A coaching approach to people management offers a smarter alternative to endless performance warnings and difficult conversations. Instead of repeatedly telling people what not to do, coaching helps get to the root of the issue, build accountability and create lasting behavioural change.
Life as a coach can be a strange way to earn a living.
It can appear very negative on first inspection. I inhabit a world of performance management and even disciplinary proceedings. But it’s actually anything but negative.
A classic example I encounter is the person who doesn’t communicate appropriately. This could be anything from a manager, to a front-line worker. Somewhere along the line, there is a trail of informal and even formal complaints about this person’s ‘attitude’ and communication style. They have the makings of being a great member of staff, but once again you find yourself mopping up a mess within the team that was entirely preventable…
Or perhaps it’s their self-management in their role, such as managing workload.
So you do the right thing and ‘have a word’. You tell them what they’re doing isn’t appropriate, etc. and off they go. To do the exact same thing again. And on it goes, until finally your days are filled with grievance and disciplinary hearings. The whole thing often has an inevitability about it, BUT – there is another way!
Or perhaps it’s their self-management in their role, such as managing workload.
So you do the right thing and ‘have a word’. You tell them what they’re doing isn’t appropriate, etc. and off they go. To do the exact same thing again. And on it goes, until finally your days are filled with grievance and disciplinary hearings. The whole thing often has an inevitability about it, BUT – there is another way!
It’s a coaching approach… Read on to find out how…
Traditionally, disciplinary and performance management has relied on telling people what we don’t want them to do. This definitely has its place in your management toolkit, however…
The problem with this approach is 3-fold:
- It doesn’t get to the root of the problem
- It doesn’t help them find the resources to work out what they should do instead
- It doesn’t effectively build personal responsibility and accountability
This is where coaching as an approach comes into its own.
Before we go any further, do understand that coaching is no fluffy bunny approach – in fact just the opposite. This is a highly effective way to get to the root of the problem and give the responsibility for solving this right back to the person.
Before we go any further, do understand that coaching is no fluffy bunny approach – in fact just the opposite. This is a highly effective way to get to the root of the problem and give the responsibility for solving this right back to the person.
Here are two ways you can implement this approach in your workplace:
1. Take a coaching approach to managing people
This is simply to be clear about what you expect from the person, but then to use a coaching approach and questions to help them to come up with actions and solutions to resolve the issue.
This has the additional advantage of you easily being able to hold the person to account for any actions they set, which means they’re much more likely to follow this through, rather than taking your directions and suggestions.
2. Engaging a 1-to-1 professional coach
An external coach will have specialised tools and approaches to quickly get to the crux of the issue with the person. Often people don’t know what they don’t know, so using these approaches and a combination of coaching, training and mentoring means we can help the person explore and implement alternative ways to resolve the issue.
Areas I frequently work on with clients include building better communication styles with staff, managing their stress in high-pressure environments and changing mindsets to workload management.
As managers, you often don’t have the time to do this yourself and the confidential nature of coaching means people are much less defensive and likely to open up to the real challenges they’re facing.
If you’d like to develop People Management, Difficult Conversations, or Coaching Skills for yourself or your team, check out our latest training offers below.
This is simply to be clear about what you expect from the person, but then to use a coaching approach and questions to help them to come up with actions and solutions to resolve the issue.
This has the additional advantage of you easily being able to hold the person to account for any actions they set, which means they’re much more likely to follow this through, rather than taking your directions and suggestions.
2. Engaging a 1-to-1 professional coach
An external coach will have specialised tools and approaches to quickly get to the crux of the issue with the person. Often people don’t know what they don’t know, so using these approaches and a combination of coaching, training and mentoring means we can help the person explore and implement alternative ways to resolve the issue.
Areas I frequently work on with clients include building better communication styles with staff, managing their stress in high-pressure environments and changing mindsets to workload management.
As managers, you often don’t have the time to do this yourself and the confidential nature of coaching means people are much less defensive and likely to open up to the real challenges they’re facing.
If you’d like to develop People Management, Difficult Conversations, or Coaching Skills for yourself or your team, check out our latest training offers below.
Coaching and Training at BrightBird
At BrightBird, our coaching and training is practical and very human.
It’s about real conversations, real challenges and meaningful progress.
If you’re curious about our coaching and training support, even if you’re not sure what you’re quite looking for yet, then check out the support we offer your sector, or click the link to book an informal, no-obligation chat.
If you’re curious about our coaching and training support, even if you’re not sure what you’re quite looking for yet, then check out the support we offer your sector, or click the link to book an informal, no-obligation chat.
