Management is a much misunderstood craft; indeed, it's not treated as a craft at all by many employed to do it. In too many organisations, management is thought of as simply "keeping an eye on the workers", much as a factory foreman might, and perhaps giving them a kick if they're not doing as well as you'd like. In fact, there is much more to being a really good manager, particularly in todays knowledge economy. The success of an organisation often depends on the clear thinking and good ideas of its staff, and their ability to put those ideas into action.
A manager's role in this is twofold; firstly it's to help develop their staff's thinking and problem solving facilities, and secondly, it's to move the obstacles out of the way. It's very common for employees to be promoted to their first management position on the basis of their excellence and expertise in their current job. This requires them to make a major change of worldview; up until now, they have been rewarded for their ability to do things quickly and well themselves, and suddenly, they're responsbible for the productivity and performance of others. When problems arise, their first instinct tends to be either to tell the team member how to deal with it, or just take over and do it themselves. This is all very well in the short term, but it will often create a culture of dependency where staff do not feel able or empowered to think for themselves, and where the manager is very overworked. A better long term solution is for the manager to help the team think for themselves, but how can this be achieved?
The word coaching produces all sorts of images in people's minds; a man in a tracksuit shouting from the sidelines of a sports field being just one of them, but professionally, coaching has a specific meaning. A coach is someone who facilitates the thinking of others, asking them questions and listening as they identify their own solutions to problems or challenges. A coach will spend time with their coachee identifying their goal, working through the possible ways to achieve it, and identifying actions to move towards it. This might sound like a rather time consuming way to do things, when you could simply tell the coachee the answer, but in the long run, it works very well. When you tell someone how to do something, they tend to learn that one isolated thing, but find it very hard to apply that learning to future challenges. When they find the solution for themselves, they gain useful additions to their own toolkit for problem solving, and a sense of empowerment in their ability to deal with things for themselves.
So, what does a coach actually DO?
Listens
In a good session, a coach will spend 80% of their time listening. This might sound rather passive, but in a way, it's the most valuable thing you can do. Simply by having an hour set aside to think about an issue, a coachee gains useful discipline; they are taken away from the regular work environment with its pressures and strains, and given the opportunity to focus on the issue. By listening, you provide them with a central point, a reason to stay on the topic and not simply let their minds wander. Listening provides excellent conditions for thinking, and many people find that, simply by talking through something, their thoughts attain an order they did not previously have, and options to make progress appear.
Ask Questions Which Broaden Thinking
Our education system encourages us at all times to narrow our thinking. In the classroom, we learn that there is one right answer, and we will be rewarded for finding it. When you're up against a problem that you can't solve, it's because the solution you have narrowed down to isn't working, so you need to broaden your thinking to consider other options.
Reflects Back and Clarifies
The coach can help the coachee with their thinking by reflecting back what they have said, perhaps in the same words, or perhaps in different words. This can help the coachee gain overview of the situation in a way which is hard when you are in the middle of a stream of consciousness.
Provides Accountability
When the coachee has identified strategies and actions to try in order to conquer their issue, the coach provides a level of accountability. Many people find that, just like New Year's Resolutions, plans they have made to develop at work are quietly forgotten as soon as things get difficult. Knowing that you will need to discuss progress with your coach again at a later session is a great stimulus to staying focussed and getting on with it!
Coaching is not a dark art; anyone can learn to do it. There are plenty of simple methods, and the book Coaching For Performance, by John Whitmore, will give you an immediate grounding in the GROW model, a popular and straightforward approach. We are so conditioned to giving people answers that it can be very challenging to sit on your hands and listen whilst the other person thinks for themselves, but the results are worth it, a million times over.
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