Experiences of Management Coaching (Part 2)



Learn Management Articles on management-info.biz. Experiences of Management Coaching (Part 2) article will help answer your questions on Management Articles.We at management-info.biz specialize in Management Articles. Management Articles at management-info.biz provides the most up to date news and articles. If you have questions please do not hesitate to contact us.



In our experience, we have found that there are several reasons managers fail to get employees to see and acknowledge that they have a problem.



They assume. Many managers bypass the step of getting agreement because they assume that an employee views the problem in the same way that they do. However, that is often not the case, especially when the performance problem is a pattern of behavior rather than a single event. People generally do things that they perceive to be in their own best interest. So, employees who realize that a particular work behavior isn’t in their best interest are more likely to change.



In a typical management coaching situation – especially one involving a behavior pattern – an employee is likely to perceive mostly positive reasons for continuing his or her behavior. Take an employee whose pattern is being late for work. Let us assume that the employee knows what the work hours are and has received feedback from his boss about being late. So, why does the employee continue to be tardy? He or she probably sees fewer negative consequences for being late than positive ones – such as avoiding rush-hour traffic, having a leisurely breakfast, sleeping late, or feeling autonomous.



They avoid. Another reason managers fail to get agreement is that they avoid management coaching situations because they feel uncomfortable confronting employees. They hope that employees will discover the error of their ways. But that is not likely because employees tend to see mostly positive reasons for continuing their behavior.



They generalize. Many managers talk only generally about an employee’s performance problem instead of citing specifics. In such cases, an employee is not likely to see that his performance is different from what is expected or from other’s behavior – particularly regarding such issues as turning in late reports, taking extra time for lunch, leaving work early, and socializing too much. Unless a manager can point specifically to what an employee has done over what length of time and how that compares to an agreed-to expectation or other employees’ performance during the same period, the employee is not likely to think his behavior is a problem.



Right string, wrong yo-yo. Many managers seek agreement on the wrong issue. They strive to get an employee to agree on the events leading up to a management coaching meeting but miss the larger, more important issue – that a performance problem occurs each time the event happens. The manager might try to get an employee to agree that he submitted two late reports rather than agree that turning in late reports is a problem. The key is what managers actually says to an employee.



Not this: “Jim, twice this past month you turned in late reports. You know that my expectation is that all reports will be completed by deadline. Do you realize that you turned in two late reports?”



This: “Jim, twice this past month you turned in late reports. You know that my expectation is that all reports will be completed by deadline. Do you agree that there’s a problem here that needs attention?”



To get the employee to agree that a problem exists, a manager must do two things. First, he or she has to paint a mental picture for an employee that there is a difference between what is expected and what the employee is doing. To paint that picture clearly, a manager must juxtapose two pieces of information for an employee to visualize:



  • a description of what the employee has done, using whatever numbers or facts can be gathered about the employee’s performance
  • a clarification of the manager’s expectations of the employee in the performance area under discussion.


Positioning those two pieces of information together, using specifics, enables an employee to see the difference between his performance and what is expected or what others are doing.



Imagine that an employee has been late to several team meetings in a row. Although you did not single out the employee, you made it clear at the last meeting that you expected everyone to be on time. In this case, you might say something like: “I wonder if you are aware that you've been late to four team meetings in a row. I thought I clarified at the last meeting that I expect everyone to be on time.”



Second, the manager must help the employee understand the negative affects associated with his behavior. Imagine that the employee’s performance is a balance scale. Before a management coaching meeting, the scale is tilted towards the side stacked with all of the reasons an employee might see for continuing his behavior. A manager’s task is to tilt the scale in the other direction so that an employee can see more negatives than positives associated with the behavior. Then, the manager will be able to get an employee to agree that a problem exists.




Royalty Free Coaching Products. - Keep 100% of the profits by selling your own royalty free coaching products!
Restaurant Templates And Forms. - Restaurant management forms, restaurant software, business plan templates, marketing & promotions to help grow your profit.


Article Index: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81



More Articles:


1. MANAGING CRISIS; when you’re too good at it By Robin Harris
When you are acclaimed for excellence during times of crisis you may not feel so good in a non-crisis environment.  You may not shine so bright, perform so well, be quite so acclaimed.  If crisis is how you satisfy your personal need to be needed, to feel accomplished, to be respected, to be heard, to be noticed, blah blah blah, then you will naturally seek out, create, attract, be drawn into situations that will allow you to meet this need.  Your environments and relationships will be filled …

2. Continuous Improvement - PDCA - The DO Phase By Andrew Gowans
Let's start with our reminder of... "What is an improvement cycle?"Make Continuous Improvement One Of Your Goals - As Soon As You Possibly Can (ID: 74077)What Is An Improvement Cycle?"Everything we do is a process, every process has a customer"The Improvement Cycle is a highly disciplined and rigorous approach to problem solving using the Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) methodology developed by Dr. W. Edwards Deming.The Improvement Cycle consists of seven steps, 3 in the Plan phase, 1 in the Do p…

3. Hollander Consultants Symposium Sets Standard for Client Delivery
Hollander Consultants Symposium Sets Standard for Client DeliveryCLEARWATER BEACH, FL: Hollander Consultants is holding its annual Florida symposium in Clearwater Beach with over 350 people in attendance. Doctors of veterinary, dentistry and optometry are being given useable and workable tools to help their patients and clients achieve better care and excellent service.Hollander Consultants’ clients flew to Clearwater Beach from all over the country and even from Canada to attend the symposium.…

4. Score the Rainbow's Pot of Gold: Become the Boss That No One Wants to Leave By Linda Henman
Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to higher sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations. Peter DruckerLadies and gentlemen, the captain has turned on the seat belt sign. Please return to your seats and make sure your seatbelt is fastened tightly around you. We are encountering some unexpected turbulence. I have no idea what that turbulence will be, the source of it, the cause of it, or the cure for it. …