy-in for all team members

Individually

As a formal or informal one-on-one conversation with an

employee to get to know their career plans in order to

support them more effectively

In conjunction with set tasks

When delegating a task to an employee

A good coach A good coach knows when not to coach…

When your task is to manage or lead, not coach

When the person is not willing to be coached

In order for coaching to be successful, the other person

needs to be willing to participate in the process. If they are

not, there is no buy in and it may be unsuccessful

Coaching is successful when the individual or team being

coached is successful at attaining a higher level of

performance.

A good coach It is not the coach who ―wins‖. Coaching is not a role for anyone expecting a high

level of recognition or accolades. Coaches are only successful if those that they are coaching are successful…in that way, it is like living through someone else‘s actions.

A good coach knows when not to coach… When the employee is a problematic one –

persistent underperformer In this instance you need to counsel. Counseling addresses

problem performers, people whose bad habits have become chronic and affects their performance on the job or the performance of the team.

A good coach Must know how to ask the right questions without

making people feel uncomfortable. You need to be able to get information from them to help you

make decisions about what their real career path is and the skills they should acquire in order to be successful.

Listen well to their answers. Pay as much attention to their body language and nonverbal

signals as to what they‘re saying.

Talk frequently with your employees. You‘ll be in a better position to detect morale problems and

observe employees who are ready to take on more responsibility.

A good coach

Become a good teacher.

This means being able to assess what employees need to

learn as well as being able to train them.

Give feedback.

When your people do something well, tell them. When they

make mistakes, give them corrective feedback in a positive

manner. Suggest improvements that let them know you

believe they are capable of doing the work right

Some Do‘s and Don‘ts of

Coaching

Like an athletic coach, you need to motivate your

people. But your responsibilities go far beyond

giving pep talks.

Start with your behavior.

Be a role model for excellence. Take your own advice, and

your staff will be more likely to emulate your actions.

Managers who tell their people, ―Do as I say, not as I do,‖

quickly lose the respect of their employees.

Encourage their growth by creating a positive

environment.

Build rapport with your employees. Point out their strengths

and note any improvement in performance. Treat their

mistakes as learning opportunities; never threaten them.

Some Do‘s and Don‘ts of

Coaching Make sure people understand how their jobs tie into

the company‘s overall strategy and mission.

Clearly explain what you expect of them.

When you conduct performance appraisals, be

specific about what each individual can do to

improve.

Write down their development goals and recommend

training programs and resources that will help your

employees achieve those goals

Some Do‘s and Don‘ts of

Coaching

Don‘t

Make implied promises.

Don‘t promise to reward added effort with a raise or

promotion if you can‘t deliver.

Change from coach to autocrat.

Be consistent in the way you treat your employees: Once a

coach, always a coach. If you change styles in mid-stream,

your employees won‘t trust you.

Be impatient.

If you have to, patiently repeat those instructions a tenth

time. Deal calmly with dumb mistakes. Losing patience

sends a message to employees that you think they‘re stupid

and erodes their self esteem.

Some Do‘s and Don‘ts of

Coaching Focus on attitudes.

Rather than calling someone lazy, you might say, ―You don‘t

lend a hand to other workers and have been seen reading a

newspaper when coworkers need help.‖ This calls attention

to behavior that can be changed.

Ignore the problem.

Don‘t allow little problems to grow into big ones. Deal with

them as they arise

Opportunities for Coaching As Managers/Supervisors, you need to constantly be

on the look out for opportunities to provide coaching

to your employees. You could:

Conduct formal performance reviews

Have informal coaching conversations with employees

Have on-the-spot work progress discussions

Follow up on a training session

Help an employee to implement a work improvement idea

Work with an employee to meet job standards or to manage

their job better

Acknowledging employee differences

As a Coach, you need to acknowledge that

each employee is different in terms of

personality, behaviour and characteristics

Differentiating allows you to:

Appropriately address performance expectations.

Draft suitable developmental plans.

Help direct reports manage their careers.

Build a better foundation for your organization‘s success.

Session 3

Key Steps in Coaching for Optimal

Performance

Steps in coaching

Coaching employees and teams is the most

critical role of a manager/supervisor in business

today.

The success of the employees, team and

organization depend on the coaching ability of the

manager/supervisor.

