HOW TO – KNOW WHEN TO COACH When things are happening to the Manager’s satisfaction, conducting a coaching session can be one of the most pleasant work-related experiences. As you discuss how well things have been going, you both feel good. The atmosphere is relaxed. It's a great day. You are a competent boss and you feel it. The employee is a good performer and s/he knows it. It is a real pleasure.

On the other hand, if you are not satisfied with their performance, the coaching session can be one of the toughest work situations you ever have to deal with. As you go through the session, all sorts of doubts could start cropping up. Some of the questions that might start running through your head are:

1. Am I clear in my own mind of what his/her job is? Is there a question about the definition of responsibility?

2. Have I made clear to the employee what I expect of him/her? Could there be a problem of communication?

3. Have I gained his/her acceptance of what I have defined as his/her responsibility? Could this be a problem ?

4. Have I fed him/her work according to his/her level of skill? Is this a training issue?

5. Have I given him/her too much work to do? Too little? How would I describe the work distribution?

6. Have I been realistic as to the performance I expect? Have I been clear about work standards?

7. Am I checking up on him/her too much? Could this be an issue of control?

8. Am I treating him/her any different than the others? Am I leaning on him/her more without realizing it? Favoring others?

9. Is s/he turned off? Do I know why?

10. Have I been too hard on him/her? Too much criticism? Not enough "pats on the back" when s/he did a good job? Is it a question of reward and punishment?

11. Has s/he had personal problems I haven't been aware of? Have I been sensitive to his/her situation?

12. Does it have anything to do with his/her relationship to the other workers? Is there an interpersonal concern?

13. Did I give him/her more responsibility than s/he could handle? Not enough? Is delegation the issue?

14. Am I paying him/her as much as the others for the same amount of work? Is there a perception of inequity?

15. Have I seen to it that s/he knows enough to do what I expect of him/her? Is training the problem?

16. Does s/he belong in this kind of work? Is it an appropriate selection?

17. Is s/he just plain rebellious? Is it a disciplinary problem?

18. Does/he have problems I don't know about? Is this a counseling concern?

By this time you are wondering why you ever wanted to be in the position of being a boss in the first place! As more questions and doubts are raised the atmosphere of the session becomes tense. You look at each other and sense the same feeling. Let's get this thing over with and get out of here! It has become quite uncomfortable.

Why Can’t They Get the Job Done?

There are reasons why employees don’t get the job done:

* They don't know how.
* lack of instruction, orientation or training
* improper or lack of feedback

* Something or someone keeps them from it.
* a physical or mental restriction
* not enough time
* wrong materials

* They don't want to....
* previous good work unrecognized
* burn out
* unhappy with manager or job
* poor attitude

Coaching is a directive process by a manager to train and orient an employee to the realities of the workplace and to help the employee remove barriers to optimum work performance. So, if there is a lack of knowledge about the job responsibilities or a performance or attitude problem, the boss should coach the employee.

In the best situation, coaching is a problem solving session between the employee and the boss: "Let's review the work together, establish some realistic goals and evaluate performance accordingly.” The boss emphasizes work performance, not worker characteristics. Both boss nad employee jointly identify problem areas and work together to agree on solutions. The idea is to help employees evaluate the usefulness of their ideas; recognize their areas of weakness; and exploit their strengths. The boss acts as a resource and enabler, rather than as a judge.

Labels: Coaching, leadership

  8:53 PM •  0 Comments •

How to – Take the Right Role When Leading Your Meeting The skills you need to accomplish meeting objectives in a minimum amount of time and with a maximum interaction and creativity are quite diverse. You must develop ways of promoting more effective interactions among meeting participants, while getting the results you want.

Your personal process capabilities may not be up to the task. It’s critical to identify behaviors that are likely to result in facilitator derailment, and build a base from which to you can support your team members. For greater freedom to understand, access, enjoy and use the creativity of your team, be clear about what role you need to take on and when..

Lead - One that directs by influence; to be the head of
Leader -The person who manages the team: calling and facilitating meetings, handling or assigning administrative details, orchestrating all team activities, and overseeing preparations for reports and presentations.

