Coaching in the Moment

Coaching in the Moment

A significant issue is elevated to your level and after evaluating the information you understand the problem developed because one of your employees made a series of bad decisions. What do you do? Take care of the issue yourself? Blow up at the employee? While many executives often choose one of these two options, a third possibility does exist.

Coaching in the moment is a very powerful means of guiding an employee to a successful outcome, and is also quite effective in "de-briefing" after something hasn't gone quite as well as you would have liked. Here's a brief process to help you effectively coach your employees:

Start by uncovering what lead the employee to their decisions. Come from a place of curiosity and ask a few simple questions.
What did you intend to accomplish?
How did you analyze the situation?
How did you decide what to do?

Beware ..... of asking, "Why did you do that? as the question often triggers justification and defensiveness.

Second, invite the individual to see the issue from a different point of view. The wisdom gained through your experience will open up an opportunity for your employee to see the situation in a new way.

Beware ..... of shifting into a problem solving approach and sending the employee off with a directive.

Third, coach your employee to develop his or her own action plan. Questions to guide this process include:
What actions will you take?
How will you monitor progress?
In what ways can I support you?

I encourage you to try using this tool. While it may initially feel uncomfortable practice will bring proficiency.