If you are a manager committed to leading in a coaching way; a manager who has done some “Manager as Coach” training or who has read and experimented prolifically with coaching as a style; a manager who sincerely works at using a coaching approach to leading your teams; a manager who is human, has bad days, experiences stress and pressure, and who inevitably messes up despite your best intentions; this series of articles is for you. This is the fifth in series of 12 monthly articles, first published in SA Coaching News in which I share tools, techniques and practices that you can use over time to create new default behaviours that will enable you to live into your intentions of being a coach and creating a coaching culture in your team.
Whether you are a manager of managers or you find yourself coaching a peer who manages managers, there are some interesting complexities. When the source of difficulty or frustration is a manager who is not taking appropriate action on the performance of their team member, what is the coaching topic?
Let’s use a fictitious example. I lead a team of managers. One of them – let’s call her Lindi - is struggling to deliver on her KPIs because she has a team member (Pete) who is not performing. I also am not aware of any specific action being taken to address Pete’s non-performance. We have discussed non-performance against the KPIs before, and Lindi had agreed to take up the issue with Pete, but I am not seeing any improvement in what is being delivered from that team. Therefore, the topic of my coaching discussion will be Lindi’s failure to manage. In essence, Lindi is underperforming in that she is not taking action (or effective action) on Pete’s non-performance– and her inability to achieve her KPIs is a symptom.
Any performance coaching discussion is better handled when one uses a fairly standard set of stages. In my coaching, I work with clients to come up with their own stages, but these are the ones I use:
While this article has specifically discussed coaching a manager who has an underperforming team member, taking the time to structure any discussion that may be tricky is good practice. It keeps you focused, it acts as a kind of rehearsal and it also ensures that the outcomes covers most, if not all angles.
For your convenience, here are the steps without the blurb:
Whether you are a manager of managers or you find yourself coaching a peer who manages managers, there are some interesting complexities. When the source of difficulty or frustration is a manager who is not taking appropriate action on the performance of their team member, what is the coaching topic?
Let’s use a fictitious example. I lead a team of managers. One of them – let’s call her Lindi - is struggling to deliver on her KPIs because she has a team member (Pete) who is not performing. I also am not aware of any specific action being taken to address Pete’s non-performance. We have discussed non-performance against the KPIs before, and Lindi had agreed to take up the issue with Pete, but I am not seeing any improvement in what is being delivered from that team. Therefore, the topic of my coaching discussion will be Lindi’s failure to manage. In essence, Lindi is underperforming in that she is not taking action (or effective action) on Pete’s non-performance– and her inability to achieve her KPIs is a symptom.
Any performance coaching discussion is better handled when one uses a fairly standard set of stages. In my coaching, I work with clients to come up with their own stages, but these are the ones I use:
- Describe what you have observed and why it concerns you.
I notice that your team is still not delivering on its KPIs. We talked last month when you missed target, and I notice that your team has missed its targets again this month. This concerns me for a couple of reasons. One is that with each passing month we are increasingly unlikely to meet our annual target – and that is not good for anyone. The greater concern is that it suggests that you have not managed to get Pete up to speed yet. I am concerned that you might be struggling to manage his performance, and I would like to be able help you to sort this out so that you and your team starts to experience more success. - Ask if they would be willing to work with you on this.
Are you willing to work with me on this?
[The use of a closed question here is intentional – I want to know if you are open to a discussion: yes or no.]
- Ask for a description of their experience. Ask follow-up questions that uncover what has been done; what has happened; what meaning is being made of what is going on (assumptions at play); the extent to which they are able to take the perspective of the underperforming team member. This is all about understanding the situation and identifying the key issue(s).
What has been going on for you?
What have you tried?
How did Pete respond? How was he in the discussion?
What has happened since then?
What do you think might be going on for Pete? [This is a key question because it is probably what Lindi and I will work with – it may well be the key issue here.]
How do you feel about this? What impact does it have on you and the rest of the team? - Ask questions that explore what will happen if nothing changes, arriving at the conclusion that change is not negotiable.
What will happen if nothing changes?
How will that impact on your team?
How will that impact on the wider team?
Are you saying that there really is no choice – we have to solve the problem? [Again you see the power of a purposeful closed question.]
What specific change would you like to see? - Refer back to the key issue identified above: ask questions that explore options for supporting Pete in addressing the key issue(s).
How might you make ..… easier for Pete?
How often might you do that? And for what period of time?
What else could you do? How might you involve Pete in the solution? How would you coach him?
How might you track his progress? How could he track himself? - Ask questions that summarise the commitments and arrive at agreement on a review.
Could you summarise for me what you will do?
How do you intend going about it?
What will you do if it does not have the results you hope for?
How will I know if you are struggling?
When shall we meet again to see how this is working? - End with a short reflection that identifies the key learnings.
What stands out for you as most useful from this discussion? How might this influence you in future? How will you use this with other team members? What have you learned about yourself?
While this article has specifically discussed coaching a manager who has an underperforming team member, taking the time to structure any discussion that may be tricky is good practice. It keeps you focused, it acts as a kind of rehearsal and it also ensures that the outcomes covers most, if not all angles.
For your convenience, here are the steps without the blurb:
- Describe what you have observed and why it concerns you.
- Ask if they would be willing to work with you on this.
- Ask for a description of their experience until you both deeply understand the situation and the key issue(s).
- Ask questions that explore what will happen if nothing changes, arriving at the conclusion that change is not negotiable.
- Ask questions that explore options for addressing the key issue(s).
- Ask questions that summarise the commitments and arrive at agreement on a review.
- End with a short reflection that identifies the key learnings.
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