The team leader should be interested in solving the problems that prompted this project and be reasonably good at working with individuals and groups. Ultimately it is the leader's responsibility to create and maintain channels that enable team members to do their job.

Effective leaders share their responsibilities with other team members and trust their groups to arrive at the best answer, giving team members a chance to succeed or make mistakes on their own. They understand that the lessons members learn from the experience are stronger and last longer than those from having the leader telling them what to do.

Advise: To give advice; to counsel; to inform
Advisor - Like team leaders, advisors will ordinarily have more expertise than the team members. Their job is to help members discover for themselves what the answers are, not dictate answers to the rest of the team.

Advisors are neither leaders nor members. They are "outsiders" to the group in many ways, and can maintain a neutral position. One of the most important aspects of this role that arises from this neutrality is to observe the team's progress, evaluating how the team functions, and use these observations to help the team improve its process.

An advisor's second focus is instructing team members in the technical tools and helping to guide the team's effort when technical expertise is needed.

Advisors rarely, if ever, run meetings, handle administrative or logistical details, or carry out between-meeting assignments such as data gathering. Advisors work primarily work before and after team meetings in conference with the team leader. That is when the two discuss the team's progress and try to find ways to improve the processes by which the team works.

Advisors are well versed in the tolls of and concepts of the issue at hand, including approaches that help a team have effective, productive meetings. They do not participate directly in the team's activities.

Facilitate: To make easy or easier
Facilitator - Psychiatrist Dr. Carl Rogers outlines a different theory of learning, placing greater emphasis on the learner's involvement in the process, and identifying the relationship between facilitator and learner as the primary ingredient in the process. The instructor is a facilitator rather than a stimulator or controller of the learning process.

Facilitators are:

* Less protective of their own constructs and beliefs than other "instructors",
* More able to listen to participants,
* Able to accept "troublesome, innovative, creative ideas which emerge in participants.

Facilitation allows participants to make responsible choices about the direction of learning, which means living with mistaken choices as well as correct ones. That is part of the learning process.

When we have clearly identified to participants, the goals that will produce "approval", then you can function, not as a showman who goes to great limits to attract and maintain attention, not as policeman who hands out tickets to transgressing participants - but as a facilitator who leads adults to pleasant acquisition of new ideas or skills.


A nationally recognized management development training consultant, speaker and author, Joni Daniels is Principal of Daniels & Associates, provides solutions to training needs and conducts programs on personal and professional development. As a Consultant to Fortune 500 companies, she has successfully addressed a variety of audiences, written a wide range of articles on professional issues, serves as a resource for business publications, TV, and radio. Joni is frequently quoted on management topics and is the author of “POWER TOOLS FOR WOMEN®: Plugging into the Essential Skills for Life and Work,” (Three Rivers Press, 02/02) and, Reach her at www.jonidaniels.com

Labels: faciliate, leadership, objectives

  6:37 PM •  0 Comments •

How to – Ensure that New Leaders Do Not Fail Even though it is rarely stated, expectations are high when an organization hires a new leader. But studies indicate that 60% of new leaders fail within 18 months of taking their jobs.

New executives respond to the pressure of being new by doing more of what made them successful in the past, but the skills and knowledge that got them to the new level are not the ones that area now needed.

What do New Leaders need now?

If you are a New Leader, you need to build a presence at the personal, team and organizational levels.


• A Personal Presence -- Rather than rely on technical and functional skills, exude confidence that you can contribute to the next level. Rather than go until you hit the wall, this is the time to renew your energy and get a different perspective; connect with diverse stakeholders; tune into the diverse needs of the organization.

• A Team Presence -- Rely on the team and not on yourself. Delegate effectively by defining what needs to be done, not how to do it. Accept accountability for many results

• An Organizational Presence -- Look left and right (not up and down) as you lead. Strengthen your peripheral vision and know what your peers are doing. Meet with everyone on your new executive team to understand who they are and where they are. Learn their history. Establish yourself as an equal player at the table. Show that you now have an inside perspective of your function which means that it’s business first, function second. It’s time to think strategically. Be aware that you are being watched and are expected to make a significant and bigger impact on a regular basis.

Labels: leadership

  10:11 AM •  0 Comments •