The Seven Keys to Coaching Power

Seven Keys for Coaching Power: An Application Handbook for Leaders on the Front Line Stella Louise Cowan

HRD Press, Inc. • Amherst • Massachusetts

Copyright © 2006, Stella Cowan

All rights reserved. It is a violation of the law to reproduce, store in a retrieval system, or transmit, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, any part of this publication without the prior written permission of HRD Press, Inc.

Published by: HRD Press, Inc. 22 Amherst Road Amherst, Massachusetts 01002 1-800-822-2801 (U.S. and Canada) 1-413-253-3488 1-413-253-3490 (fax) http://www.hrdpress.com

ISBN: 0-87425-930-4

Production services by Anctil Virtual Office Cover design by Eileen Klockars Editorial services by Suzanne Bay and Sally Farnham

List of Tools......................................................................................... vii Introduction .......................................................................................

1

Why Coach?......................................................................................... 3 Situations That Call for Coaching ...................... 4 The Return on Investment of Coaching.............. 4 Why Leaders Sometimes Stay Away from Coaching ............................... 6 Assessing Your Current Coaching Level/Capacity ................................. 7 Self-Evaluation Instructions ............................... 8 So what’s your score?........................................... 12 When should you coach?...................................... 13 Coaching: A Multistep Process ........................... 14 Coaching Key #1: Stay Observant ................................................. 15 Performance Coaching ........................................ 15 Career-Development Coaching ........................... 23

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Coaching Key #2: Use Effective Tools and Methods.................. Create a systematic tracking process ................. Use organizational reports in coaching/development ................................. Track application of training information, skills, and behaviors .................. Use effective methods to support and track career development ...........

27 28

Coaching Key #3: Call a One-on-One Meeting ............................ Preparation and Pre-Planning: Essential Elements.......................................... Preparing for the One-on-One Coaching Meeting ....................... Two Sides of Human Interactions.......................

39

Coaching Key #4: Call Attention to Performance Behaviors .............................. Providing Feedback ............................................. Providing Feedback: Practice.............................. Use feedback to encourage good performance............................................. Use positive reinforcement.................................. Coaching Key #5: Explain Improvement Expectations ............ Improvement Expectations ................................. Documenting and Preparing Thoroughly ........... Documenting the Outcome of a Coaching Session ............................................. Informal Consequences .......................................

iv

29 33 36

39 40 41 49 50 51 54 55 63 64 67 67 68

CONTENTS

Coaching Key #6: Support Commitment to Development Actions .................................. 69 Six Essential Actions........................................... 69 Additional Ideas/Tips .......................................... 70 Coaching Key #7: Stay Connected................................................. 75 Plan to Stay Connected ....................................... 76 Implementation Planning ................................... 83

v

Why Coach? Reasons for Coaching .......................................... 5 Common Reasons for Avoiding Coaching ........... 6 Coaching for Success Self-Evaluation Tool ........ 9 The Seven Keys for Coaching Power .................. 13 Work Situations That Might Require Coaching............................................. 14 Coaching Key #1: Stay Observant Checklist for Performance................................... Worksheet: Is this a performance coaching opportunity?................ Performance Coaching Opportunities ................ Performance Coaching Worksheet...................... Career-Development Coaching ........................... Career-Development Checklist ........................... Coaching Key #2: Use Effective Tools and Methods Employee Performance Monitoring Form .......... Sample Performance Incident-Tracking Tool .................................... Sample Performance-Tracking Grid................... Worksheet: Training Application Coaching ....... Development-Support Ideas for Employees .......

17 18 20 22 24 25 29 30 31 34 38

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Coaching Key #3: Call a One-on-One Meeting Coaching Meeting Pre-Planning Resolutions..... Coaching Discussion Planner.............................. Meeting Debrief ................................................... Coaching Action Plan .......................................... Coaching Key #4: Call Attention to Performance Behaviors Four Elements for Performance Feedback ......... Suggested Feedback ............................................ Performance Feedback Worksheet: TIPE Model ...................................................... Role Practice ........................................................ Coaching One-on-One Meeting Planner ............. Performance Feedback Worksheet: TIPE Model ...................................................... Role Practice: Evaluation .................................... Self-Evaluation ....................................................

40 44 45 47 50 52 53 56 58 59 60 62

Coaching Key #5: Explain Improvement Expectations Performance Improvement Plan Worksheet ...... 65 Coaching Key #6: Support Commitment to Development Actions Performance Support: Action Planner................ 72 Coaching Key #7: Stay Connected Tips for Staying Connected ................................. Role Practice ........................................................ Coaching One-on-One Meeting Planner ............. Role Practice: Evaluation .................................... Self-Evaluation .................................................... Determining Your Roadmap to Success ............. Development Planning Form ..............................

viii

76 77 79 80 82 83 84

Welcome to Seven Keys for Coaching Power, a quick-focus book about the power of coaching. Coaching is a valuable leadership tool that can help your staff members improve their work performance. So, let’s move on to the purpose of this book: to help you become a “Hall of Fame” coaching success. Success is the key word here; it spells out the steps in the coaching model introduced in the book and it is what you will become if you make effective use of these tools and techniques: • Address staff performance improvement needs. • Help employees apply new learning back on the job. • Help employees implement their career plans.

1

To get us started, let’s explore why leaders need to be good coaches. The information in this section will give you a clear idea of what coaching is and what skills it requires. It will also help you identify how effective you are as a coach. You will complete several inventories to assess your coaching level or capacity. Let’s start with square one: definitions. A leader is called upon to provide performance coaching, but also to provide training-application coaching and sometimes career coaching. Let’s look at three key definitions: • Performance Coaching: Helping employees improve performance by bringing attention to performance gaps, providing constructive feedback, tracking actions to close the gap, and reinforcing positive performance. • Training-Application Coaching: Helping employees apply information learned in training through positive reinforcement, modeling, demonstration, or guided instruction. • Career Coaching: Working with employees to refine and implement their career plans by actively supporting their participation in appropriate development activities, and by willingly sharing time, advice, knowledge, and experience.

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Situations That Call for Coaching . . . • Insufficient knowledge or understanding about job responsibilities or performance expectations • Uncertainty about how to apply information learned in training • Inadequate or no tools to perform job responsibilities • Insufficient information regarding job responsibilities • Need for guidance or support to implement career plan • Need for immediate counseling on performance gaps

The Return on Investment of Coaching Let’s be honest. The majority of us need to know how we will benefit personally before we modify our behavior. The same is true for making the decision to ratchet up your coaching to full throttle. Why should you improve your coaching skills? Read the statements on the next page and think about whether or not you consider them to be true.

4

WHY COACH?

Reasons for Coaching Coaching . . . 1. Makes a leader’s job easier when employees build their skill levels. 2. Facilitates increased delegation so that a manager has more time to truly manage 3. Enhances a manager’s or leader’s reputation as a developer of their staff 4. Improves productivity when employees know what the department’s goals are and how to accomplish them 5. Creates sharing of leadership responsibilities 6. Provides positive recognition and feedback, which increases staff motivation and initiative 7. Increases the probability that tasks will be completed in a quality way 8. Prevents surprise and defensiveness during performance reviews 9. Increases the innovation and creativity of your department, since employees feel good about taking risks 10. Improves team cohesion as a result of increased clarity around goals and roles (department and individual) 11. Increases a department’s overall skills and knowledge base when staff members participate in targeted career-development activities

Coaching can do all of these things.

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Why Leaders Sometimes Stay Away from Coaching Are you inclined to avoid coaching? Well, you are not alone. There are many reasons why leaders stay away from coaching. Fifteen of the most common are listed on the next page. Check those that you feel most accurately apply to you. Use the additional space provided to list additional reasons why you avoid coaching. Common Reasons for Avoiding Coaching ✔

I stay away from coaching because . . .

_____

1. I don’t have time.

_____

2. I fear failure.

_____

3. I don’t want to frighten or overwhelm a new employee.

_____

4. Coaching does not feel comfortable.

_____

5. No one coached me; I don’t have a role model.

_____

6. My staff is too large.

_____

7. Everyone on my staff should be able to figure out how to do things on their own.

_____

8. I doubt that my staff will be open to coaching.

_____

9. No one on my staff ever asks for help.

_____ 10. Everyone on my staff is motivated, and no one needs feedback. _____ 11. Everyone’s performance is pretty close to acceptable. _____ 12. I don’t want to make anyone on my staff defensive. _____ 13. The work quality I expect is obvious; my staff should know what to do. _____ 14. I’m not interested in whether my staff is developed or not. _____ 15. My staff does not need career development; the experience of doing the job well is development enough.

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WHY COACH?

Assessing Your Current Coaching Level/Capacity Greater self-awareness is a key to any development process, and that’s what you have been doing as you engaged in the last several activities. The self-evaluation on pages 9–11 takes this process a step further. It helps you identify your current ability to coach. You have to know where you are before you can plot a path for improvement and move forward. Read each statement on the self-evaluation and rate yourself on the following scale: 0 = To No Extent, 1 = To a Little Extent, 2 = To a Moderate Extent, 3 = To a Great Extent, and 4 = To a Very Great Extent. Be honest with yourself, and don’t worry about getting a high or perfect score. Remember: The purpose of this book is to help you understand your coaching style and to learn strategies and behaviors that contribute to good coaching.

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Self-Evaluation Instructions

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WHY COACH?

Coaching for Success Self-Evaluation Tool 0 = To No Extent 1 = To a Little Extent 2 = To a Moderate Extent

3 = To a Great Extent 4 = To a Very Great Extent

0

1

2

3

4

Points

1. I am careful not to share information given in trust. 2. I do things to build employees’ self-esteem. 3. I am good at reassuring employees who are insecure about performing a task. 4. I support employees’ efforts to take risks by reviewing their mistakes with them in the spirit of “lessons learned,” and encouraging them to take on new/different tasks. 5. I balance empathy and directness in responding to employees’ feelings about performance problems. (“Andy, while I understand your frustration over the pressure to learn several new procedures, I can’t ignore your decline in performance.”) 6. I balance empathy and directness in responding to employees’ feelings about a work-relationship problem (“Eve, I can see you’re upset by what you see as Bob’s resistance to your ideas. I might feel the same way in your situation. However, your feelings are showing, and they’re starting to affect the work group.”) 7. I support employees’ efforts to figure out a solution to a difficult assignment by explaining a process I might use and removing roadblocks that are out of their control. 8. I help employees figure out a solution for handling competing priorities by explaining the process I use and by reviewing the impact of each priority on the department’s initiatives. 9. I give meetings with employees my complete attention, and avoid responding to distractions.

