You
know you should be adapting your management style to the needs of
your
different
staff. And you know there are times when a coaching style just might
be a bit
more
motivating than a ‘yell and tell’ approach.
But
you’re a busy and stretched beyond capacity. It’s a constant
bombardment of
emails
and phone calls and last minute requests for reports and new
priorities that
come
out of nowhere. It’s easier for you to tell your staff what to do
and how you want
it
done. That’s when you’re not simply doing the thing you should
have delegated but
which
is far easier and quicker if you just do it.
The
problem is, you’re caught in a vicious cycle of your own making.
You’re getting
frustrated
and your belief that by doing stuff yourself or telling people what
to do is
faster
is, in the long-run, going to cause you worse problems. Namely that
your team
isn’t
learning, isn’t getting enough variety, become demotivated and in
some instances,
will
leave.
Sound
familiar? Don’t worry. You’re not alone. This is a common
scenario which comes
up
in various workshops, such as the coaching-manager workshop I run.
It’s also
something
I’ve experienced myself when I’ve been in busy operational
management
roles.
There
is light at the end of the tunnel. It does require a bit of effort
from you, mainly
around
rewiring your thinking but it’ll be worth it. Trust me.
Still
not convinced? Then here are five reasons why using
coaching
styles as part of your management can pay
dividends.
#1
A compassionate coaching style can bring out the best in your
staff
A
2017 study by Richard Boyatzis and Anthony Jack looked at the impact
on people
when
a compassionate coaching approach (focusing on building on strengths,
discussing
hopes and aspirations) was used compared to a critical coaching
approach
(focusing
on fixing weaknesses). By reviewing brain scans, researchers found
that
using
a more compassionate, positive approach in coaching lit up the parts
of the
brain
related to visioning which subsequently motivates learning and
behavioural
change.
#2
A facilitative coaching style can help people better handle
changes
in the workplace
A
study in China, involving 51 managers and 373 staff, looked at
anxiety and the
relationship
with adaptive performance (understanding and adjusting to changes in
the
workplace) and the impact different coaching styles would have. They
found that a
facilitative
style of coaching, where the coachee is encouraged to explore ideas
and try
things
out, can enhance a person’s feelings of control.
#3
A developmental coaching style can help improve performance
An
American study involving 328 salespeople reporting to 114 middle
managers
looked
at the impact a developmental style of coaching could have on
performance.
Developmental
coaching meant a continuous and regular interaction between the
manager
and employee where the manager gave constructive, developmental
feedback.
This, subsequently, helped the employee to overcome difficult
problems or
situations,
and also provided opportunity to practice complex procedures. The
researchers
found that those managers who used a developmental coaching approach
tended
to have better sales performance across their teams. An unexpected
finding in
this
study was that all the managers involved had received formal training
in coaching,
suggesting
coaching behaviour is better learned through formal training rather
than
learning
by observation.
#4
A coaching style can help increase learning when used in team
sessions
as well as one-to-one
A
2018 study by Makoto Matsuo, involving over 500 people across nearly
100
engineering
team found, that managers who used a coaching style positively
impacted
team
and individual learning. This particular study examined the impact of
a coaching
style
when used one-on-one, as well as when it was used in a team setting
to facilitate
the
sharing of lessons and knowledge.
#5
A coaching style can have a positive impact on team-level
performance
A
Finnish study published in the Journal of Happiness Studies examined
the impact of
a
managerial coaching style on performance and work engagement. The
study,
involving
nearly 900 people across a range of organisations, found that good
quality
managerial
coaching was linked with good individual performance but there was an
even
stronger link between managerial coaching and team level performance.
Thanks to halopsychology.com
Thanks to halopsychology.com