COACHING:Building a Performance Culture at Your

Library, One Employee at a Time

Summer 2007

An Infopeople Program

Dr. Steve Albrecht, PHR, CPPDrSteve@DrSteveAlbrecht.com

619-445-4735

This Workshop Is Brought to You By the Infopeople Project

Infopeople is a federally-funded grant project supported by the California State Library. It provides a wide variety of training to California libraries. Infopeople workshops are offered around the state and are open registration on a first-come, first-served basis.

For a complete list of workshops, and for other information about the project, go to the Infopeople website at infopeople.org.

Our Agenda

The business case for coaching library employees.

Coaching processes and delivery modes.

Targeted coaching for selected employees.

Running coaching meetings.

Teaching realistic and effective tools.

Coaching the Big Four.

Safe and effective role play practice.

Your Success Tools

1. Start thinking about current or potential coaching candidates at your facility.

2. Stretch your comfort zone around the presenting issues: meeting with employees, addressing behavioral, performance, or career issues.

3. Take what you need from the materials, the presenter, and your colleagues in the room.

4. Come back to the learning materials in one week.

Initial Discussion Points

Labels vs. behaviors.

How not to get stuck with excuses or rationalizations.

Addressing confidentiality concerns.

Writing after-action reports and recaps.

Using praise, recognition, rewards, and support.

Why Coaching?

What it is and what it isn’t.

We Coach Employees To:

Improve the:Competency

Character ChemistryCulture

Limit the:Relationship

ProblemsAuthority ProblemsTransition ProblemsService Problems

Conflict at work is expensive, time-consuming, and hard on everyone.

34 % of employees responding to a national survey cited “limited

recognition” as the most common reason for leaving their jobs.

Robert Half Int’l. 1995

Can we use coaching as a “recognition” tool?

Best Boss – Worst Boss Group Exercise #1

Think back to the best boss you ever worked for:

What character traits, skills, habits, or supervisory techniques did he or she possess?

Think back to the worst boss you ever had.

What made him / her so bad?

Crucial Conversations by Patterson, Grenny et al. (2002, McGraw-Hill)

Opinions vary.

Stakes are high.

Emotions run strong.

These can give us permission to coach.

Coaching Best Addresses “The Big Three”

Work performance

Violations of policies & procedures

Attendance

How Do We Demonstrate Success?

Compliance with instructions and policies.

Improvement in performance, immediately and over time.

Positive changes in attitude, interaction, responsibility, and accountability.

Better service to our internal and external customers.

Coaching Events: Business Impact

Pre-discipline intervention for the Big Three.

On-the spot / M.B.W.A.

To identify skill gaps or training needs.

For career planning and advice; mentoring.

To provide referrals for off-the-job problems.

As part of conflict resolution; to stop problems.

As a reward and to help improve morale.

Why Don’t We Coach?:The Supervisor’s Paradox

Fear of conflict.

Fear of confronting poor performance.

No formal training.

No knowledge of or access to resources.

Top management apathy or resistance - until something happens.

Inverse reward system.

Answering the “WII-FM?” Coaching Question For

EmployeesIt lets employees know where they stand with you.

It tells them what, specifically, they need to improve.

It helps them set their own personal, professional, and educational goals.

It shows them what they need to do to promote or move into other positions.

It rewards them for their efforts and accomplishments.

Open-Ended Questioning Two-Person Exercise #2

Supervisor: “Do you like your job?”Employee: “Yeah, it’s okay.”

Ask more open-ended questions to get the employee to tell you more. Build “conversational momentum” and find a subject the employee wants to discuss.

Laying The Foundation For Coaching:

Aligning for Success

Finding Coaching Candidates

Review past performance evaluations.

Speak with bosses and peer supervisors.

Offer coaching services via e-mail and staff meeting announcements.

Meet proactively with at-risk employees.

Meet proactively with employees who are on the fast track.

The Coaching Process

Most often driven by events . . .