(continued)

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Coaching for Success Self-Evaluation Tool (continued) 0 = To No Extent 1 = To a Little Extent 2 = To a Moderate Extent

3 = To a Great Extent 4 = To a Very Great Extent

0

1

2

3

4

Points

10. I help employees feel secure about their ability to solve problems by providing positive reinforcement and demonstrating how things might be done. 11. I take into account employees’ abilities and skills when assigning projects. 12. I support employees’ efforts to apply to their job the information learned in training. 13. I provide employees with information about their performance on a consistent basis. 14. I pay attention to employees’ behaviors that suggest that they are questioning their ability to handle a particular assignment (e.g., hesitation, procrastination, missed deadlines, passive/submissive body language, a direct statement, etc.). 15. I provide employees with prompt performance feedback. 16. I provide employees with targeted and specific performance feedback. 17. I give employees balanced performance feedback (what the employee needs to improve and what the employee did well). 18. I make sure that employees clearly understand what’s expected of them when I give them an assignment or project (the purpose of the assignment, the deadline, and the anticipated outcomes or deliverables, constraints, etc.). 19. I provide employees with key information and tools they can use to achieve the outcomes or deliverables of an assignment.

(continued) 10

WHY COACH?

Coaching for Success Self-Evaluation Tool (concluded) 0 = To No Extent 1 = To a Little Extent 2 = To a Moderate Extent

3 = To a Great Extent 4 = To a Very Great Extent

0

1

2

3

4

Points

20. I encourage and challenge employees to set “stretch” goals (to learn a new task, take on a new project, cross-train for a different job, increase quality numbers, etc.). 21. I actively support employees’ efforts to reach “stretch” goals by meeting with them periodically to review progress and providing resources to support success. 22. I use the organizational tools available to me to track or monitor employees’ performance. 23. I continue to check in regularly or semi-regularly with employees whom I have counseled regarding performance. 24. I make sure employees understand any consequences related to continued poor performance. 25. I work with employees to develop and implement a plan for improving performance. Total Points

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So what’s your score? See where your skill level falls on the four-quadrant grid below. Rookie (Score 0–75) You have potential. You’re possibly aware of performance gaps within your staff but haven’t looked at those gaps as coaching opportunities. With practice, you’ll be ready for the pros.

Ready for the Pros (Score 76–85) You have potential to be a coaching All Star. You’re probably aware of coaching needs among your staff, and to some degree translate those needs into coaching opportunities.

12

All Star (Score 86–95) You’re hitting your stride and are approaching Hall of Fame status. You have the talent to recognize coaching needs and apply the right strategy. You practically throw a pass every time you identify a coaching need or engage in coaching. Hall of Fame (Score 96–100) You’re a role model for other leader coaches. You’re quick on your feet when faced with performance behaviors or attitudes that signal a coaching need. You know how to draw on and use organizational resources in addressing coaching issues. You’re skilled at tracking performance after initial feedback sessions, and intervening as appropriate.

WHY COACH?

When should you coach? Knowing when and how to coach is a key skill that is essential if you are to become a good coach. To master these two things, you need to know and apply the seven keys for coaching power. The Seven Keys for Coaching Power

Key #1: Stay observant of your staff so that you can identify coaching needs as soon as possible. Key #2: Use effective tools and methods to track performance. Key #3: Conduct a one-on-one meeting promptly to: • Address poor performance • Support on-the-job application of concepts learned in training • Support refining and implementing an employee’s career plan Key #4: Call attention to: • Poor performance behaviors or actions through targeted, incident-based feedback • Problems with on-the-job application of training. Use esteem-building, guided instruction, and demonstration/ modeling. Key #5 Explain any discipline steps or consequences that might result if the performance or behavior is not improved or changed to satisfaction. Key #6: Help employees take development action or implement formal performance improvement plans. Key #7: Stay connected by following up on progress and providing additional feedback.

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Coaching: A Multistep Process As you can see, good coaching is a multistep process. It is also practical and straightforward. Each of the steps in the process will be discussed in detail in the next several chapters of this book. Use the tips, worksheets, tools, and job aids included in each section to help you apply the seven keys for coaching power. Use the checklist below to determine coaching situations you’ve been in. Work Situations That Might Require Coaching Directions: Check any of these situations that you have been personally involved in. Training and orientation of a new employee Instructing an employee in a new job skill Explaining the department’s work requirements or standards Giving on-the-job support after a training session Explaining a change in a job process/procedure Helping an employee prepare for more complex/challenging assignments Explaining a change in the department’s goals, initiatives, or vision Cross-training an employee for other jobs in the department Helping an employee prepare to implement his/her career plan Helping an employee assess his/her assignment load and set priorities Communicating to an employee that his/her performance is poor or marginal Conducting a formal or informal performance review Helping an employee adjust to a new job role/experience Giving an employee correction related to a simple performance situation Giving feedback or input to an employee who wants to become a top performer

14

Performance Coaching If an employee approaches you with a specific problem, wonderful! Your role as a leader has just been simplified. However, what about those employees who never approach you, even though you make it clear that you have an open-door policy? You may have to take the initiative, observing and responding to signals that indicate performance difficulties as you see them. Signals that indicate performance difficulties: • • • • • • • • • • •

Not meeting work standards Missed deadlines Poor organization Looking to others for direction Frequent absences Frequent tardiness Missed appointments Little or limited progress on assignments Customer complaints Absence from the work station for long periods of time Avoiding difficult projects or assignments

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Attitudinal signals that indicate performance difficulties: • Voice tone (weak, low) • Speech pattern (hesitation, slow) • Body language (closed) • Facial expression (uncertainty, confusion) • Engagement (lack of engagement, low energy, low enthusiasm, limited involvement with others) Thinking through a potential coaching situation is essential if you want to be a highly effective coach. With that in mind, use the checklist on the next page to pinpoint environment factors related to the coaching need. Thinking through the situation and using the checklist to diagnose the need will help you select the right coaching tactics. Use the questions to evaluate actions you’ve taken in response to an ongoing coaching opportunity.

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COACHING KEY #1: STAY OBSERVANT

Checklist for Performance Yes

No 1. Does the employee know what is expected of him/her? (specific performance quality and productivity standards) 2. Does the employee have the tools needed to perform the job? (computer headset, note-paper, special software, etc.) 3. Does the employee have the knowledge needed to do the task? (understanding how to use a telephone console, knowing good telephone etiquette, etc.) 4. Does the employee have the information needed to do the task? (reports, directories, telephone numbers, policies, etc.) 5. Does the employee know the consequences of continued ineffective performance? 6. Has the employee received quality feedback on his/her ineffective performance? 7. Has the employee received proper training in how to perform the task effectively? 8. Are the standards for the task realistic and attainable? (total talk time per call, number of calls completed per hour, etc.) 9. Are the expected deliverables for the project realistic and obtainable? (completed report, implementation of a new process, etc.) 10. Are there roadblocks to effective performance that are out of the employee’s sphere of control that affect performance? (i.e., an uncooperative person in another department who must provide key information, debilitating illness, etc.) 11. Have I given the employee positive reinforcement for performance improvement? 12. Have I worked with the employee to develop a plan for performance improvement? 13. Does the employee know how to use information or skills learned in training on the job? 14. Does the employee know how to use tools on the job that were provided in training? 15. Are there positive consequences for good performance? (verbal or written recognition, monetary reward, pay increase, scheduling flexibility, etc.)

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Worksheet: Is this a performance coaching opportunity?

Directions: Read the following five scenarios and determine whether or not there is a need for coaching. Identify the behaviors, actions, or situation that drew you to your conclusion.

Behaviors, actions, or situation

Yes

No

1. Margo has just joined your staff. She has several years of experience in telephone customer service. She is also working part-time on her degree in communications. She is eager to do a good job, and is excited about working with her new team. You want to make sure she gets off to a good start. 2. Dan has been on your staff for two years. He recently attended training on the new procedures for documenting complex cases. He’s back from training, and you’ve given him the responsibility as the lead person for handling complex cases. 3. Sally has been on your staff for eighteen months. She is dependable, and usually does a good job. You have been experimenting with giving her increasing responsibility. Although she accepts whatever task/project you give her, you noticed that she isn’t consistently meeting her deadlines. Also, she seems a little frustrated sometimes, and the quality of her work these days is not as good as in the past.

(continued)

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COACHING KEY #1: STAY OBSERVANT

Worksheet: Is this a performance coaching opportunity? (concluded) Behaviors, actions, or situation

Yes

No

4. Harvey has been on your team for five years. He views himself as the resident expert because of his longevity. He loves to answer questions from the new members of the team. In fact, he encourages them to seek him out when they can’t handle a customer situation. However, his answers are not always right. In fact, his performance has been below standards for a while. He isn’t meeting his production numbers, and his error rate has been steadily increasing. 5. Bridgett is relatively new to your staff. She is still in the six-month probationary period. She attended the required training for the job, and for the most part, her work has been fine. But you have received a few customer complaints about her follow-through on situations that couldn’t be resolved during the customer’s initial telephone call. Bridgett is expected to investigate the situation and call the customer back. She always promises to get back to the customer, but sometimes that doesn’t happen or doesn’t happen in the time period promised.

After you have jotted down some of your observations, consider discussing the same scenarios with a friend or colleague to get his or her perspective on these real-world dilemmas. Then compare your observations and recommendations with those provided on pages 20 and 21.

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Which of the five scenarios appearing on pages 18 and 19 present opportunities to do some performance coaching? All of them, for different reasons. Compare your observations and diagnoses with those below. Then go over each scenario to see if there are similar situational opportunities in your work environment. Performance Coaching Opportunities Margo Margo is a new employee. You will need to make sure she is set up to succeed. Send her to any required training, and talk to her about the job expectations (i.e., performance quality and production standards, work environment “rules” such as signing out for lunch, schedule for staff meetings). Make sure she has the tools and resources she needs (e.g., log on for the computer system, telephone directory) and knows how to use them. Also, share information about your leadership style (e.g., your approach to team work).

