Managing isn’t enough – You need to coach your team

Jann Richardson, a Business and Personal Coach, explains why managers need to learn to coach their teams to keep them engaged, motivated and productive.

My work takes me throughout the UK and I’m lucky enough to meet some really great managers – and some who are not so good…  The one attribute that commonly differentiates the good from the bad is whether or not they actively coach their teams. When we begin speaking about how to coach their teams, the less successful managers might say ‘I don’t have the time for this, I just need to tell them what to do’ and ‘They know I’m here if they need me.’

An open-door policy with the ‘Ask me anything’ or ‘You know where I am if you need me’ follow up can be great BUT people may not know what to ask. It’s up to the manager to share their knowledge and coach the person so they can feel confident and empowered. It’s up to the manager to show them how the job is done and give that person the confidence and the tools to enable them to do a great job.

In order to do this, managers need to know about the team – what makes them tick, what drives them, how do they like to learn, how much active management do they prefer, what could be done to make it easier for them to succeed? One of the key elements to becoming a successful coach is to listen without judging or making assumptions.

Understanding how the employee thinks and taking note of the language they use can help managers to know how to motivate and develop that person. Manager need to be able to listen to understand, and question in a way that builds trust.

If more managers coached their staff, the team would feel more empowered, challenged and valued – and would therefore be more productive and committed to their work.

If you’d like to talk to Jann about teaching you or your managers to coach their teams, so your people will be happier, more fulfilled and more productive, get in touch.