1. Initial “Go / No Go” meeting.

2. One, four, or eight hourly sessions.

3. “Homework” – assigned readings, books or articles, exercises, use of tools.

4. Post-session feedback to HR or your boss.

5. Session notes, final written report, regular follow-ups.

Coaching Delivery ModesCoaching Delivery Modes

On the spot: “corridor coaching”

On or off-site - Face to Face

By Phone

By E-mail

Giving homework and using a Reading Program

Using as many self-discovery questions as possible, i.e., “What do you think?”

Self-Discovery Sample Questions

“What tools would you use in a patron service situation?”

“What techniques would you use to create better rapport with your co-workers?”

“How do you plan to organize your ideas for a pending meeting with your boss?”

“Who has an approach, a tool, or a technique you’d like to use in the future?”

Targeted CoachingExecutive / Strategic Coaching: senior leaders,

strategic issues, the top team. Goal = Direction

Career Development Coaching: leadership, career guidance. Goal = Personal Skills

Performance Improvement Coaching: knowledge enhancement, training. Goal = Job Skills

Corrective Coaching: career “rescue,” skills deficit, compliance issues. Goal = Compliance

Special-Problems Coaching: special skills, special issues, high-threat situations. Goal = Peace

Executive / Strategic Coaching

What direction does the coachee want to take his or her team, department, or facility?

Short or long term planning help.

Budgets and financial planning.

Employee retention through staffing, hiring, and promoting.

Personal time and stress management tools.

Career Development Coaching

Formal education – return to school

Professional certifications

Exposure to training programs

Informal education – books, articles, web sites

Groups or associations to join

Creating mentor relationships

Performance Improvement Coaching

Use of time studies to track work hours.

Exposure to situations requiring more responsibility.

Pinpointing unproductive activities.

Teaching time management tools and habits.

Prioritizing tasks based on importance and urgency.

Corrective Coaching

Uses range from pre-discipline to post-discipline.

“Career rescue” issues.

Probationary period may be looming.

An attempt to address behavior within the Big Three and/or that affects patrons and staff in negative ways.

Issues that impact the coachee’s long term future with the organization.

Personal Accountability Meetings (PAM’s)

Otherwise known as having a “cards on the table meeting.”

Useful for employees who use sarcasm, negative opinions, idea killing, or bad body language.

Try explaining your expectations and asking the employee for his or her help.

Don’t argue or get overly-frustrated; tell the employee what he or she needs to do to comply.

Corrective Coaching Tools

1. Consulting with HR and / or your boss.

2. Use of the “paid day off.”

3. Short and long term Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs)

4. More goals, more often; more meetings; more often.

5. Teaching responsibility and accountability, by understanding consequence behaviors.

Special Problems Coaching

It’s not therapy; it’s a careful and ethical conversation which respects boundaries.

EAP education and referral.

Paid or unpaid time off (consult with HR)

Liaison with city / county / private agencies who can help.

Transition to a new job or career.

One Issue – One Meeting

For employees with many issues, concerns, or problem areas, it can feel like you need to solve everything, all at once.

Remember, small turns move an aircraft carrier and a little sun melts an iceberg.

Solve one presenting issue per meeting.

Ground Rules for Coaching Meetings

A goal for each session.

Respect for each other’s time.

No physical or electronic interruptions.

As-discussed confidentiality.

Completed homework or readings.

Preparation for the next session.

Building Rapport

Keep the coachee in his / her comfort zone.

Use self-directed humor.

Use analogies, stories, metaphorical language.

Fill silence or allow silence.

Overcome the coachee’s sense of frustration, fear, anxiety, apathy, or burnout.

Improve Your Listening Skills

Use as many open-ended questions as you can.

Look for ways to build “conversational momentum.”

Seek to “open the gates of self-interest.”

Limit your use of yes / no questions, except when you want agreement or closure.

Be comfortable with uncomfortable silences.