Dan Dan has just returned from training, and you’ve given him a new responsibility. Give Dan support in applying what he has learned to his job. Ask him what help or resources he needs and determine how you can provide what he needs. If he needs a review on how to do a particular activity, demonstrate it for him. Spend a few minutes with him to find out how comfortable he is in his new role. To the extent that Dan needs it, build his selfesteem with positive reinforcement.

Sally Sally is relatively new (eighteen months on the job). You have been giving Sally an increased level of responsibility, but she has been missing deadlines and appears frustrated, and her work quality has been falling. Make sure you explain the requirements of every assignment you give Sally (i.e., what’s specifically expected of her in terms of deadlines and quality). Ask her what you can do to help her meet her deadlines. Find out what the roadblocks are that prevent her from meeting her deadlines (e.g., lack of knowledge, poor organizational skills, low confidence). Work with her on removing those roadblocks (classroom training, on-the-job instructing, etc.). Monitor Sally’s progress more closely. Set up a schedule for Sally to check in with you and hold informal chats twice a week. Consider whether or not Sally is the best person for the assignments.

(continued)

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COACHING KEY #1: STAY OBSERVANT

Performance Coaching Opportunities (concluded) Harvey Harvey views himself as the department expert. He encourages new team members to come to him with customer situations they can’t solve, but he is giving them incorrect information in many instances. He’s also missing deadlines and not meeting quality standards. You need to address Harvey’s self-appointed role of “expert.” Collect data on the number of incorrect answers Harvey has given out and the consequences (customer complaints, lost production, missed opportunities, re-work, etc.). Let Harvey know that while you appreciate his good intentions (to help), the result has been additional work and customer complaints. Go over Harvey’s production and quality report with him and point out specific errors. Discuss the impact of those errors. Be sure you point out any positive things on the report, and commend him on the positive impact of those things.

Bridgett Bridgett is new to the job (in her six-month probationary period). She has been to training, but you’ve received customer complaints about her work. Her follow-through is poor. Find out why Bridgett’s follow-through is poor. Is it a weakness in her skill base? Does she lack some particular knowledge? Does she have the tools and resources needed for the task and understand how to use them? Talk with her and talk with the customers who are complaining. Give Bridgett targeted feedback on the things that have gone wrong, and the consequences of the mistakes. Compliment her on those things that she has done well. Partner Bridgett with a more-experienced, high-performing employee she can learn from. Have Bridgett’s partner share how she/he manages deadlines and how she/he keeps the quality high. Work with Bridgett on some specific improvement actions she can implement, and meet with her periodically to track her progress. Encourage her effort.

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Performance Coaching Worksheet Directions: Use this worksheet when you are thinking through a potential performance coaching opportunity.

Summarize the performance problem. • What have you observed?

• Has there been a change in work quality? How long?

• Have you received negative input from customers? When? What did it entail?

• What have you observed relative to behavior (e.g., unengaged, low energy, hesitant speech pattern, expressions of confusion)?

22

Specific behaviors, actions, or situations that indicate a coaching need

COACHING KEY #1: STAY OBSERVANT

Career-Development Coaching You must be able to recognize and identify employees’ work performance gaps. This is essential if you are to get consistent, highquality performance from your staff. As your staff’s leader-coach, part of your job is to support them in reaching that high-quality level. Career development is another key to your staff’s success in reaching that high-quality level. As employees engage in development (gaining new skills), your department’s overall knowledge and skill base will also increase. Everybody wins. Other advantages: • Increased morale. As employees enjoy the momentum of learning new things and improving their skill levels, their morale increases. You have shown an interest in their career development, which also builds morale. • Increased loyalty. When you set aside time for career-related development, employees see that you trust and value them. They become more loyal to you and the company. • Shared training and coaching responsibilities. When employees learn new skills and improve old skills, they are often able to act as peer coaches or trainers. • Increased self-confidence among staff. When employees expand their knowledge and apply what they learn on the job successfully, they build confidence. They also gain more self- and peer-esteem, as they are able to handle detailed or more-complex work successfully. • Opportunities for creating new knowledge/expertise pockets in your department. When you work with employees to target specific development areas and activities, you strategically create “job-knowledge experts” in your department.

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Career-Development Coaching

When should you step in and offer an employee help in career development? Here are ten signs: 1. The individual seeks time from you to review his/her “business case” for engaging in career-development activities. 2. The individual has attended the career-development workshop, but does not take the next step or appears uncertain about how to put what was learned into action. 3. The individual expresses a desire to take on more-complex or unique tasks. 4. The individual asks about opportunities to assume a different role within the department. 5. The individual expresses uncertainty about what the most appropriate activity is for a specific development area. 6. The individual expresses an interest in obtaining financial help to return to college, but is not using the tuition reimbursement program. 7. The individual asks about internal programs or courses for professional development. 8. The individual shows an interest in moving up in the department or division. 9. The individual shows remarkable potential in a particular skill area (e.g., collecting, compiling, and analyzing data) that is a key area in the department or division. 10. The individual has recently earned a college degree or certification.

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COACHING KEY #1: STAY OBSERVANT

Use this checklist when you are helping an employee develop themselves professionally. Career-Development Checklist Directions: Check off the steps as you and the employee complete them.

Action Steps in Career Development

Notes

̊ The employee has attended the career-development workshop. ̊ I have contacted the employee or the employee has contacted me to set up a meeting to discuss his/her development plan.

̊ I have met with the employee to discuss his/her business case for the specific development activities on the plan.

̊ I have reviewed the employee’s plan within the context of the following questions: • Where does the employee need the most development? • What programs or courses are available internally for development? • How much is in the budget for training and development? • What are the department’s needs now and in the future, regarding skill and knowledge sets? • What are other people in the department doing for development to advance themselves?

̊ I have helped the employee refine his/her plan by doing the following: • Listening attentively to the employee’s point-of-view. • Having a two-way discussion with the employee on the pros and cons of the development options listed in his/her plan. • Reaching an agreement with the employee on which development options to pursue. • Making sure that the agreement takes into account the questions listed in the previous bullet. • Requesting that the employee submit a development options implementation calendar.

̊ I have met with the employee to review the implementation calendar, as well as initiated actions to help him or her complete the items on the calendar.

̊ I have worked with the employee on a plan to apply what he/she learns in the development activities on the job (e.g., presenting at a staff meeting, acting as a peer coach, taking a real work group to training and using it as a case example).

25

Use effective tools and methods to track employees’ performance. The results provide support for your observations. Also, they give you specific information for targeted feedback to the employee. Targeted feedback tells the employee exactly what he/she did. The more targeted the feedback, the better. The bottom line is you want to address the specific reason(s) for the coaching situation. Here are some examples of tools and methods: • Computerized performance reports on production flow • Department performance standards • Customer surveys (telephone, focus groups, written) • Work quality review • Project plans • Work summary reports (completed by employee) • Quality analyst (person responsible full-time for monitoring the quality of employees’ work and providing feedback) • Critical incident reports • Production tracking/tally worksheet (completed daily or weekly by employees) • Performance review information • Training program post-test

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Create a systematic tracking process. Use a systematic process to track performance. It needs to be a consistent, fair, and reliable process that works with existing organizational methods used for this purpose. However, try to be creative in instituting additional tracking tools that complement the organizational methods. Ask yourself these questions to help you improve your tracking and monitoring efforts: • What organizational tools or methods are used to track performance? Do I make maximum use of them for coaching and development purposes? • Is my staff aware of and familiar with the organizational methods used to track their performance? How can I familiarize or educate them about these methods? • How can I make better use of the information from these methods for performance-development purposes (e.g., target areas for “stretch” goals)? • How do I record performance observations? Do I use a systematic, consistent, organized, purposeful process, such as a grid showing the performance situation, the person’s actions, and the results of the actions? • What methods can I create to track performance? Make telephone calls to customers? Fill out critical-incident reports? “Manage by walking around”? • How will I introduce these methods to my staff and gain their buy-in?

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COACHING KEY #2: USE EFFECTIVE TOOLS AND METHODS

Use organizational reports in coaching/development. Use a form like the one below to monitor performance patterns. It can help you organize specific data about your staff’s performance that you can then translate into coaching opportunities. Employee Performance Monitoring Form Organizational Method

Type of Report

Ways I can use the information for coaching or development

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Use a chart like the one below to track specific examples of poor performance so that you have behavioral-based information. This allows you to give targeted feedback for improvement and development planning. Sample Performance Incident-Tracking Tool Performance Incident • What was the job task or customer situation? • What happened? • What did the employee do and/or say exactly? • What did the employee fail to say and/or do?

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Outcome from Incident

How Incident Should Have Been Handled

• What happened as a result of the way the employee handled the situation?

• What should the employee have done or said?

• Did the customer express or show dissatisfaction?

• Why would this have been better or more effective?

• Was the customer given wrong or incorrect information? • Was additional work or rework performed?

• What would the outcome have been if the employee had done this?

COACHING KEY #2: USE EFFECTIVE TOOLS AND METHODS

Use a chart like the one below to track employee performance. Sample Performance-Tracking Grid Employee’s name

Client need or request

Time spent on call

Were the correct or right questions asked?

Was client’s need interpreted accurately?

Was the information given accurately?

Were appropriate follow-up actions taken?

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Sample Performance-Tracking Grid (concluded) Employee’s Name: Total cases

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

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Average time spent on each case

Average score on quality reviews

Average completed cases per week

Comments from customers (surveys, etc.)

