Coaching and Counseling
Coaching vs. Counseling
Counseling stresses understanding.
Coaching stresses action.
Counseling asks why? (Why can't we be
happy?")
Coaching asks how? (How can we
achieve happiness?")
Obstacles are prominent in counseling.
Opportunities are prominent in
coaching.
Counseling is psychological.
Coaching is behavioral.
Counseling is therapy.
Coaching is education.
Counseling is cure-oriented.
Coaching is success-oriented.
Coach or Counselor?
Questioning to
check learning
Feedback on
performance
Questioning to
raise awareness
Same Core
Skills
Organizational
aspect considered
Coaching
Feedback on
awareness
Individual aspect
Important
Counseling
• While managers can easily recognize the need for coaching
when their employees have new jobs, duties or tools, managers
often fail to diagnose the need for coaching when their
employees are performing poorly.
• Counseling is the appropriate response when employees’
motivation problems are the cause of poor performance.
• But, managers need to remember that not all performance
problems are due to a lack of motivation.
• Poor performance can also be the result of
misunderstandings or a lack of skill.
• Many of us can recall a situation when a manager
chastised us for screwing something up when all we
really needed was a clarification of what was
expected. How demoralizing!
• Although coaching and counseling have
different purposes, they're interrelated.
• Sometimes coaching reveals attitude
problems, fears or other factors that interfere
with the willingness to do one's job.
• When such barriers to motivation are identified,
managers must shift into a counseling mode to
resolve them before engaging in coaching.
• There's no point in working on employees' "Can't
Do" problems before resolving their "Won't Do"
problems.
• By the same token, needs for coaching
can also emerge during counseling.
• For instance, when an employee is
intimidated by the complexity of a task, that
fear can be manifested in a number of
counterproductive work behaviors such as
procrastination.
• Consequently, coaching is a remedy for some
of the motivation problems that managers
identify when counseling their employees.
Exercise
Coaching Skills
• Develop a Better Understanding of the
Four Fundamental Coaching Skills:
•
•
•
•
Observation
Questioning
Listening
Giving Feedback
Observation
• Observe and Not Judge
• Do not judge the observed behaviors
• Do not put your experience into their
behavior
• Do not look at situations in a black
and white perspective
• Do not jump to conclusions
Question
• Ask Questions That Elicit Information
and Maintain a Dialogue
• Do not ask yes or no answers
• Ask open ended questions
• Ask questions that need information to
answer
• Ask probing questions to elicit further
information
Listen
• Listen to the Words and the Real
Message
• Listen to the emotions behind the
words
• Listen and watch the body language
• Talk only to ensure understanding for
what was heard
Feedback
• Provide Feedback That Structures
Future Behaviors
• Provide positive feedback even in
negative situations
• Ensure that any decisions are made by
the person you are coaching
• Show the importance of the whole, not
just the individual
Self-Assessment
Steps in Coaching
• There are four basic steps in coaching
•
•
•
•
Assess
Show and Explain
Check for Understanding
Follow up and Evaluate
Assess
• Put the employee at ease.
• This step is important when the coaching
session is a response to poor performance--it's
not as important in other situations.
• Find out what they already know.
• There are two reasons for this.
• First, there's little use in telling them what they
already know.
• Second, prior knowledge serves as the
foundation for new knowledge that's
acquired.
• Hence, you want to link the "training" to what
they already know and correct any
misconceptions that could interfere with their
learning.
Show and Explain
• Present information or demonstrate
work methods.
• This is the point where you deliver the
content of the training.
• Repeat.
• Repetition enhances understanding
and retention.
Check for Understanding
• Evaluate learning.
• Test whether the employee understands the
information or can perform the skill.
• This is more of a demonstrative kind of test.
• Provide feedback.
• Let the employee know what they have
successfully learned and what they still need to
learn.
• Correct.
• Show the right answers or methods again.
Follow-up and Evaluate
• Evaluate performance on the job.
• Periodically check to see whether the employee
is using the knowledge or skills effectively on the
job. Gradually increase the interval at which you
check. The employee should eventually take
responsibility for monitoring their own
performance.
• Reward.
• Provide praise or other rewards for successful
acquisition and use of the knowledge or skill.
