Streamline Training & Documentation: Coaching Pitfalls

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Coaching Pitfalls

William Hendricks, author of Coaching, Mentoring and Managing, offers this instructive list of pitfalls to avoid when coaching:

Talking at your employees, rather than with them. Often this approach is accompanied by frequent use of phrases like "I want" and "you should."

Giving more attention to attitudes than behaviors. Attitudes are often highly resistant to change and not sufficiently concrete to coach on.

Exaggerating situations or behavior. Generalizing with words like "always," "never," and "everybody" has a built-in sound of unfairness.

Assuming the employee is out to make you look bad. Employees usually want to succeed. Therefore, it's most likely that a problem is due to a mistake rather than a conspiracy. Use a mistake as an opportunity to teach.

Not following up on promises. Failure to follow up is not the sort of example to set for employees from whom you want commitment.

Not rewarding improved behavior. If you don't reward positive changes in behavior, the changes are unlikely to persist.

All of these advisories are well worth attention. I would particularly emphasize the fourth. Although, obviously, there are exceptions, employees generally do want to be successful. Making a habit of assuming this is true will increase your own odds of successfully guiding employees toward more effective performance.

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Labels: Coaching

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