There are various techniques, styles and

approaches available for coaching

We will look at two approaches

The GROW Model

The Coaching Discussion Approach Source: Coaching Discussion Approach by Pam Martin

Steps in coaching

For whatever approach you might use, coaching

is usually done within the context of a

meeting/session between the coach and the

employee.

Such a meeting will provide both parties with the

ideal forum to hold an objective discussion.

The GROW model

WILLWhat will you do next…?What could stop you moving forward? How will you overcome this?How can you keep yourself motivated?When do you need to review progress? Daily, weekly, monthly?What do you need from me?

OPTIONSWhat could you do to move yourself just one step forward…?What are your options…? How far towards your objective will that take you…?

REALITYWhat is happening now that tells you…? Describe the current situation… What made you realisethat you need to do somethingdifferent?

GOALWhat do you want to move forward on…?What can we achieve in the timeavailable…? What would be the most helpful thing for you to take away from this session?

TOPICTell me about… What would you like to think/talk about…?

T

G RO

W

Source: Skills for Life Improvement Program/(CfBT)

The GROW Model

Key steps

G – GOAL: What do you want?

Establish the Goal

First, you and the employee need to look at the behavior that

you want to change, and then structure this change as

a goal that s/he wants to achieve.

Make sure that this is a SMART goal: one that is Specific,

Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound.

When doing this, it is useful to ask questions like:

How will you know that your employee has achieved this

goal? How will you know that the problem or issue is solved?

Does this goal fit with his/her overall career objectives? And

does it fit with the team's objectives?

The GROW Model

R – REALITY: What is happening now?

Examine the Current Reality

Next, ask the employee to describe his current reality.

This is an important step:

Too often, people try to solve a problem or reach a goal

without fully considering their starting point, and often

they're missing some information that they need in order

to reach their goal effectively.

As your team member tells you about his current reality, the

solution may start to emerge.

The GROW Model

O – OPTIONS: What could you do?

Explore the Options

Once you and the employee have explored the current

reality, it's time to determine what is possible – meaning all

of the possible options for reaching the objective.

Help the employee brainstorm as many good options as

possible. Then, discuss these and help them decide on the

best ones.

Offer your own suggestions in this step. But let your team

member offer suggestions first, and let him/her do most of

the talking. It's important to guide them in the right direction,

without actually making decisions for them

The GROW Model

W – WILL: What will you do?

Establish the Will

Finally, decide on a date when you'll both review progress.

This will provide some accountability, and allow the

employee to change his approach if the original plan isn't

working

Coaching discussion approach

Open

Clarify

DevelopAgree

Close

The Coaching Discussion Approach has three components:

• The Five Coaching Guidelines,

•The Key Principles of Coaching and

•The Two Process Skills

The five coaching guidelines

Coaching discussion approach In the Opening step the key is for the manager to clearly

communicate the purpose and importance of the discussion.

Clarify, the manager presents all relevant information, issues, and concerns as well as related facts and figures.

Develop, gets the employee involved by collaborating to create solutions.

Agree, specifies actions, timelines and resources to achieve the solutions

Close is a final chance to check that both you and the employee are clear on agreements, next steps and commitments. It is also an opportune time for the manager to voice his/her confidence in the employee.

Three of the guidelines: Clarify, Develop, and Agree form a cycle that can be repeated

as often as necessary to meet the outcomes of the discussion

Coaching discussion approach Another component of the Coaching discussion

approach are the key principles of coaching. In order for the process to be successful the key principles must be a part of the process and embedded in the discussion.

The five key principles of coaching which need to be incorporated in all coaching sessions are: Maintain or enhance self-esteem

Listen and respond with empathy

Ask for help and encourage involvement

Share thoughts, feeling and rationale

Provide support without removing responsibility

Coaching discussion approach The two Process Skills that help to ensure the success of

the Coaching Discussion approach are checking for understanding and making procedural suggestions.

Checking for understanding is a way to confirm that both the coach and the employee have the same understanding of what has been discussed during the session. The most effective way to check for understanding is to summarize the information in the form of a question and then request confirmation or correction.

Making procedural suggestions is an effective way to keep the coaching discussion process on track, by identifying problems in the process itself and resolving them quickly. A good example of this technique is "We seem to have several resources available, let's narrow our options down to two."

Coaching discussion approach The final key component of the Coaching Discussion

Approach is the Behavioral Communication Questions.

If the following questions are answered during the coaching discussion, the likelihood of the employee being willing and able to perform the agreed-upon behavior is greatly increased: How is this relevant to what I do?

