Our ‘Coaching for Managers’ one-day course will show delegates tried and tested methods about 1-2-1 training; executive coaching and how to develop people in order to improve productivity and motivation. We explain through discussion, role-play and case study how to coach staff to achieve the impossible in terms of team development and business performance.

It will also show them how to plan, prepare and implement a coaching programme for induction courses and how to evaluate its success. It also looks at the relationship between coaching, mentoring and training.

What is a coach? If you were to list some of the positive definitions you would use to define what coaching is about, you would hopefully come up with some of the following answers; communicate, educate, improve, inspire, prepare, support and motivate.

The modern manager knows that coaching is a key element of team development. No longer is management about telling people what to do; effective leaders understand how coaching and development is vital to business success.

DIRECTIVE STYLE

DIRECTS – CONTROLS – SUPERVISES

As you can see it is high on TASK and low on RELATIONSHIPS. The Manager provides specific instructions and closely supervises task accomplishment. She/he tells subordinate the problem and the solution – she/he does not ask. Clear direction on the task is given to staff members and standards (both quantitative and behavioural) are set quickly.

This style of management is best used with:

•  Rookie staff. They are enthusiastic beginners.
•  People that have gone off the boil and need to be put back on track.
•  Existing staff who have taken on a brand new task/project which needs high managerial involvement in the early stages.
•  Crisis situations when decisions need to be made quickly.

COACHING STYLE

In this style the manager is still high on TASK but also high on RELATIONSHIPS.

The Manager continues to DIRECT – CONTROL – SUPERVISE but also explains decisions, solicits suggestions and supports progress. This style is best used with:

•  Staff members with limited experience (3-9 months)
•  Disillusioned learners – they realise how much they have to learn – progress is slow and they often lose their confidence in their ability to learn – they need reassurance from their manager.

The Manager must gradually involve subordinate in decision making in order to rebuild commitment. The Manager must be high on direction – listen to the concerns of subordinates and praise their progress.

SUPPORTIVE STYLE

In this style the manager is low on TASK but high on RELATIONSHIP. The Manager’s behaviour is all about people and the relations with the staff members.

The Manager helps subordinates reach their own solutions by asking questions that expand their thinking and encourage risk taking.

PRAISE – LISTEN – FACILITATE

Managers would use the supportive style with:

•  Staff with more experience and ability (9 – 18 months experience).
•  People who now need to ‘sound out’ their own ideas to boost confidence.

It is not best used in problem areas where the subordinate does not know the solution or when the problem needs to/ be solved quickly.

DELEGATING STYLE

This management style is low on TASK and low on RELATIONSHIPS. The leader turns over responsibility for decision making and problem solving to subordinates.

They predominantly LISTEN – REVIEW but take a low profile and can be characterised as being very ‘hands off’. You would use the delegating style with:

•  Very experienced staff
•  Peak Performers.
•  Staff members who are thoroughly competent at their job.
•  Management development candidates.
•  Tasks that can be completed in various ways. Problems with more than one solution.

Whilst staff certainly need to feel involved they do not need constant praise and support, the manager just needs to let them know how they are doing and they will praise themselves.

Exercise

Review your management style and answer the following questions.

Your predominant management style is ………………………………………………..

How does this fit with individuals within your team?

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Where do feel you may need to be more flexible?

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Development and Managerial Style

Having understood the four basic styles available to the leader, you must then move onto deciding when and with whom you will use each style. In other words, the manager must match their leadership style to the developmental stage of the subordinate.

These are four development stages that people go through starting at D1 and developing through to D4. These development stages are dependent on:

•  Experience
•  Skills
•  Knowledge
•  Motivation to do the job
•  Ability to do the job
•  Performance
•  Confidence

If we are saying that D1 is the first stage of development, the people we would slot into this D1 category are:

•  New staff who have just finished their induction.
•  Staff members changing jobs.
•  Newly promoted staff members.
•  Staff who have taken on new projects/job skills.

Those we would slot into D2 category are:

•  Disillusioned learners whose commitment to the job is high but they are noticeably less enthusiastic
•  Staff members with 3-9 months experience.
•  People who are fairly competent at their jobs

Who would we slot into the D3 category?

•  Staff members with (9-18 months) experience.
•  Those who need to sound out their own ideas to boost their confidence.
•  Staff members with high skill and technical knowledge
•  Staff members who demonstrate variable commitment to the job

Those who would slot into D4 category are:

•  Peak performers.
•  Managerial development/promotion candidates.
•  Staff members thoroughly competent in the job.
•  Staff members who consistently demonstrate the correct attitude towards the job and others.

Let’s talk through two simple components that will help you evaluate your subordinates. Staff members will demonstrate varying levels of both Competence and Commitment to the job. One of the hard tasks of management is to understand the balance which is being shown by an individual and the appropriate action which needs to be taken.

What do we mean by competence?

•  Ability to do job
•  Knowledge
•  Skills
•  Experience

What do we mean by commitment?

•  Motivation
•  Desire
•  Confidence

The varying levels of performance achieved by your subordinates is directly related to the different balance of competence and the motivation and desire in each individual.

Exercise

1. Using your management styles analysis; which management style fits best in which development stage?

Dl – Low competence/high commitment.

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D2 – Some competence/low commitment.

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D3 – High competence/ variable commitment. ………………………………………………………………………………………………

D4 – High competence/high commitment. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….

2. Try to identify which of your staff members fit the various development styles

Dl – Low competence/high commitment.

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D2 – Some competence/low commitment.

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D3 – High competence/ variable commitment.

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D4 – High competence/high commitment.

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3. Identify management actions you can use to adapt your style to the development stages of your team members?

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Your goal as a manager is to direct and coach your people to increase both competence and commitment so that you can begin to use less time consuming styles, i.e. supporting and delegating styles and still achieving high quality results.

Coaching for Managers Course

Becoming an effective coach is not just a set skills, but a belief that staff development is an integral part of building confidence, trust and motivation in the workplace.

The modern manager needs to know how to develop people. This course shows how to plan, prepare and implement coaching and how to evaluate its success. It also looks at the relationship between coaching, mentoring and training.

Course Dates

• September 10, 2012
• October 11, 2012
• October 26, 2012
• November 21, 2012
• November 30, 2012

Who will benefit from the course?

Our coaching training seminars enable delegates to understand the processes which will make them more effective and increase their confidence and sense of achievement. This will benefit anyone who needs to master the principles and practices of an effective coach; including senior/junior managers, supervisors, training/hr managers, directors, administrative and technical staff.

This course had been designed to enable you to understand the basic fundamentals of strategy and motivation in team building. You will benefit by learning tips and techniques which will increase your competence and confidence when managing, influencing and leading teams.

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