Mentoring and Coaching

For Optimum Performance

Objectives
 At the end of this session you will be able to:
 Identify the differences between coaching and
mentoring and know when to use which
 Determine the characteristics of a good coach
 Identify the elements of a good coaching session in
order to implement them
 Establish the importance of communication in the
coaching process and
 Identify how to give feedback to coachees
Content
 What is Coaching & Mentoring
 Characteristics of a Good Coach
 Key steps in coaching for optimum
performance
 Elements of a good coaching session
 Communication skills for effective coaching
Session 1
What is Coaching & Mentoring
What is Coaching?
Coaching is a process of helping another individual
realize their inner potential, delivering fulfillment to
both the individual and the organization.

 ‗TO COACH‘
 Comes from the root meaning ‗to bring a person from
where they are to where they want to be‘

―Coaching is the art of facilitating the performance,

learning and development of another‖
Myles Downey
Effective Coaching
Coaching is NOT…
 Leading
 Managing
 Instruction
 Mandating
 Disciplinary
 Giving advice
 Offering opinions

 Coaching is not mentoring.

 A mentor is usually long-term, while a coach is for
immediate performance issues.
Coaching vrs Mentoring
 Coaching helps all your employees or team
members
 When you coach employees, you improve their
ability to do their current jobs and increase their
potential to do more in the future.

 Mentoring is reserved for your most talented

employees.
 Work with talented people, help them advance, and
they will become assets now and allies in the future.
 Ignore them, and they‘ll find someone else —
maybe a competitor — who appreciates their
talents.
Coaching vrs Mentoring
 Mentoring is for your exceptional employees, people
who show promise but need help to become top
performers.

 As a mentor, your responsibilities are to

 represent the company‘s values,
 give pep talks,
 offer instruction about your company‘s political structure,
 influence decision makers to help your mentee, and
 provide contacts and resources

 A mentoring relationship shortens your employees‘

learning curve and increases productivity.
 How Mentoring Works
Faith left a secretarial position to sign on as administrative assistant to Dan,
head of purchasing. Faith had been unhappy with her previous job because
she hadn‘t felt appreciated. Dan recognized Faith‘s potential. Her professional
track record, although mostly clerical, indicated she was capable of taking on
more responsibility than the administrative assistant position required. He
started assigning projects that gave her an opportunity to stretch her potential
and each time, Faith excelled.

Pleased with her progress, Dan offered to help Faith advance in her job. In
effect, he became her mentor. He promised to put her in charge of several
projects of her own, assignments that would make her more promotable in the
future. He identified several skills she would have to develop to handle the
work and offered to help her if she encountered difficulties.

Faith was delighted. She agreed to meet with Dan on a regular basis to
provide updates on her work and accept feedback. And she set about
acquiring the skills she needed. The mentoring relationship gave Dan time to
work on other projects as Faith increasingly took on work he didn‘t have time
to do. As a result, he was able to complete a reorganization plan for his
department, saving the company $100,000. For her part, Faith became an
increasingly skilled worker. At one point, she uncovered a vendor scam that
Why is it important to coach?
 Your organization‘s success depends on
developing employees!
 Coaching is a key factor in attracting and
retaining the best employees
 Employees are inspired to work to their greatest
potential when they are given support and
encouraged to develop their skills
 It prepares both the employee and the
organization for the future
The new approach to coaching
 The new approach to coaching operates on the
premise that
 Everyone can be ―developed‖ through coaching
 Employee development is every managers‘
responsibility and every employee‘s responsibility
as well
 Moving employees through new challenges
strengthens their professional abilities
 Development more likely means informal, on-the-
job ways of learning
A manager‘s role in coaching
 As a Manager/Supervisor, your role as a coach is to:
 Guide your employees by helping to match their skills,
interests, and work values with job opportunities.
 Conduct frequent discussions of developmental needs.
 Give timely and specific feedback about an individual‘s
performance against established expectations.
 Provide opportunities for coaching, when necessary.
 Act as informal teacher by being conscious of the behaviors
and attitudes you model.
 Work with your employees to draft individual development
plans and follow through to achieve them.
Session 2
Characteristics of a Good Coach
A good coach
 To be a good coach, you must believe that
 people want to do well on their jobs,
 people want to grow professionally.