The Coachee’s List of Seven Choices

1. Leave the situation or the person.2. Live with the situation or the person.3. Change the situation or the person.4. Change your perception of the situation or the

person.5. Change your behaviors around the situation or

the person.6. Change both your perceptions and your

behaviors.7. Pretend you’ve changed.

Using the List of Seven ChoicesTwo-Person Exercise #3

Supervisor: Ask the employee, “What bugs you about your job?”

Use The List of Seven Choices to convince him or her that there are one or more solutions to the issue.

Tools for Focusing

Think about how you might use the following three tools to assist

your efforts during a coaching meeting . . .

The Keep / Stop / Start Tool

“What do I or we need to KEEP doing, because it’s working?”

“What do I or we need to STOP doing, because it’s not working?”

“What do I or we need to START doing, because it will work better?”

Using Keep / Stop / StartGroup Exercise #4

Using the Keep / Stop / Start approach with the index cards provided, develop a collection of responses to the issues, problems, or opportunities you’d like to solve at your facility.

Teaching the P.I.N. Tool

“What’s POSITIVE about the idea, proposal, policy, or plan?”

“What’s INTERESTING about the idea, proposal, policy, or plan?”

“Finally, what’s NEGATIVE about the idea, proposal, policy, or plan?”

Practicing with the P.I.N. Tool Group Exercise #5

Use the P.I.N. Tool with your group members on a topic provided by your course leader.

Using the Three C’s Tool

COMMUNICATE – Let them tell you their issue,

without being judgmental. Listen carefully,

without interrupting.

CLARIFY – Use paraphrasing questions to make

certain you understand their concerns. Ask for

their solutions or suggest your own.

COMMIT – Get their promise for a commitment to

action. When will they start doing what you’ve

both now agreed upon?

Coaching Meeting Steps

1. Plan for the meeting. (time, place, any handouts)

2. Open the meeting. (build rapport, discus the

purpose)

3. Describe any problem areas. (being specific)

4. Help the employee generate solutions. (ownership)

5. Discuss the solutions. (fine tune the choices)

6. Describe employee’s strengths. (reward successes)

7. Discuss a development plan. (next session)

8. Close the meeting. (with thanks and a recap)

Potential Reactions to Coaching

Tears?

Anger and constant disagreement?

Arguing each point?

Overly-agreeable?

Insubordinate?

Appreciative and cooperative?

Misconceptions On CoachingMisconceptions On Coaching

The “Narcissistic Supervisor / Rescuer.”

The employee as needy or incompetent.

The supervisor “fixes” the employee.

The supervisor as a cheerleader.

The myth of the “all-purpose coach.”

Giving advice as a “life coach.”

Coaching the Big Four:

The Rising Star, The Problem Child, The Plow Horse, and The Smart

Slacker

Coaching Candidates

Smart Slacker Rising Star

Problem Child Plow Horse

Real Contribution

Pot

entia

l Con

trib

utio

n

Low High

High

© 2005 Dr. Steve Albrecht

Coaching the Big Four

Smart Slackers – Confront their behavior, attitude, or performance. Remind them of their “legacy employee” status. Ask for their help.

Problem Children – Use your progressive discipline process. Ask them to make a stay/go choice.

Plow Horses – Encourage them to use option-thinking to problem-solve. Reward progress.

Shining Stars – Give them challenges but watch for job burnout. Create a career path.

Skill-Building Through Coaching Practice

Final Practice Exercise #7

The Coaching Contract

Based on specific behaviors, not labels.

S.M.A.R.T. Goals

Deadline-driven, results-oriented, reward-focused.

The employee owns the solutions.

Recognizing shared fates and shared responsibilities.

Influencing: The Hidden Tool

Your ability to persuade your people to do their work, not just by telling, but by selling.

Leadership is about building trust. It’s how you use your knowledge, experience, and intelligence to gently or boldly convince others to follow your directions.

It’s known as “walking the talk.”

The Coaching DynamicThe Coaching Dynamic

Assisted Discovery

Tutorial

Role

AdvisoryRole

“A Spectrum of Influence”