Feedback
• Focus on the situation or issue, not the
person
• Appreciative to Constructive ratio should
be at least 2 to 1
• Use “I” instead of “You” when giving
constructive feedback
• Be specific and cite examples
• Stay focused on issues that the person
can control
• Make a recommendation or suggestion
if appropriate
• When listening to responses, listen
openly
• Focus on content, not the person
• What will you do if coaching fails
• Discussion
Coaching Concerns
Future Focus Exercise
Counseling
• I don't think you can counsel your employees
effectively if you don't truly care about them,
because effective counseling can be hard
work.
• Humans have emotions.
• People profit from the positive emotions like
excitement and inspiration
• We also have to accept and manage effectively
the negative emotions such as anger, frustration,
worry and arrogance
• It takes work to deal with the negative side of
employees' emotions.
• Managerial counseling requires listening
effectively and constructive communication.
• It's a lot easier to just be a hard-nosed, "my-wayor-the-highway" manager. Managers who can
counsel their employees get the most out of
them in difficult circumstances.
• Whether you are counseling or coaching in
response to poor performance, the goal is
the same
• to get that poorly performing employee's
performance back up to standards
• or back into conformance with the rules.
• What if you may come across a subordinate
who is manipulative?
• The best way to deal with them is to listen to
their story at least once.
• Listening to their story and validating their feelings
doesn't mean that you accept their poor performance
or misconduct.
• After you've listened to their story and empathized,
come up with a plan for improving performance.
• Avoid asking pointed questions or making
assumptions about your employees'
personal lives.
• Legally and ethically, employees have a variety
of privacy rights.
• Focus on the work-related problem.
• Even though the work-related problem is often
the symptom of a personal problem only discuss
the personal issues if the employee you're
counseling raises them
• Refer the employee to professional counseling
for anything of a serious nature.
• Appropriate:
• You seem distracted at work and your
productivity has fallen off. I really need you
to be more productive. Is there anything I
can help you with?
• Inappropriate:
• Are you having marital problems?
• I think your drinking in the evenings is
interfering with your job performance.
• You can only comment on what you
observe employees actually doing or the
results they achieve.
• Making assumptions about personal
problems is very risky and sometimes
unfair.
• For instance, diabetics have occasionally been
mistaken for alcoholics.
• Prior to meeting with the employee …
• Clarify exactly what the work-related
problem is. Be as specific and task-related
as possible.
• Determine what you think the cause might
be.
• If it's due to motivation, attitude or emotions,
counseling is appropriate.
• If it's due to a lack of knowledge or skill,
counseling is unnecessary and coaching is
appropriate.
• Know whether and how you can refer
employees to your firm's employee
assistance program (EAP) or other
resources for help with personal
problems.
•
When meeting with the employee …
•
Be pleasant and put the employee at ease as
much as possible under the circumstances.
•
The situation is tense just as it is. This will allow the
employee to relax a little bit
•
Ask if they would like some water, etc.
• Describe the behaviors or aspects of
job performance that are insufficient or
unacceptable.
• It is a good idea to infer that they should
know this already, or to state the specific
rules, to fend off the common response
of “I didn’t know”
• Ask the employee what he or she thinks
is causing the problem.
• Listen actively and communicate
supportively.
• Don’t interrupt and reflect understanding of
what is being said.
• Once the employee has had time to tell his or
her story, ask the employee how he or she will
correct the performance problem.
• It is very important to have the employee discover
their own “solution”. Your job is just to guide them to
an effective one, not to advise one.
• If it is seen as necessary, let the employee know how
to get help with "any personal problems that might
affect their job performance."
• But, be careful about making assumptions or asking
questions about their personal problems.
• Help the employee make a realistic plan to
solve the problem.
• Again, don’t come up with the solution
yourself, it must be their idea.
• If it is not their idea, and it does not succeed, it
becomes easy to blame you, because you told
them to do it.
• If the problem is important, jointly create
and sign an “FOSA” agreement.
• Facts: Give a factual account of the
performance or behavior.
• Objectives: Specifically explain how the
employee's behavior will need to improve and
specify a time frame.
• Solutions: Document how the employee plans
to solve the problem.
• Actions: Describe the consequences for not
achieving the objective.
• Plan a follow-up meeting to assess
whether the FOSA agreement's objectives
were met.
• No follow up is interpreted by the employee as
showing the issue really was not important.
• Explain that a follow-up report will be attached
to the FOSA, so he or she will get credit for
correcting the problem.
• Have the follow-up meeting, and deliver
the agreed upon consequences (positive
or negative).
Counseling Concerns
Future Focus Exercise