 Your role is to help them gain the skills, abilities, and

knowledge they need to increase their potential and
improve their performance.
A good coach
 A good Coach Does Not Need…
 To be right
 To be the expert
 To know the ―right‖ answer
 To be in control
 To ―fix‖ it
 To heal it or make it better

 You don‘t have to know a lot about what you are

coaching your subordinate on. Coaches are effective
because they leverage the individual‘s own
knowledge, talents and expertise, not their own.
 This is not about instructions or advice
A good coach
 A good coach knows when to coach…
 During performance reviews
 As part of performance assessment, particularly when you
realize that the subordinate has a particular challenge or
problem, either work related or not.
 As part of a team setting
 Usually to generate buy-in for all team members
 Individually
 As a formal or informal one-on-one conversation with an
employee to get to know their career plans in order to
support them more effectively
 In conjunction with set tasks
 When delegating a task to an employee
A good coach
 A good coach knows when not to coach…
 When your task is to manage or lead, not coach
 When the person is not willing to be coached
 In order for coaching to be successful, the other person
needs to be willing to participate in the process. If they are
not, there is no buy in and it may be unsuccessful

 Coaching is successful when the individual or team being

coached is successful at attaining a higher level of
performance.
A good coach
 It is not the coach who ―wins‖.
 Coaching is not a role for anyone expecting a high
level of recognition or accolades. Coaches are only
successful if those that they are coaching are
successful…in that way, it is like living through
someone else‘s actions.

 A good coach knows when not to coach…

 When the employee is a problematic one –
persistent underperformer
 In this instance you need to counsel. Counseling addresses
problem performers, people whose bad habits have become
chronic and affects their performance on the job or the
performance of the team.
A good coach
 Must know how to ask the right questions without
making people feel uncomfortable.
 You need to be able to get information from them to help you
make decisions about what their real career path is and the
skills they should acquire in order to be successful.

 Listen well to their answers.

 Pay as much attention to their body language and nonverbal
signals as to what they‘re saying.

 Talk frequently with your employees.

 You‘ll be in a better position to detect morale problems and
observe employees who are ready to take on more
responsibility.
A good coach
 Become a good teacher.
 This means being able to assess what employees need to
learn as well as being able to train them.

 Give feedback.
 When your people do something well, tell them. When they
make mistakes, give them corrective feedback in a positive
manner. Suggest improvements that let them know you
believe they are capable of doing the work right
Some Do‘s and Don‘ts of
Coaching
 Like an athletic coach, you need to motivate your
people. But your responsibilities go far beyond
giving pep talks.
 Start with your behavior.
 Be a role model for excellence. Take your own advice, and
your staff will be more likely to emulate your actions.
Managers who tell their people, ―Do as I say, not as I do,‖
quickly lose the respect of their employees.

 Encourage their growth by creating a positive

environment.
 Build rapport with your employees. Point out their strengths
and note any improvement in performance. Treat their
mistakes as learning opportunities; never threaten them.
Some Do‘s and Don‘ts of
Coaching
 Make sure people understand how their jobs tie into
the company‘s overall strategy and mission.
 Clearly explain what you expect of them.

 When you conduct performance appraisals, be

specific about what each individual can do to
improve.
 Write down their development goals and recommend
training programs and resources that will help your
employees achieve those goals
Some Do‘s and Don‘ts of
Coaching
 Don‘t
 Make implied promises.
 Don‘t promise to reward added effort with a raise or
promotion if you can‘t deliver.
 Change from coach to autocrat.
 Be consistent in the way you treat your employees: Once a
coach, always a coach. If you change styles in mid-stream,
your employees won‘t trust you.
 Be impatient.
 If you have to, patiently repeat those instructions a tenth
time. Deal calmly with dumb mistakes. Losing patience
sends a message to employees that you think they‘re stupid
and erodes their self esteem.
Some Do‘s and Don‘ts of
Coaching
 Focus on attitudes.
 Rather than calling someone lazy, you might say, ―You don‘t
lend a hand to other workers and have been seen reading a
newspaper when coworkers need help.‖ This calls attention
to behavior that can be changed.

 Ignore the problem.

 Don‘t allow little problems to grow into big ones. Deal with
them as they arise
Opportunities for Coaching
 As Managers/Supervisors, you need to constantly be
on the look out for opportunities to provide coaching
to your employees. You could:
 Conduct formal performance reviews
 Have informal coaching conversations with employees
 Have on-the-spot work progress discussions
 Follow up on a training session
 Help an employee to implement a work improvement idea
 Work with an employee to meet job standards or to manage
their job better
Acknowledging employee differences
 As a Coach, you need to acknowledge that
each employee is different in terms of
personality, behaviour and characteristics
 Differentiating allows you to:
 Appropriately address performance expectations.
 Draft suitable developmental plans.
 Help direct reports manage their careers.
 Build a better foundation for your organization‘s success.
Session 3
Key Steps in Coaching for Optimal
Performance
 Steps in coaching
 Coaching employees and teams is the most
critical role of a manager/supervisor in business
today.
 The success of the employees, team and
organization depend on the coaching ability of the
manager/supervisor.
 There are various techniques, styles and
approaches available for coaching

