Coaching Skills Training: Communication & Coaching Part 1

To embrace the idea of manager as coach requires us to redefine the management role to include a range of interventions designed to bring out the best in people. The reasons for doing this are obvious but ways of going about it less so.

A useful starting point is to consider coaching as one type of communication and see how it fits with typical management communication that most of us will recognize.

Here we'll consider six communication styles that differ in terms of the level of control exercised by manager and team member respectively.

Tells

When we tell people what to do and how to do it, we assume total control. This is highly attractive when time is tight or the consequence of error high.

Sells

Here we loosen our control just slightly and involve team members to the extent that we realise that they must be convinced of the merits of an idea before they'll feel inclined to act upon it with any enthusiasm.

Tests

A further loosening of our control and a greater involvement for team members because we literally test out an idea or decision and accept the risk that the team will not agree.

Consults

I think of this as a meeting halfway, 50/50 kind of style. The team's input is sought and their ideas considered but it is still the manager that makes a final decision and thus retains a high level of control.

Joins

This is an egalitarian communication style aimed at decision making by consensus. Control has switched. More of it has been given to team members, but not all.

Delegates

The manager sets the parameters of the task, success measures, reporting guidelines, etc. but control over how to accomplish the task is given to the team member(s). The risks are high but the rewards and long term gains substantial.

It would be a mistake to conclude that any one of these styles is necessarily right or wrong. Each has its advantages and disadvantages and the most effective managers adapt their style to reflect the needs of the situation and of the person with whom they are communicating. For example if, as you are reading this, a fire alarm sounded it would clearly be absurd to arrange a meeting to discuss options for evacuating the building. What's needed is for someone to decide what to do and tell the rest of us how to do it. Similarly, a new person on the team will need a period of close monitoring and some instruction before they have built up the knowledge and experience required for delegated tasks.

I intend to write follow up articles that develop these themes, explore advantages and disadvantages and examine where coaching fits.

Article Source: http://www.articlegoldmine.com

Matt Somers is a leading voice on coaching in the UK where he writes, presents, trains and consults on all aspects of Coaching at Work. An author and regular conference speaker, he is currently producing a range of resources to help with the people side of working life. His popular mini-guide "Coaching for an Easier Life" is available FREE at www.mattsomers.com

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