COACHING KEY #2: USE EFFECTIVE TOOLS AND METHODS

Track application of training information, skills, and behaviors. You must track performance under regular circumstances, but you also need to track the transfer of training information or skills to the job. You need to know how successful each employee has been in taking what he or she learned during training and using it effectively on the job. This will help in three essential ways: • Tracking helps you identify coaching needs promptly. • Tracking can ease an employee’s anxiety about successfully using what he/she has learned in class. • Tracking increases the probability of successful learning transfer and speeds up the time frame. It is important that you help employees apply what they’ve learned, and you can do that with a simple “learning-transfer” tracking or implementation plan. Essential Elements of an Implementation Plan The point of tracking is to help your employees apply what they learned, so you will need to know these things: • What did the individual learn (specific information, skills, and behaviors)? • What is the time frame in which the individual should be able to perform the task at 100 percent? • How will you measure the individual’s progress? • How will you track the individual’s progress? • How will you help the individual progress? • How will you build the individual’s confidence that he or she can succeed? The sample plan on the next page outlines the kind of information you need. Use the worksheet as-is or create your own to track employee progress. 33

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Take a proactive approach, using the tool below, toward helping employees apply what they have learned when they return from training by devising a tracking system. The most important part of training is applying the new concepts back on the job. Worksheet: Training Application Coaching What did the employee learn? • Information/knowledge (e.g., new disposition codes for calls, new procedures for documentation) • Skills (e.g., steps for creating an automated data file for customer marketing profiles) • Behaviors (e.g., telephone etiquette, such as saying “thank you” whenever the customer offers information) What is the time frame for performing the task at 100 percent? • What does 100 percent performance look like? (customer ratings, quality and production standards, etc.) • Is the employee aware of these expectations? • Would a graduated performance scale be appropriate? (If so, work with the employee to create a plan.)

(continued)

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COACHING KEY #2: USE EFFECTIVE TOOLS AND METHODS

Worksheet: Training Application Coaching (concluded) How will you measure progress? • What are the metrics and/or milestones for measuring application progress? • Will you use a graduated scale of performance? • What will it be based on? (the difficulty of the task, the average time it has taken employees in the past to get up to speed, the current work volume, customer satisfaction, etc.) How will you track progress? • What process or techniques will you use? (scheduled review of work, weekly “quick-focus” meetings, biweekly e-mails or voice mails from the employee on his/her progress, informal observation, etc.) How will you help the individual? • What processes will you implement? (peer mentoring, buddy system, designated period for observing/ shadowing experienced employee, periodic feedback, etc.) How will you build the employee’s confidence? • Possible ways include department celebration at small or big milestones (such as reduced inventory after applying a new procedure), individual recognition based on customer feedback or your observations, etc.

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Use effective methods to support and track career development. Career planning can be a powerful tool for developing and rewarding your staff, and for increasing your department’s knowledge or skill capacity. The result can be a boost to your department’s performance. To achieve this, you need to think strategically. Identify the advantages for you, your department, and your staff. Use the suggestions on this page and the next page to help you develop your plan for supporting and tracking career-planning needs. The worksheet on page 38 is also a helpful source of information and ideas. Think strategically and look for mutual advantage. • Think about your department’s big picture (vision, products/ service produced, work distribution, etc.) and create a careerdevelopment strategy that takes into account the entire department’s needs. Think like the football coach who creates a game plan for the Sunday match: He considers the overall goal to win within the context of factors such as player strengths and weaknesses, the other team’s assets, and opportunities for players to gain experience or build skill that might pay off in the future. • Think about the skills employees will need in the future to do the job in your department—not just the current skills they need. • Think about ways to serve your customers better. What kinds of development activities will help you do that? Try to strike a balance between what members of your staff want to do for development and the activities that will improve the department’s ability to serve customers.

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COACHING KEY #2: USE EFFECTIVE TOOLS AND METHODS

• Think beyond training. Career coaching also means sharing your thoughts, listening, giving advice, recommending resources, and putting employees in contact with experts. • Think about training and development accomplishments that will keep your department competitive. • Think about ways to work with your staff on application plans for using what they learn (e.g., present at a staff meeting, act as a peer coach, take a real work group to training and use their experiences as a case example, etc.). • Think about ways to create a “development time-niche” in your schedule for focusing on your staff’s development needs and options (e.g., two hours every other Tuesday).

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Share some of these ideas with your staff: Development-Support Ideas for Employees 1. Start an “answer to tough or unique situations” journal.

2. Inquire about participation on special committees or work groups.

3. Articulate your career expectations (to yourself and to others).

4. Develop an internal contact list/network. Ask yourself: Who do I know? Who have I worked for/reported to? Who have I contacted with? Who have I worked with on a committee or work group? Who have I attended training with? Who have I helped to solve a problem or meet a need?

5. Develop an external contact list/network. Think about former co-workers, former managers, college instructors, college classmates, and volunteer groups.

6. Start a list of tips that you find will make your job easier and still meet customers’ expectations. Share the list with the department.

7. Get a copy of and review the corporate organizational chart. Get copies of and review the division’s and the department’s organizational chart.

8. Review the resources, tools, and training materials in your department. Identify ways to use information from the materials for your development.

9. Think of a way to showcase what you learned in training/ development activity— e.g., present at a staff meeting, share the high points through an e-mail or voice mail.

10. Attend college day. Prepare questions ahead of time that you’d like to have answered, and ask them of college representatives. Note the answers. Collect information.

11. Request catalogues from local colleges, and review them to familiarize yourself with the requirements for programs that interest you.

13. Contact local colleges by telephone for information on their programs. Make an appointment to talk to a college career counselor.

14. Talk to HR about tuition reimbursement.

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12. Contact HR for job descriptions of positions that might interest you. Identify the education, skills, and experience gaps you need to close to meet requirements for the positions.

Call a one-on-one meeting promptly to: • Address poor performance • Support on-the-job application of concepts learned in training It is critical that you address performance issues or training applications problems promptly, directly, and privately.

Preparation and Pre-Planning: Essential Elements However, calling the meeting is only part of this essential step in the coaching process. Preparation is the other part. Make sure you are well prepared for the meeting before you hold it. When a coaching meeting does not go well, it is typically because the leader did not prepare sufficiently. Plan out what you want to say or achieve and how you will respond to the employee’s (potential) emotions. This is pivotal; everything that we’ve talked about so far relates to planning. Use the list of resolutions on the next page to prepare for your next coaching session. Additionally, this section includes two other job aids: a Coaching Discussion Planner and a Meeting Debrief. Use these tools to help you build skill in conducting performance meetings.

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Preparing for the One-on-One Coaching Meeting Make a commitment to prepare for your next coaching opportunity by taking the actions below: Coaching Meeting Pre-Planning Resolutions I will make sure I have developed a statement of the coaching session’s purpose so that I will be clear about the purpose of my meeting with the employee. I will make sure I have defined the goals I hope to achieve in the coaching session ahead of time so that I can explain them clearly in my meeting with the employee. I will plan out how many coaching sessions I believe I will need to achieve the goals. I will focus my pre-planning review on the employee’s performance behaviors that can be measured. I will do this to make sure I concentrate on measurable behaviors and measurable actions for improvement during my meeting with the employee. I will review the department work standards (quality and quantity) and the employee’s past performance relative to those standards. I will review the current facts and events, as well as the employee’s coaching and development profile. I will review the employee’s performance data/information that covers the performance period related to the coaching need. I will be prepared to provide positive feedback, as well as feedback for improvement. I will give the employee advance notification of the time and place of the meeting. I will determine whether or not there are obstacles preventing the employee from performing that are out of his/her control (training, work tools or resources, etc.).

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COACHING KEY #3: CALL A ONE-ON-ONE MEETING

Two Sides of Human Interactions Coaching for high performance involves paying attention to both sides of the interaction—task actions and interpersonal actions. It’s like trying to balance a scale: You need to deliver information (improvement needs, corrective action plan, etc.) and then complete your task. However, you also need to consider the employee’s repetitive interpersonal needs. Task Actions The task actions refer to the chronological steps you need to take and the information you need to share to ensure that the meeting’s purpose is accomplished. The planning tool on page 44 provides a framework for thinking through both the task and interpersonal sides of conducting a coaching meeting: what you want to achieve, as well as how you expect to achieve it. Interpersonal Actions Obviously, it is important to get your information across when conducting a coaching meeting. However, it is also critical to do so while maintaining the self-worth of the employee. Strike a balance between the two during the meeting. Interpersonal actions refers to the ways that you meet the employee’s need for respect and value. Respect is a universal human need, and showing respect must be part of a leader’s core principles. Employees will not likely respond to coaching if they are not respected and made to feel of value. Two key elements of interpersonal actions that help achieve this are a set of core interaction principles and communication skills.

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Core Interaction Principles Here are some key principles for interaction: • Acknowledge comments. • Use varied words for acknowledgment and/or positive affirmation (“You did a good job.” “I appreciate your effort.” “Well done.”) • Make good eye contact. • Use positive behaviors. • Use empathetic statements. (“I can understand your frustration over handling such a large volume of calls due to the recent high turnover.”) • Demonstrate active-listening skills. • Avoid interrupting. • Use your body language as a nonverbal communication tool. • Remain alert to the employee’s body language. Communication Effective communication can be a tremendous asset for supporting a successful coaching meeting. Here is an overview of some key principles relative to communication. • Verbal communication refers to the words people say or the message they deliver. It includes the rhythm and pattern of the spoken words, such as emphasizing particular words, shouting, or speaking rapidly. Rhythm and pattern are used for dramatic effect or punctuation. • Nonverbal communication refers to all the non-spoken movements or actions used with the message. Nonverbal communication is a very powerful form of communication; people tend to believe what they see more than what they hear when the

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COACHING KEY #3: CALL A ONE-ON-ONE MEETING

two contradict each other. For example, if you say you are listening and are interested in what an employee is saying but you are looking at your watch and tapping your foot, the employee will likely conclude that you are not interested. • Active listening is using one’s face and body to signal listening. It is a facet of nonverbal communication. In active listening, we also reflect back to the person speaking what we think we heard. Door openers are important tools for active listening. They encourage input/participation, and also help affirm the worth or value of the involvement of the employee. — Verbal “Door Openers” ̊ “Oh.” ̊ “Tell me more about . . .” ̊ “Describe . . .” ̊ “Explain . . .” ̊ “I see . . .” ̊ “Help me understand . . .” ̊ “How did . . .” — Body-Language “Door Openers” ̊ Facial expressions (smile, eye contact, eyebrow movement, etc.) ̊ Moving or leaning toward the speaker ̊ Movement of shoulders, hands, or arms ̊ Head-nodding

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Coaching Discussion Planner Task Actions

Interpersonal Actions

(1) Describe the purpose and expected outcomes.

• Respect and value

(2) Address questions or concerns.