 We will look at two approaches

 The GROW Model
 The Coaching Discussion Approach
Source: Coaching Discussion Approach by Pam Martin
Steps in coaching
 For whatever approach you might use, coaching
is usually done within the context of a
meeting/session between the coach and the
employee.
 Such a meeting will provide both parties with the
ideal forum to hold an objective discussion.
 The GROW model
REALITY
GOAL What is happening now that tells
What do you want to move forward on…? you…? Describe the current
What can we achieve in the time situation… What made you realise
available…? What would be the most that you need to do something
helpful thing for you to take away different?
from this session? G R O

T W OPTIONS
What could you do to move
yourself just one step forward…?
TOPIC What are your options…? How
Tell me about… far towards your objective will
What would you like to think/talk that take you…?
about…?

WILL
What will you do next…?
What could stop you moving forward?
How will you overcome this?
How can you keep yourself motivated?
When do you need to review progress?
Daily, weekly, monthly?
Source: Skills for Life Improvement Program/(CfBT) What do you need from me?
The GROW Model
 Key steps

 G – GOAL: What do you want?

 Establish the Goal
 First, you and the employee need to look at the behavior that
you want to change, and then structure this change as
a goal that s/he wants to achieve.
 Make sure that this is a SMART goal: one that is Specific,
Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound.
 When doing this, it is useful to ask questions like:
 How will you know that your employee has achieved this
goal? How will you know that the problem or issue is solved?
 Does this goal fit with his/her overall career objectives? And
does it fit with the team's objectives?
The GROW Model
 R – REALITY: What is happening now?
 Examine the Current Reality
 Next, ask the employee to describe his current reality.
 This is an important step:
 Too often, people try to solve a problem or reach a goal
without fully considering their starting point, and often
they're missing some information that they need in order
to reach their goal effectively.
 As your team member tells you about his current reality, the
solution may start to emerge.
The GROW Model
 O – OPTIONS: What could you do?
 Explore the Options
 Once you and the employee have explored the current
reality, it's time to determine what is possible – meaning all
of the possible options for reaching the objective.
 Help the employee brainstorm as many good options as
possible. Then, discuss these and help them decide on the
best ones.
 Offer your own suggestions in this step. But let your team
member offer suggestions first, and let him/her do most of
the talking. It's important to guide them in the right direction,
without actually making decisions for them
The GROW Model
W – WILL: What will you do?
 Establish the Will
 Finally, decide on a date when you'll both review progress.
This will provide some accountability, and allow the
employee to change his approach if the original plan isn't
working
 Coaching discussion approach
The Coaching Discussion Approach has three components:
• The Five Coaching Guidelines,
•The Key Principles of Coaching and
•The Two Process Skills

The five coaching guidelines

Open

Close Clarify

Agree Develop
Coaching discussion approach
 In the Opening step the key is for the manager to clearly
communicate the purpose and importance of the
discussion.
 Clarify, the manager presents all relevant information,
issues, and concerns as well as related facts and figures.
 Develop, gets the employee involved by collaborating to
create solutions.
 Agree, specifies actions, timelines and resources to
achieve the solutions
 Close is a final chance to check that both you and the
employee are clear on agreements, next steps and
commitments. It is also an opportune time for the manager
to voice his/her confidence in the employee.

 Three of the guidelines:

 Clarify, Develop, and Agree form a cycle that can be repeated
as often as necessary to meet the outcomes of the discussion
Coaching discussion approach
 Another component of the Coaching discussion
approach are the key principles of coaching. In order
for the process to be successful the key principles
must be a part of the process and embedded in the
discussion.

 The five key principles of coaching which need to be

incorporated in all coaching sessions are:
 Maintain or enhance self-esteem
 Listen and respond with empathy
 Ask for help and encourage involvement
 Share thoughts, feeling and rationale
 Provide support without removing responsibility
Coaching discussion approach
 The two Process Skills that help to ensure the success of
the Coaching Discussion approach are checking for
understanding and making procedural suggestions.

 Checking for understanding is a way to confirm that both the

coach and the employee have the same understanding of
what has been discussed during the session. The most
effective way to check for understanding is to summarize the
information in the form of a question and then request
confirmation or correction.

 Making procedural suggestions is an effective way to keep the

coaching discussion process on track, by identifying problems
in the process itself and resolving them quickly. A good
example of this technique is "We seem to have several
resources available, let's narrow our options down to two."
Coaching discussion approach
 The final key component of the Coaching Discussion
Approach is the Behavioral Communication
Questions.