What, specifically, should I do?

How will I be measured, and what are the consequences?

What tools and support are available?

What's in it for me?

The key to the success of any coaching session is two-way communication combined with open and honest dialogue.

Session 4

Elements of a Good Coaching

Session

Elements of a good coaching session

What makes coaching successful?

Four essential components have been identified as

being crucial for a coaching session to be

successful.

1. Clarity

Ultimately, nothing will happen until you gain laser-like

clarity on the issue or goal. Total clarity before continuing.

2. Confirmation

As a coach ask questions and repeat answers for

confirmation Confirm the real deal or go back to step 1.

Elements of a good coaching session 3. Communication

Communication is achieved when all the parties involved in the communication process understand clearly what is being said When parties are on the same page

Effective communication is critical to a successful coaching session because once we state our desires or intentions to other people, we have a much greater chance of success.

4. Commitment

Create an immediate action--something that will happen today

Commit to an action that will happen today. Without a commitment and follow-up, it's easy to feel good about the session and still have nothing happen

Elements of a good coaching session

When conducting a coaching session to provide

positive feedback…

Describe the positive performance result or work habit using

specific details.

Solicit your employee's opinion of the same behavior.

Ask the employee to identify elements that contributed to

success (adequate time or resources, support from

management or other employees, the employee's talent and

interest in the project).

Discuss ways in which you and the employee can support

continued positive results.

Reinforce for the employee the value of the work and how it

fits in with the goals of the work unit or department.

Show your appreciation of the positive results and your

confidence that the employee will continue to perform

satisfactorily.

If appropriate, document your discussion for the employee's

Elements of a good coaching session

When you conduct a coaching session to improve

performance…

Describe the issue or problem, referring to specific

behaviors or expectations.

Involve the employee in the problem-solving process to

identify the problem.

Brainstorm and write down possible solutions.

Decide on specific actions to be taken by each of you to

correct the problem.

Agree on a follow-up date.

Document key elements of the session.

Give one copy to the employee and place another in the

employee‘s file.

Elements of a good coaching session

If your coaching session is conducted to address poor

work habits such as continued lateness

Describe in detail the poor work habit observed.

Say why it concerns you, in terms of its specific impact on the

department.

Ask why it occurred and listen non-judgmentally to the

explanation. Describe the need for change and ask for ideas.

Discuss each idea and offer your help.

Agree on specific actions to be taken and set a specific follow-

up date.

Document key elements of the session. Give one copy to the

employee and place another in the employee‘s file.

Session 5

Communication Skills for Effective

Coaching

Coaching communication

Coaching is a two-way process coach-employee, employee-coach

Clear and consistent messages will facilitate understanding and avoid miscommunication

Open questions will glean more information eg. What do you think about the team‘s new approach? Not ‗Do you think the team‘s new approach is a good one‘

Good feedback positive and corrective

Active listening shows interest and will enable you to obtain additional information from your employee

Non-verbal communication eg. Voice expression, is as important as verbal

communication

Giving feedback

Feedback should be: positive, constructive and corrective

clear and concise

delivered as soon as possible after the action for which it is being provided

Use the ‗feedback sandwich‘ approach:Positive feedback (what they are doing well)

Corrective feedback

Positive feedback (actions for improvement)

Giving feedback Plan what you intend to say to your employees, and be

sensitive to your emotional state at the time.

This will help you keep personal frustration out of your remarks.

Be patient.

Just because you know how something is to be done, doesn‘t mean your employees do. Where possible, show them how the job should be done.

Be specific, not general.

Telling an employee to be more customer focused is too vague. Instead, you might say something like, ―I was disappointed that we didn‘t do a customer-focus group this quarter. We need to hold these meetings every quarter in order to keep up with customers‘ needs.‖

Focus on behavior that can be changed.

You‘ll only frustrate employees if you identify shortfalls they cannot change

Active listening

Stop – Pay attention and don‘t interrupt

Look – Make eye contact and get onto the same level as the person

Listen – Focus on what the person is saying

Respond – Restate what has been said and use open questions to prompt for further information

Communication barriers

Different perceptions of words and actions

Only hearing what you want to hear

Using jargon

Not responding to questions

Judging too quickly

Looking for personal agendas

Allowing emotions to blur the message

Assuming ‗I‘m right‘ and not being open to other views

Asking antagonising questions