• Two-way communication

(3) Provide the performance information/data. (4) Present the development plan or disciplinary action.

• Understand • Listen

(5) Conclude.

• Body language

Describe the meeting’s purpose and desired outcomes. Describe the order in which the meeting will be conducted. (“First, we will review the overall results of your quality evaluations for the past month. Next, we will focus on two specific areas requiring improvement.)

Identify opportunities to use interpersonal actions to set the meeting tone and make the employee feel comfortable or reduce anxiety.

Address questions/concerns about the purpose and/or desired outcomes. (“What questions do you have before we move forward?”)

Identify ways to use interpersonal actions to encourage the employee’s participation, where appropriate.

Make sure there is clarity regarding the meeting’s purpose. Provide the background information, data, and facts related to the performance issue. Provide details on the specific errors that need to be corrected.

Identify ways to use interpersonal actions to generate a two-way exchange of information or ideas.

Review the appropriate performance records. Deliver the meeting’s information. Verify understanding of the information. Determine if actions are required.

Identify opportunities to use interpersonal actions to support the employee’s commitment to improvement planning.

Discuss the appropriate improvement options. Identify resources for the actions. Set deadlines for completion of the actions. Discuss execution of the improvement plan. Recap the meeting’s outcomes. Check for unanswered questions or concerns.

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Identify how interpersonal actions can support a smooth conclusion to the meeting.

COACHING KEY #3: CALL A ONE-ON-ONE MEETING

Meeting Debrief Directions: How effective were you at handling the coaching session? Use this set of reflection questions to assess your own performance after a feedback session. Review key actions as if you are a coach viewing a videotape of a game to get ready for an upcoming match.

Yes

No 1. Did I explain the purpose of the meeting? 2. Did I ask for questions to clarify whether or not the employee understood the meeting’s purpose? 3. Did I use verbal door openers (“Tell me more . . .” “Please describe . . .” “Can you explain . . .” “I see . . .”) to build rapport and encourage twoway communication. 4. Did I use body language door openers (head-nodding, shoulder movement, smiling, making eye contact) where appropriate to build rapport and encourage open communication? 5. Did I explain the order of the meeting items/discussion points? 6. Did I give the employee time to confirm/clarify his/her understanding of the information I shared? (“Before we continue, what questions do you have?”) 7. Did I use open-ended questions to involve the employee and verify his/her understanding as the meeting progressed? (“What other way do you think you could have addressed . . .?”) 8. Did I ask the employee for input on steps to take for improvement? (“What is one action that you can take to make sure you respond to all of a caller’s questions?”) 9. Did I practice active listening?

(continued)

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Meeting Debrief (concluded) Yes

No 10. Did I provide positive feedback with the feedback for improvement? (“You did a good job of calming the caller down.”) 11. Did I take time to mentally review feedback/comments I received from the employee before responding? Did I refrain from making assumptions or pre-judgments? 12. Did I help the employee identify resources needed to achieve the improvement goals? 13. Did I get agreement on implementation of specific improvement actions? 14. Did I get commitment on dates for completion of improvement actions? 15. Did I set up a date and time for a follow-up meeting? 16. Did I thank the employee for his/her cooperation and commitment?

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It’s important to reflect on how you handled a performance meeting, but be sure you also create an action plan to further develop your feedback and communication skills. Use this worksheet to identify and plan for areas you’d like to enhance. Coaching Action Plan A. What did I do well? What would I repeat? Why would I repeat it? (Why was the action, behavior, or statement effective?)

B. What would I change? Why would I change it? (Why was the action, behavior, or statement ineffective?)

C. Did I identify any areas that can be improved? Check those areas that need improvement:

̊ Encourage involvement and participation. ̊ Keep the meeting on track. ̊ Clarify the purpose of the meeting. ̊ Reflect back or summarize key points. ̊ Use body language effectively. ̊ Others ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________

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Call attention to specific performance behaviors. This is especially important if there is poor performance or the employee does not seem to be able to apply to the job information/skills learned in training. It alerts the employee to the fact that there is a concern, and it also shows him/her that you care. In this section, we will look at performance feedback techniques.

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Four Elements for Performance Feedback Targeted, Incident-Based, Prompt, and Even (TIPE) Element Targeted

Identify the particular behaviors and/ or actions of the employee (i.e., what the employee said or did that was ineffective/incorrect, or what the employee omitted/failed to do.) Also, indicate what happened as a result of the behaviors or actions.

IncidentBased

Focus on a particular performance situation (e.g., a single customer telephone call or service opportunity).

Prompt

Give the feedback as close to the time of the incident as possible. Feedback is a lot more powerful when the incident is still in recent memory.

Even

Tell the employee what he/she needs to improve or change, as well as what he/she did well.

Sample Feedback Statement Margaret, when you told the customer that you weren’t responsible for him being given incorrect information last week, he kept repeating, “I still want an apology.” It took nearly a minute for him to calm down. You could have apologized for the customer’s inconvenience without accepting blame by saying, “I am sorry for your inconvenience. And I can understand that you’re upset about receiving incorrect information. I’ll be glad to get the correct information for you.”

Providing Feedback Let’s practice . . . Think about a situation when you had to give feedback. Write an effective feedback statement. Remember TIPE (Targeted, IncidentBased, Prompt, and Even). Try it.

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Providing Feedback: Practice Directions: Write feedback statements for the following two situations. Each will probably require more than one sentence to completely address the issues. Be sure to include all of the feedback elements. Three months ago, you assigned Mark, a good performer, to represent your unit on the Marketing Operations Reengineering Team. Yesterday you received a second complaint that Mark has a habit of being late for the team’s Friday morning (7:00 a.m.) strategy meetings. He has been as late as twentyfive minutes. The strategy meetings are very important. Also, everyone on the team has a busy schedule. The two employees who complained feel that it is your responsibility to talk with Mark. Jane is new to your team. She takes pride in getting the job done fast (often ahead of schedule). Most of the time, she follows procedures. Everyone, including Jane, has received training on the procedures, but sometimes in her eagerness to finish quickly, Jane follows her own procedures. This has caused a problem with one of the departments that acts as a supplier to your unit. The leader of that department said Jane did not take time to enter the inventory numbers manually when the system was off-line. This caused a mix-up with a shipment.

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Here are some ways you can structure your feedback if you are the supervisor/manager in a similar situation. Suggested Feedback Three months ago, you assigned Mark, a good performer, to represent your unit on the Marketing Operations Reengineering Team. Yesterday you received a second complaint that Mark has a habit of being late for the team’s Friday morning (7:00 a.m.) strategy meetings. On two occasions, he was twenty minutes late. The strategy meetings are very important. Also, everyone on the team has a busy schedule. The two employees who complained feel that it is your responsibility to talk with Mark.

“Mark, I appreciate you representing our unit on the reengineering team, and thanks for keeping up with your regular assignments while doing so. I’m sure it’s a challenge. I’ve called you here today to talk about feedback I received regarding your participation on the reengineering team. It has come to my attention that you have been twenty minutes late on more than one occasion for the team’s strategy meetings. Some members feel that this is disrespectful of their schedules. Is there any particular reason for your lateness? And is there anything that I can do to help?”

Jane is new to your team. She takes pride in getting the job done fast (often ahead of schedule). Most of the time, she follows procedures. Everyone, including Jane, has received training on the procedures, but sometimes in her eagerness to finish quickly, Jane follows her own procedures. This has caused a problem with one of the departments that acts as a supplier to your unit. The leader of that department said Jane did not take time to enter the inventory numbers manually when the system was off-line. This caused a mix-up with a shipment.

“Jane, I like your enthusiasm for getting the job done quickly. You obviously have a real commitment to that. Still, sometimes you follow procedures other than the established ones. While I commend your desire to get the work done, I cannot ignore the complaints from our customers and suppliers. Most recently, there was a mix-up on a shipment, because you did not manually input the inventory numbers when the system was down. I want us to work together on this. How can I help you use your commitment to speed, while making sure you don’t create problems from shortcuts that aren’t appropriate or wise? Let’s hear your thoughts first.”

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Performance Feedback Worksheet—TIPE Model Element Targeted

What were the particular behaviors or actions? (Be specific.)

IncidentBased

• What was the performance situation?

Practice statement or Response to Situation

• Who was involved? (customer, another employee, etc.) • What were the outcomes of the behaviors or actions? (irate customer, missed deadline, incorrect information in a report, etc.) Prompt

• When did the incident occur? • Was this the first time this type of situation occurred with this employee? • If “no,” when were the other incidents?

Even

How can you combine feedback about what needs to improve, along with what was done well?

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Use feedback to encourage good performance. The examples on the previous page have to do with poor performance situations, but feedback can also be used to encourage continued good performance. You want employees to know what they are doing well so that they can repeat it. So, be observant of good performance and reinforce it. Reinforcing good performance or behaviors sets a positive tone in your work environment, and sends the message that you are not simply preoccupied with finding mistakes. Here are some examples of positive feedback statements: • “Marion, when you agreed to act as the on-the-job mentor for the two new employees who are being trained, it freed up my time. As a result, I was able to finish compiling the customer survey results and meet my deadline. Also, you did a good job of getting the two new employees up to speed quickly. Thank you.” • “Bill, your customer satisfaction rating is above 90 percent for the third month in a row. Thank you for your commitment to high customer-service standards. Your hard work has contributed to the department’s steady reduction in the number of customer complaints about our service received by the division vice president. Great job!” Note how specific these statements are in mentioning the positive actions and how they benefit the company. Now think about a current opportunity to give positive feedback. Write a positive feedback statement that contains all the specifics:

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COACHING KEY #4: CALL ATTENTION TO PERFORMANCE BEHAVIORS

Use positive reinforcement. We have talked about calling attention to poor performance and the critical value of giving targeted, incident-based, prompt, even feedback. Feedback is also a useful tool in helping employees apply new information, skills, and behaviors back on the job. Positive reinforcement is also very powerful; it builds confidence and self-esteem. You call attention to the behaviors that you want the employee to repeat. There are many ways to give positive reinforcement: • • • • • • • • • •

Recognition Special privileges Expressions of approval or appreciation Compliments Financial rewards Change in work assignment Praise Attention A smile or nod Active support for career plan or personal development

The frequency of the positive reinforcement depends on the nature of the situation. Sometimes it is best to space out the reinforcement actions so that the reinforcement does not lose its potency. Use it judiciously, and make sure it fits the situation. Additionally, vary the type of reinforcement you use unless you see that an employee is more motivated/satisfied with one particular type.

