Coaching Skills Training: Coaching and Communication 1

Coaching Skills Training: Coaching and Communication 1
Most managers I train as coaches are clear (or have been
convinced by their bosses) that they need to take on the
role of coach as part of their people management
responsibilities. Most are less clear about exactly what
this means or how to go about it. There are obvious
difficulties in defining coaching with any precision and of
incorporating coaching into a general management role.

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 is
with the team members but not all of it.

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.

A common mistake in considering management communication in
this way is to think that one style is necessarily correct.
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 would be needed is for someone to take the lead and to
ensure that people were moved to safety quickly and in
accordance with the laid down procedures. 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.

In a future article I'll expand on the relative advantages
and disadvantages of each style and examine where coaching
fits.

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Matt Somers is a coaching practitioner of many years'
experience. He works with a host of clients in North East
England where his firm is based and throughout the UK and
Europe. Matt understands that people are working with their
true potential locked away. He shows how coaching provides
a simple yet elegant key to this lock. His popular
mini-guide "Coaching for an Easier Life" is available FREE
at http://www.mattsomers.com