The Project Manager as a Super Coach
Every project manager, in fact, every manager who is responsible for people is, and should be, a coach. Coaching in an organization is not a fad, it is not a ‘program’ nor is it something new. It is one of the basic responsibilities of a manager.
Here are some things that you can do to be a ‘super coach’ and help your people to help themselves:
Making it ‘easy’
- Initiate conversations with coachees or co-workers to help them resolve their concerns
- Make yourself easily accessible to coachees or co-workers
- Make it easy for others to be candid with you
- Make it easy for others to acknowledge that they lack knowledge
- Make it easy for others to inform you about problems
In conversations with coachees or co-workers
- Do not put them down with behaviours such as sarcasm or ridicule
- Give full attention to them when they are speaking
- Show sensitivity to their feelings
- Emphasise solving problems rather than blaming people
- Encourage mutual, two way, communication
While discussing problems of the coachees or co-workers
- Develop a full understanding of the problems before helping to solve them
- Request their opinions before expressing your own
- Help them to identify problems accurately for themselves
- Help them to find their own solutions to their problems
- Help them to gain a deeper understanding of their own feelings about the problem
- Help them to gain a new insights into the problems
- Stimulate them to explore alternative solutions to the problems
- Help them to take responsibility for solving their own problems
- Help structure the conversation so that it develops in a logical way
- Serve as a resource for new ideas
Initiate conversations with coachees or co-workers in order to…
- Help them understand the political issues that must be taken into account when making decisions
- Help them understand the organisational history behind issues and problems
- Help them identify key players to consider in gaining acceptance of new ideas
- Help them become sensitive to the aspects of the organisation’s culture that affect their success
In conversation with coachees or co-workers
- Help them develop their own personal networks for accomplishing their jobs
- Help them take personal responsibility in managing their own careers
- Help them gain commitment to the organisation’s goals and values
- Make them aware of senior managers’ likes and dislikes
- Provide them with practical career advice
- Encourage them to apply for positions that would enhance their careers, even if such encouragement might mean losing competent subordinates or co-workers
- Help them identify what new knowledge or skills they need to acquire
- Serve as a resource to them on technical matters
- Serve as a resource to them on administrative matters
- Help them gain expert status in their areas of responsibility
- Encourage them to test new knowledge and skills that they acquire
- Check with them to ensure that they have the knowledge and skills to do their jobs
- Follow up with them when they have acquired knowledge and skills to ensure they are able to use them
- Encourage them to look for new learning opportunities
- Praise them when they have acquired knowledge and skills
- Gain commitment from them to learn continually
In discussing performance with coachees or co-workers
- Mutually clarify expectations about performance with them
- Promptly identify performance problems with them as these problems occur
- Challenge them to take on more and more difficult tasks
- Develop strategies with them to improve their performance
- Gain commitment from them for continuous improvement in performance
- Confront performance problems in a way that maintains a positive relationship between them and yourself
- Be specific when talking about performance
- Emphasise improvements in the future rather than failure in the past
- Help them find their own best ways to improve their performance
- Develop concrete strategies for solving performance problems