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Role Practice This next activity gives you an opportunity to put together what you have learned so far. You will be using the role-practice technique to practice applying the first four coaching keys outlined in this book to a realistic work situation. Role practice done with a partner in a comfortable environment allows individuals to improve their skills and become more confident in using them back on the job. In this activity, you will work with a partner and a specific case scenario to address problems with a particular employee in your department. You will each take turns playing the part of the manager, Chris Streeter. To prepare for the role play, go over the items in the Coaching Meeting Pre-Planning Resolutions (page 40) and the Coaching Discussion Planner (page 44). The feedback tips on page 50 will also help you prepare for the role.

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COACHING KEY #4: CALL ATTENTION TO PERFORMANCE BEHAVIORS

CASE SCENARIO The Department Manager: Chris Streeter You manage three customer-contact departments. You have a total staff of seventy-two people, including three supervisors. Irene DeMarko has been on your team (the catalogue sales department) for three years, and has produced good-quality work. Irene is in her early thirties and is very smart and energetic. She is also very careful with every task she handles. Irene has advanced quickly and successfully through several jobs in the organization. Each of the advancements brought her new responsibilities. Irene always managed to conquer the new responsibilities with flying colors. She started in the mailroom, moved to the receptionist desk, and then to customer service. Now she is part of the quality team that monitors customer telephone satisfaction. Irene is the lead quality analyst and has supervisory responsibility for two other people. Additionally, she interacts with several other departments and occasionally with top leadership. One of Irene’s primary responsibilities is to prepare the divisional quarterly report on customer inquiry trends and satisfaction levels. However, things are not currently going well. You like Irene personally. She’s focused and efficient. But you have seen her to be very pushy (bordering on being rude) with other team members when she wants her way. You have chosen to turn a blind eye to Irene’s behavior and attribute it to her eagerness to get the job done. On the surface, Irene does not seem to care if she is well-liked or not. Last week, she yelled at Judy (her right-hand person) when Judy expressed uncertainty as to whether or not she would be able to finish a report early. You have been receiving negative feedback about Irene. In summary, some employees have described her as rude, impatient, and arrogant. Although Irene is very efficient at collecting and compiling the customer data, you are concerned about her interpersonal actions. Her group’s morale and overall output have been declining. You are certain Irene does not view herself as others do. You have chosen today for your one-on-one meeting with Irene. How will you start the meeting?

Here are some questions to think about as you read the case scenario: • What did you observe relative to the employee’s behaviors or actions? • Should you call a meeting? • What will you call attention to? • How will you call attention to it? • How will you word the feedback statements (positive wording and critical wording)? 57

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Write what you would say to Irene in a one-on-one meeting:

Coaching One-on-One Meeting Planner Task Actions

Interpersonal Actions

What do you want to say?

How do you want to deliver your message?

Key questions to think about:

Key factors to think about:

• Why are you calling the meeting?

• Think of ways to build rapport (thank the employee for attending the meeting, use the employee’s name, listen, use open body language such as head-nodding).

• What will the employee get from the meeting? (walk away with, learn, have to act upon, etc.) • In what order will you deliver the information? • How will you end the meeting? • What needs to happen after the meeting? • Who will be responsible for what? • How will you make sure that commitments are kept?

• Determine how you will handle the emotional side of giving and receiving developmental feedback. • Keep in mind the importance of making communication two-way. Listen and ask open-ended questions (“What happened after that?”), verify understanding (“What questions do you have about what we have agreed to?”). • Keep in mind the importance of reading body language.

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Performance Feedback Worksheet: TIPE Model Targeted, Incident-Based, Prompt, and Even Practice Response

Element Targeted

What were the particular behaviors or actions? (Be specific.)

Incidentbased

• What was the performance situation? • Who was involved? (customer, another employee, etc.) • What were the outcomes of the behaviors or actions? (irate customer, missed deadline, incorrect information in a report, etc.)

Prompt

• When did the incident occur? • Was this the first time this type of situation occurred with this employee? • When were the other incidents?

Even

How can you combine feedback about what needs to improve and what was done well?

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Role Practice: Evaluation Directions: Evaluate your role practice partner by checking off what he/she did acting as the manager.

Task Actions • Described the purpose and expected outcomes. • Addressed questions or concerns. • Provided the performance information/data. • Presented the development plan or disciplinary action.

Interpersonal Actions • Showed respect and value. • Used two-way communication. • Showed understanding. • Used active listening skills. • Used positive body language.

• Concluded. Describe

̊ The manager described the purpose of the meeting, reviewed the performance issues, and identified improvement actions.

What did the manager say or do to communicate respect and value (make good eye contact and thank the employee for attending the meeting, etc.)?

̊ The manager indicated what he/she expected to achieve for him-/herself and for the employee by the end of the meeting (such as gained a signed commitment to a development plan or set a date for the next meeting). Address

̊ The manager asked the employee if he/she had questions about the meeting’s purpose of the meeting or expected outcomes before continuing with the meeting (“What questions do you have before we continue?).

̊ The manager addressed the employee’s questions before continuing.

̊ Did the manager use active listening skills?

̊ Did the manager balance empathy (recognition of a person’s situation and feelings) and directness? Empathy: “I can appreciate that you feel frustrated by the pressure to learn the many new changes.” Directness: “While I appreciate your frustration, I can’t ignore your decline in performance.”

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Role Practice: Evaluation (concluded) Provide

̊ The manager provided and explained the information/data regarding the performance problem.

̊ The manager verified that the employee understood the information/data.

Present

̊ The manager presented the details of the performance improvement plan or disciplinary action.

̊ The manager verified that the employee understood the specifics of the improvement plan or disciplinary action.

̊ Did the manager say or do things to create two-way communication? (asked open-ended questions, maintained good eye contact, provided additional information, etc.)

̊ Did the manager effectively use his/her body language as a communication tool and avoid making distracting movements, such as hitting the desk with a pen or constantly checking a watch? Did the manager say or do something to gain commitment for the improvement plan or to reach agreement? Specify. Examples: Involve the employee by making the communication two-way. When people are involved, they are more receptive or have greater buy-in. Show understanding. This can help defuse high emotions.

̊ The manager reviewed the next steps or follow-up actions.

̊ The manager got signatures/ commitment from the employee regarding implementation of the improvement plan and next steps. Conclude

̊ The manager reiterated the outcome(s) of the meeting (understanding of the purpose, agreement on actions, etc.).

̊ The manager checked for unanswered questions or concerns.

̊ The manager verified the follow-up actions.

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Use this tool to evaluate yourself after the role practice activity or other skill practice. Self-Evaluation A. What did I do well? What would I repeat? Why would I repeat it? (Why was the action, behavior, or statement effective?)

B. What would I change? Why would I change it? (Why was the action, behavior, or statement ineffective?)

C. Did I identify any areas that can be improved? Check those areas that need improvement:

̊ Encourage involvement and participation. ̊ Keep the meeting on track. ̊ Clarify the purpose of the meeting. ̊ Reflect back or summarize key points. ̊ Use body language effectively. ̊ Others ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________

62

Staying observant, using appropriate tools to track performance, and calling attention to performance problems are only part of the picture. You must also explain the improvement expectations to the employee, as well as the consequences of continued poor performance. The purpose is to make the employee completely aware of two things: • The specific improvement actions that are expected of him/ her (Example: a certain increase in production numbers, or a decrease in error rate) • The next steps if the performance is not improved (Example: regular performance counseling sessions) Of course, your main goal is to work with the employee to improve his/her performance so that formal consequences can be avoided. You want a positive outcome. Achieving that is the focus of this book.

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Improvement Expectations It is essential to spell out what you expect the employee to improve. Work with the employee to reach agreement on the specific improvement goals and on the improvement schedule. (This act of collaboration is essential to getting full commitment from the employee.) Equally important, make sure there is clarity regarding what’s expected of the employee for improvement. Write it down. Create an improvement plan (see the sample plan on the next page). Also, ask yourself three key questions: • What are the standards for the job? • What are the resources needed to do the job effectively? • What training or experience is required to do the job well?

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COACHING KEY #5: EXPLAIN IMPROVEMENT EXPECTATIONS

Use this worksheet to design a plan of action for performance improvement. Remember to make improvement actions measurable. Also, designate specific dates for revisiting the plan and assessing progress. Performance Improvement Plan Worksheet Current Performance Levels (number of telephone calls per day, customer satisfaction rating, etc.)

Specific Improvement Goals for this Performance Situation

Resources or Actions Needed to Reach Goal(s)

1.

̊ Demonstration/modeling

2.

̊ ̊ ̊ ̊

of task or behavior

3.

Peer coaching Training Review of procedures Scheduled review of work (e.g., daily, weekly, monthly)

̊ Scheduled one-on-one discussion of work (e.g., daily, weekly)

4.

5.

̊ Positive reinforcement ̊ Reference materials ̊ Access to resource materials (contact lists, reference books, organization chart, etc.)

̊ Access to data or equipment

(continued)

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SEVEN KEYS FOR COACHING POWER

Performance Improvement Plan Worksheet (concluded) Improvement Goal No.

1.

2.

3.

4.

66

Start Date

Progress Review

End Date or Completion Date

COACHING KEY #5: EXPLAIN IMPROVEMENT EXPECTATIONS

Documenting and Preparing Thoroughly Sometimes a performance situation requires more than just good coaching. Make sure you are well versed in your organization’s formal consequences before you discuss them with an employee. Also, you need to: • Keep an up-to-date, detailed record of these one-on-one meetings. • Keep excellent documentation of specific incidents regarding performance. File information related to the situation, such as e-mails, letters, memos, meeting notes, transcripts, development plans, performance reports, and customer surveys. • Prepare well for meetings to discuss expectations and consequences. Use the Coaching Discussion Planner (page 44) and Meeting Debrief (page 45) to help you think through what you will say. Also, consider the interpersonal aspects of the communication. Be prepared for the emotional tempo of the meeting.