 If the following questions are answered during the

coaching discussion, the likelihood of the employee
being willing and able to perform the agreed-upon
behavior is greatly increased:
 How is this relevant to what I do?
 What, specifically, should I do?
 How will I be measured, and what are the consequences?
 What tools and support are available?
 What's in it for me?

 The key to the success of any coaching session is

Session 4
Elements of a Good Coaching
Session
Elements of a good coaching session
 What makes coaching successful?
 Four essential components have been identified as
being crucial for a coaching session to be
successful.
 1. Clarity
 Ultimately, nothing will happen until you gain laser-like
clarity on the issue or goal. Total clarity before continuing.

 2. Confirmation
 As a coach ask questions and repeat answers for
confirmation Confirm the real deal or go back to step 1.
Elements of a good coaching session
 3. Communication
 Communication is achieved when all the parties involved
in the communication process understand clearly what is
being said
 When parties are on the same page
 Effective communication is critical to a successful
coaching session because once we state our desires or
intentions to other people, we have a much greater
chance of success.

 4. Commitment
 Create an immediate action--something that will
happen today
 Commit to an action that will happen today. Without a
commitment and follow-up, it's easy to feel good about
the session and still have nothing happen
Elements of a good coaching session
 When conducting a coaching session to provide
positive feedback…
 Describe the positive performance result or work habit using
specific details.
 Solicit your employee's opinion of the same behavior.
 Ask the employee to identify elements that contributed to
success (adequate time or resources, support from
management or other employees, the employee's talent and
interest in the project).
 Discuss ways in which you and the employee can support
continued positive results.
 Reinforce for the employee the value of the work and how it
fits in with the goals of the work unit or department.
 Show your appreciation of the positive results and your
confidence that the employee will continue to perform
satisfactorily.
Elements of a good coaching session
 When you conduct a coaching session to improve
performance…
 Describe the issue or problem, referring to specific
behaviors or expectations.
 Involve the employee in the problem-solving process to
identify the problem.
 Brainstorm and write down possible solutions.
 Decide on specific actions to be taken by each of you to
correct the problem.
 Agree on a follow-up date.
 Document key elements of the session.
 Give one copy to the employee and place another in the
employee‘s file.
Elements of a good coaching session
 If your coaching session is conducted to address poor
work habits such as continued lateness
 Describe in detail the poor work habit observed.
 Say why it concerns you, in terms of its specific impact on the
department.
 Ask why it occurred and listen non-judgmentally to the
explanation. Describe the need for change and ask for ideas.
 Discuss each idea and offer your help.
 Agree on specific actions to be taken and set a specific follow-
up date.
 Document key elements of the session. Give one copy to the
employee and place another in the employee‘s file.
Session 5
Communication Skills for Effective
Coaching
Coaching communication
 Coaching is a two-way process
 coach-employee, employee-coach
 Clear and consistent messages will facilitate
understanding and avoid miscommunication
 Open questions will glean more information
 eg. What do you think about the team‘s new approach?
 Not ‗Do you think the team‘s new approach is a good one‘
 Good feedback
 positive and corrective
 Active listening shows interest and will enable you to
obtain additional information from your employee
 Non-verbal communication
 eg. Voice expression, is as important as verbal
communication
Giving feedback
 Feedback should be:
 positive, constructive and corrective
 clear and concise
 delivered as soon as possible after the
action for which it is being provided

 Use the ‗feedback sandwich‘

approach:
Positive feedback (what they are doing well)
Corrective feedback
Positive feedback (actions for improvement)
Giving feedback
 Plan what you intend to say to your employees, and be
sensitive to your emotional state at the time.
 This will help you keep personal frustration out of your
remarks.
 Be patient.
 Just because you know how something is to be done, doesn‘t
mean your employees do. Where possible, show them how
the job should be done.
 Be specific, not general.
 Telling an employee to be more customer focused is too
vague. Instead, you might say something like, ―I was
disappointed that we didn‘t do a customer-focus group this
quarter. We need to hold these meetings every quarter in
order to keep up with customers‘ needs.‖
 Focus on behavior that can be changed.
 You‘ll only frustrate employees if you identify shortfalls they
cannot change
Active listening
 Stop – Pay attention and don‘t interrupt
 Look – Make eye contact and get onto the same level
as the person
 Listen – Focus on what the person is saying
 Respond – Restate what has been said and use open
questions to prompt for further information
Communication barriers
 Different perceptions of words and actions
 Only hearing what you want to hear
 Using jargon
 Not responding to questions
 Judging too quickly
 Looking for personal agendas
 Allowing emotions to blur the message
 Assuming ‗I‘m right‘ and not being open to other
views
 Asking antagonising questions