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 vs. 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 vs. 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 accepted a job in other city, Dan helped her get the job. This time, though, she was management. (COACHING, COUNSELING & MENTORING By Florence M. Stone)

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

WILL What 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?

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

REALITY What is happening now that tells you…? Describe the current situation… What made you realize that you need to do something different?

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

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

T

G R O

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

Develop Agree

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 file.

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 (ac tions 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