Documenting the Outcome of a Coaching Session Documenting the outcome of each coaching session you have with an employee is extremely important. Keep excellent records as you and the employee progress through the various steps. Use whatever system works best for you if your organization does not have any “official” forms or processes. Tools like the Coaching Discussion Planner, the Performance Feedback Worksheet, and the Meeting Debrief can help you create a sound documentation file. Make use of them.

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Informal Consequences Every leader of an organization has informal ways of getting employees to address performance problems. They can be just as powerful as formal actions. The key is to use them as fairly, consistently, and judiciously. Always balance the situation with the consequences. Ask yourself these questions. • What is the impact of the situation? • How has the employee responded to previous coaching around this situation? • What are all of the options for informal discipline? Use informal consequences equitably. Remember, whatever informal consequences you use will set precedent. Be sure you are fair and consistent with everyone. Here are some examples of informal actions: • Withdrawal of “perceived” special privileges, such as flexible work start time or choice of assignments. • Disqualification from “perceived” growth opportunities, such as participation on a special work team having high visibility. Can you think of any other informal consequences?

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You must, of course, discuss incidents of poor performance with the employee, but you must also help develop and implement the action plan by guiding the employee through the process of changing the behavior or performance. However, the employee is ultimately responsible for making the necessary changes; despite the best coaching efforts, some situations will lead to formal consequences. This step is also closely linked to Coaching Key #3—Call a One-onOne Meeting. Your actions during the one-on-one meeting lay the groundwork for the kind of support you will provide. Use the Meeting Debrief checklist on page 45 as a guide for creating an outline for the support.

Six Essential Actions To summarize the key points in the Meeting Debrief pertaining to development support, remember six essential actions: 1. Seek 2. Recommend 3. Agree 4. Track 5. Remove 6. Reinforce 69

SEVEN KEYS FOR COACHING POWER

• Seek input and information from the employee regarding his/her view of the problem and possible solutions. • Recommend solutions or actions based on your assessment of the situation, knowledge of the employee, understanding of how the employee’s work fits into the big picture, and knowledge of the department’s deadline and resource issues. • Reach agreement with the employee on what specific actions he/she will take, how those actions will contribute to improving performance, and when those actions will be completed. • Track progress on the employee’s success in improving performance and make necessary adjustments in collaboration with the employee. • Remove roadblocks to performance improvement that are out of the employee’s control. • Reinforce behaviors that support performance improvement.

Additional Ideas/Tips Some managers find a special “commitment” calendar useful for keeping track of what they have agreed to do for an employee. Try using one regular-sized calendar per employee (or a wall-sized calendar for more than one employee). Keep the completed regularsized calendars in a binder for reference at performance review time or during a follow-up one-on-one coaching meeting. Post the wall-sized calendar in your office, if you like. (Sometimes just seeing the information in front of you will help you follow through.) Also ask the employee to initiate follow-up meetings; this can even be used as a development activity.

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COACHING KEY #6: SUPPORT COMMITMENT TO DEVELOP ACTIONS

Here are some other ideas: Set up an e-mail calendar reminder for yourself. Establish a peer-support group with other managers or supervisors and work as a virtual team to keep each other on track. Take a planning calendar to the one-on-one coaching meeting with you so that you can do a “reality double-check” on the feasibility of the development plan and schedule. (This is especially important relative to your role in helping the employee carry out a plan.) Whether you are helping an employee apply information learned in training or helping an employee implement a career plan, these things work. You will find tools that can be used for planning and tracking performance on the next two pages.

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Performance Support: Action Planner

Employee’s name: ________________________________________________ Date of meeting/session: __________________________________________ Date scheduled for follow-up meeting:______________________________ Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday/ Sunday

(continued) 72

COACHING KEY #6: SUPPORT COMMITMENT TO DEVELOP ACTIONS

Performance Support: Action Planner (concluded)

Employee’s name: ________________________________________________ Date of one-on-one coaching meeting: ______________________________ Date scheduled for follow-up meeting:______________________________ Planning Prompters

̊ Did I mark the due dates for specific actions the employee agreed to? ̊ Did I mark the due dates for actions that I agreed to? ̊ Did I consider my other commitments when determining whether or not I could meet the dates?

̊ When is a follow-up meeting or contact (e-mail, voice mail) scheduled? ̊ What do I need to prepare for the follow-up meeting? When do I need to start in order to be ready on the meeting day?

̊ Who do I need to contact/speak with for information or resources? ̊ What data do I need to access or review before the meeting? When do I need to start the process for getting the data in order to be ready on meeting day?

̊ Did I consider resource factors that might affect the employee’s development? What information do I need to review?

Who do I need to talk to?

What items do I need to get? (tools, equipment, supplies, etc.)

What roadblocks do I need to remove?

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The last key step is to stay connected with every employee you are coaching. If you don’t stay connected, you run the risk of undermining the work you put into the previous six steps. You need to know if the employee is making progress in an effort to improve performance, apply information learned in training, or implement a careerdevelopment plan. Stay connected refers to creating “physical” opportunities for connecting with employees (pre-scheduled meetings, weekly e-mails, etc.) and creating an environment where employees feel comfortable approaching and responding to you (building trust, cooperation, and commitment, etc.). Use every avenue to stay connected that is available to you. Be organized and committed to this. Here are some options: • Regularly scheduled in-person meetings • Impromptu in-person meetings • E-mail • Telephone meetings • Voice mail • Quick-strike meetings (even 5 minutes) • A pre-arranged exchange with a specific, pre-determined purpose

Special Note: Make sure that you include in-person meetings in your efforts to stay connected. Don’t rely solely on methods such as e-mail or voice mail.

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Plan to Stay Connected Use a commitment calendar to stay connected with your staff, and remember to set up a time for a follow-up meeting (or contact) at the end of any coaching session. The Performance Support: Action Planner and other tools are helpful. Remember, staying connected promotes your ultimate goal: to make sure that your staff maintains high-quality performance. It also promotes effective career-development planning. Information (what’s going on) and relationships (how staff members interact and respond to you) are essential. Here are some factors to consider: Tips for Staying Connected Recognize improvement. Try to create an interpersonal connection with each employee you are coaching: Let them know that you can see the small changes they have made. Have an open-communication policy. Create an environment where your staff feels comfortable talking with you about performance problems and career-development needs. Be a good listener. Another important way to stay connected is to be a good listener. When you listen well, it shows respect. Additionally, when you truly hear and understand what the employee has to say, you can respond better. Build trust. Your staff will not follow your lead unless they trust you. Trust is also critical when you introduce a change (a new way of doing things, new job standards, etc.). Actions for building TRUST T— Take responsibility for your behaviors and actions. R— Remember to follow up on promises and commitments. U— Use a variety of ways to recognize others’ ideas and contributions. S— See the other person’s situation or point-of-view. T— Take time to foster relationships.

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COACHING KEY #7: STAY CONNECTED

Role Practice This role practice activity gives you another opportunity to think through how you can apply what you have learned to a realistic work situation. Role practice done with a partner in a comfortable environment allows individuals to improve their skills and become more confident back on the job. If you do not have a partner for this activity, read each role carefully and think through how you would handle the situation from that person’s perspective. To prepare for the role play, go over the items in the Coaching Meeting Pre-Planning Resolutions (page 40) and the Coaching Discussion Planner (page 44). The feedback tips on page 50 will also help you prepare for the role. Here are some questions to think about as you read the case scenario: • What did you observe relative to the employee’s behaviors or action? • Should you call a meeting? • What will you call attention to? • How will you call attention to it? • How will you word the feedback statements (positive wording and critical wording)?

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CASE SCENARIO The Department Manager: Wanda Green You are manager of your department, and you are reviewing the work of an employee. Tom Matthews has been on your technical support staff for four years. His performance had always been above standards, until recently. To your surprise, there has been a gradual but steady decline in Tom’s performance. His most recent production and quality reports revealed the following: 23 calls/day (the standard is 30 calls/day) 15% error rate (the standard is 7% or less) 3.9 customer-satisfaction rating (the standard is a minimum 4.5 on a 5.0 scale) Previously, Tom averaged 32 calls/day, with an error rate of less than 6%. His customer-satisfaction rating average was 4.7. Tom has missed two deadlines during the past six weeks for the bi-monthly reports he prepares. That’s unusual for him. During the past two months, you have had several talks with Tom about his performance. He always apologizes and promises to do better. The meetings have been informal. You have held them with little or no special preparation, and you have done little or no documentation regarding any commitments or outcomes from the meetings. At the last meeting, you said to Tom, “I know you can do better, because you were meeting standards six months ago. So, come on Tom. Let’s work on this.” Tom replied, “I’ll do better. I’m sorry I let you down.” Lately, Tom has seemed down. In the past, he was more energetic and upbeat. You know that the pace and the volume of the department’s workload have increased and that everyone is feeling overwhelmed. Along with all of this, Tom has expressed interest in some special training on a new project management system offered at a local community college. However, Tom had already taken an internal training class on project management earlier in the year and you think he should be using what he learned in the internal program. Tom has also asked you about cross training and career opportunities in the division, but you have been very busy and haven’t taken the time to meet with him about these things. You aren’t sure how serious Tom is, and you know he attended the career-development workshop that the corporation offers (as well as several other members of your staff). You assume that the workshop covered career opportunities; what does Tom expect you to do? You have given all these things some thought and have decided that you need to set up a more-formal one-on-one meeting with Tom. You realize that perhaps you need to prepare for this meeting. Your manager has recommended that you use the Coaching One-on-One Meeting Planner to help you prepare. You have a lot to think about. Where should you begin?

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COACHING KEY #7: STAY CONNECTED

Coaching One-on-One Meeting Planner Task Actions

Interpersonal Actions

What do you want to say?

How do you want to deliver your message?

Key questions to think about:

Key factors to think about:

• Why are you calling the meeting?

• Think of ways to build rapport (thank the employee for attending the meeting, use the employee’s name, listen, use open body language such as head-nodding).

• What will the employee get from the meeting? (walk away with, learn, have to act upon, etc.) • In what order will you deliver the information? • How will you end the meeting? • What needs to happen after the meeting? • Who will be responsible for what? • How will you make sure that commitments are kept?

• Determine how you will handle the emotional side of giving and receiving developmental feedback. • Keep in mind the importance of making communication two-way. Listen and ask open-ended questions (“What happened after that?”), verify understanding (“What questions do you have about what we have agreed to?”). • Keep in mind the importance of reading body language.

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Role Practice: Evaluation Directions: Evaluate your role practice partner by checking off what he/she did acting as the manager.

Task Actions • Described the purpose and expected outcomes. • Addressed questions or concerns. • Provided the performance information/data. • Presented the development plan or disciplinary action.

Interpersonal Actions • Showed respect and value. • Used two-way communication. • Showed understanding. • Used active listening skills. • Used positive body language.

• Concluded. Describe

̊ The manager described the purpose of the meeting, reviewed the performance issues, and identified improvement actions.

What did the manager say or do to communicate respect and value (make good eye contact and thank the employee for attending the meeting, etc.)?

̊ The manager indicated what he/she expected to achieve for him-/herself and for the employee by the end of the meeting (such as gained a signed commitment to a development plan or set a date for the next meeting). Address

̊ The manager asked the employee if he/she had questions about the meeting’s purpose of the meeting or expected outcomes before continuing with the meeting (“What questions do you have before we continue?).

̊ The manager addressed the employee’s questions before continuing.

̊ Did the manager use active listening skills?

̊ Did the manager balance empathy (recognition of a person’s situation and feelings) and directness? Empathy: “I can appreciate that you feel frustrated by the pressure to learn the many new changes.” Directness: “While I appreciate your frustration, I can’t ignore your decline in performance.”

(continued) 80

COACHING KEY #7: STAY CONNECTED

Role Practice: Evaluation (concluded) Provide

̊ The manager provided and explained the information/data regarding the performance problem.

̊ The manager verified that the employee understood the information/data.

Present

̊ The manager presented the details of the performance improvement plan or disciplinary action.

̊ The manager verified that the employee understood the specifics of the improvement plan or disciplinary action.

̊ Did the manager say or do things to create two-way communication? (asked open-ended questions, maintained good eye contact, provided additional information, etc.)

̊ Did the manager effectively use his/her body language as a communication tool and avoid making distracting movements, such as hitting the desk with a pen or constantly checking a watch? Did the manager say or do something to gain commitment for the improvement plan or to reach agreement? Specify. Examples: Involve the employee by making the communication two-way. When people are involved, they are more receptive or have greater buy-in. Show understanding. This can help defuse high emotions.

̊ The manager reviewed the next steps or follow-up actions.

̊ The manager got signatures/ commitment from the employee regarding implementation of the improvement plan and next steps. Conclude

̊ The manager reiterated the outcome(s) of the meeting (understanding of the purpose, agreement on actions, etc.).

̊ The manager checked for unanswered questions or concerns.

̊ The manager verified the follow-up actions.

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SEVEN KEYS FOR COACHING POWER

Use this tool to evaluate yourself after the role practice activity or other skill practice. Self-Evaluation A. What did I do well? What would I repeat? Why would I repeat it? (Why was the action, behavior, or statement effective?)

B. What would I change? Why would I change it? (Why was the action, behavior, or statement ineffective?)

C. Did I identify any areas that can be improved? Check those areas that need improvement:

̊ Encourage involvement and participation. ̊ Keep the meeting on track. ̊ Clarify the purpose of the meeting. ̊ Reflect back or summarize key points. ̊ Use body language effectively. ̊ Others ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________

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COACHING KEY #7: STAY CONNECTED

Implementation Planning What will your roadmap to success look like as you plan development and enhancement steps? Use any number of the book’s coaching keys for this process. Then identify one challenging but manageable aspect of the key or keys on which to focus. Determining Your Roadmap to Success Key Number

What aspect will I focus on?

What do I hope to gain?

Key #1: Stay observant.

Key #2: Use effective tools and methods.

Key #3: Call a one-on-one meeting.

Key #4: Call attention to the performance behaviors.

Key #5: Explain your improvement expectations.

Key #6: Support commitment to development actions.

Key #7: Stay connected.

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SEVEN KEYS FOR COACHING POWER

Here is another way to lay out your development plan. Development Planning Form Completed Development Timeline Month 1

Month 2

Month 3

Month 4

Month 5

Month 6

84

Development Objective

Strategy for Meeting Objective

Yes

No

7 Keys for Coaching Power Key #1: Key #2: Key #3:

Key #4:

Key #5

Key #6:

Key #7:

7 Keys for Coaching Power

Stay observant of your staff so that you can identify coaching needs as soon as possible. Use effective tools and methods to track performance. Conduct a one-on-one meeting promptly to: • Address poor performance • Support on-the-job application of concepts learned in training • Support refining and implementing an employee’s career plan Call attention to: • Poor performance behaviors or actions through targeted, incident-based feedback • Problems with on-the-job application of training. Use esteem-building, guided instruction, and demonstration/ modeling. Explain any discipline steps or consequences that might result if the performance or behavior is not improved or changed to satisfaction. Help employees take development action or implement formal performance improvement plans. Stay connected by following up on progress and providing additional feedback.

Key #1: Key #2: Key #3:

Key #4:

Key #5

Key #6:

Key #7:

Stay observant of your staff so that you can identify coaching needs as soon as possible. Use effective tools and methods to track performance. Conduct a one-on-one meeting promptly to: • Address poor performance • Support on-the-job application of concepts learned in training • Support refining and implementing an employee’s career plan Call attention to: • Poor performance behaviors or actions through targeted, incident-based feedback • Problems with on-the-job application of training. Use esteem-building, guided instruction, and demonstration/ modeling. Explain any discipline steps or consequences that might result if the performance or behavior is not improved or changed to satisfaction. Help employees take development action or implement formal performance improvement plans. Stay connected by following up on progress and providing additional feedback.

(over) Seven Keys for Coaching Power—© S. Cowan

(over) Seven Keys for Coaching Power—© S. Cowan

7 Keys for Coaching Power Key #1: Key #2: Key #3:

Key #4:

Key #5

Key #6:

Key #7:

7 Keys for Coaching Power

Stay observant of your staff so that you can identify coaching needs as soon as possible. Use effective tools and methods to track performance. Conduct a one-on-one meeting promptly to: • Address poor performance • Support on-the-job application of concepts learned in training • Support refining and implementing an employee’s career plan Call attention to: • Poor performance behaviors or actions through targeted, incident-based feedback • Problems with on-the-job application of training. Use esteem-building, guided instruction, and demonstration/ modeling. Explain any discipline steps or consequences that might result if the performance or behavior is not improved or changed to satisfaction. Help employees take development action or implement formal performance improvement plans. Stay connected by following up on progress and providing additional feedback.

Key #1: Key #2: Key #3:

Key #4:

Key #5

Key #6:

Key #7:

Stay observant of your staff so that you can identify coaching needs as soon as possible. Use effective tools and methods to track performance. Conduct a one-on-one meeting promptly to: • Address poor performance • Support on-the-job application of concepts learned in training • Support refining and implementing an employee’s career plan Call attention to: • Poor performance behaviors or actions through targeted, incident-based feedback • Problems with on-the-job application of training. Use esteem-building, guided instruction, and demonstration/ modeling. Explain any discipline steps or consequences that might result if the performance or behavior is not improved or changed to satisfaction. Help employees take development action or implement formal performance improvement plans. Stay connected by following up on progress and providing additional feedback.

(over) Seven Keys for Coaching Power—© S. Cowan

(over) Seven Keys for Coaching Power—© S. Cowan

Work Situations That Might Require Coaching

Work Situations That Might Require Coaching

Training and orientation of a new employee Instructing an employee in a new job skill Explaining the department’s work requirements or standards Giving on-the-job support after a training session Explaining a change in a job process/procedure Helping an employee prepare for more complex/challenging assignments Explaining a change in the department’s goals, initiatives, or vision Cross-training an employee for other jobs in the department Helping an employee prepare to implement his/her career plan Helping an employee assess his/her assignment load and set priorities Communicating to an employee that his/her performance is poor or marginal Conducting a formal or informal performance review Helping an employee adjust to a new job role/experience Giving an employee correction related to a simple performance situation Giving feedback or input to an employee who wants to become a top performer

Training and orientation of a new employee Instructing an employee in a new job skill Explaining the department’s work requirements or standards Giving on-the-job support after a training session Explaining a change in a job process/procedure Helping an employee prepare for more complex/challenging assignments Explaining a change in the department’s goals, initiatives, or vision Cross-training an employee for other jobs in the department Helping an employee prepare to implement his/her career plan Helping an employee assess his/her assignment load and set priorities Communicating to an employee that his/her performance is poor or marginal Conducting a formal or informal performance review Helping an employee adjust to a new job role/experience Giving an employee correction related to a simple performance situation Giving feedback or input to an employee who wants to become a top performer

Seven Keys for Coaching Power—© S. Cowan

Seven Keys for Coaching Power—© S. Cowan

Work Situations That Might Require Coaching

Work Situations That Might Require Coaching

Training and orientation of a new employee Instructing an employee in a new job skill Explaining the department’s work requirements or standards Giving on-the-job support after a training session Explaining a change in a job process/procedure Helping an employee prepare for more complex/challenging assignments Explaining a change in the department’s goals, initiatives, or vision Cross-training an employee for other jobs in the department Helping an employee prepare to implement his/her career plan Helping an employee assess his/her assignment load and set priorities Communicating to an employee that his/her performance is poor or marginal Conducting a formal or informal performance review Helping an employee adjust to a new job role/experience Giving an employee correction related to a simple performance situation Giving feedback or input to an employee who wants to become a top performer

Training and orientation of a new employee Instructing an employee in a new job skill Explaining the department’s work requirements or standards Giving on-the-job support after a training session Explaining a change in a job process/procedure Helping an employee prepare for more complex/challenging assignments Explaining a change in the department’s goals, initiatives, or vision Cross-training an employee for other jobs in the department Helping an employee prepare to implement his/her career plan Helping an employee assess his/her assignment load and set priorities Communicating to an employee that his/her performance is poor or marginal Conducting a formal or informal performance review Helping an employee adjust to a new job role/experience Giving an employee correction related to a simple performance situation Giving feedback or input to an employee who wants to become a top performer

Seven Keys for Coaching Power—© S. Cowan

Seven Keys for Coaching Power—© S. Cowan