Pathway of the Quarter: Developing Your Coaching Skills

So, how about informal coaching? Let's learn about it in Section 5!

See you Wednesday!

What an interesting section this week! Positive feedback! Typically, when I think about coaching, what comes to mind is how can I help in a situation … Often, the good work goes overlooked. Feedback is essential for everyone. One thing I've been working on with feedback is providing a "why" to the good job. Think back to a time when someone told you "Good job" or "Great work" or "You're awesome". It is lovely to hear, but do you know why you are getting that feedback; what did you do that made it a good job, great work, and why are you awesome? When providing constructive feedback, we're specific, but why not with positive feedback? Being specific in why you have positive feedback, not only boosts morale, but it also will reinforce the behavior. For me, whenever I get a "thumbs up" my response is "thank you for saying that, tell me why you think that."

I appreciated the tips from Lisa Adam's video about on the spot coaching. Approaching the conversation calmly (even if you may not be calm), asking questions about what is going on (gaining clarity), don't go in with a game plan for a resolution – but reacting quickly to small situations so they don't become bigger in the future.

I really enjoyed the sample coaching conversation in the Informal Coaching for Managers article. It gave a nice example of how to ask the right questions without leading to and answer from you. In this case, the team member acknowledged the issue, and a provided resolution – the perfect scenario. How could this have gone awry?

Please share your thoughts from this week, I can't wait to hear about your takeaways. Do you have examples of times you've received on the spot coaching? As a people leader, are you doing this type of coaching? If not, do you think you'll start implementing it?

So, how about informal coaching? Let's learn about it in Section 5!

See you Wednesday!

What an interesting section this week! Positive feedback! Typically, when I think about coaching, what comes to mind is how can I help in a situation … Often, the good work goes overlooked. Feedback is essential for everyone. One thing I've been working on with feedback is providing a "why" to the good job. Think back to a time when someone told you "Good job" or "Great work" or "You're awesome". It is lovely to hear, but do you know why you are getting that feedback; what did you do that made it a good job, great work, and why are you awesome? When providing constructive feedback, we're specific, but why not with positive feedback? Being specific in why you have positive feedback, not only boosts morale, but it also will reinforce the behavior. For me, whenever I get a "thumbs up" my response is "thank you for saying that, tell me why you think that."

I appreciated the tips from Lisa Adam's video about on the spot coaching. Approaching the conversation calmly (even if you may not be calm), asking questions about what is going on (gaining clarity), don't go in with a game plan for a resolution – but reacting quickly to small situations so they don't become bigger in the future.

I really enjoyed the sample coaching conversation in the Informal Coaching for Managers article. It gave a nice example of how to ask the right questions without leading to and answer from you. In this case, the team member acknowledged the issue, and a provided resolution – the perfect scenario. How could this have gone awry?

Please share your thoughts from this week, I can't wait to hear about your takeaways. Do you have examples of times you've received on the spot coaching? As a people leader, are you doing this type of coaching? If not, do you think you'll start implementing it?

So, how about informal coaching? Let's learn about it in Section 5!

See you Wednesday!

Hey y'all! 

Playing catch up this week and doing all the reading. 

I REALLY liked this week's topic. As an aspiring leader and current employee, week 5's readings gave me a ton of ideas and things to think on. I think the most insightful article was the article from Baird Group - 4 tips for improving your on the spot coaching. Specifically, the "keys to employee engagement" really spelled out what I, as an employee, really value from leaders on my teams. Employees are engaged when managers spend time with their team, when managers provide regular feedback, and when the employees know where they stand regarding their performance and team engagement.

Our Marketing team is fully remote so these ideas and tips made me wonder how my managers and leaders could better coach in casual ways remotely. My brain went to "offline" follow ups after calls. Like it would be awesome to hear from my manager that they enjoyed seeing me engage and enjoy my time in a social call with the team. Or if they followed up after I led a call with external teams and let me know that they thought I did a great job.

What are your thoughts? How could we encourage "water cooler" moments for coaching when we are not all together in a shared office space? 

What an interesting section this week! Positive feedback! Typically, when I think about coaching, what comes to mind is how can I help in a situation … Often, the good work goes overlooked. Feedback is essential for everyone. One thing I've been working on with feedback is providing a "why" to the good job. Think back to a time when someone told you "Good job" or "Great work" or "You're awesome". It is lovely to hear, but do you know why you are getting that feedback; what did you do that made it a good job, great work, and why are you awesome? When providing constructive feedback, we're specific, but why not with positive feedback? Being specific in why you have positive feedback, not only boosts morale, but it also will reinforce the behavior. For me, whenever I get a "thumbs up" my response is "thank you for saying that, tell me why you think that."

I appreciated the tips from Lisa Adam's video about on the spot coaching. Approaching the conversation calmly (even if you may not be calm), asking questions about what is going on (gaining clarity), don't go in with a game plan for a resolution – but reacting quickly to small situations so they don't become bigger in the future.

I really enjoyed the sample coaching conversation in the Informal Coaching for Managers article. It gave a nice example of how to ask the right questions without leading to and answer from you. In this case, the team member acknowledged the issue, and a provided resolution – the perfect scenario. How could this have gone awry?

Please share your thoughts from this week, I can't wait to hear about your takeaways. Do you have examples of times you've received on the spot coaching? As a people leader, are you doing this type of coaching? If not, do you think you'll start implementing it?

So, how about informal coaching? Let's learn about it in Section 5!

See you Wednesday!

This is what I absolutely LOVE about shared learning - everyone has different takeaways!

Do you have regular 1x1s with your manager? If so, that is the perfect time to open the conversation about how you'd like to be coached and receive feedback. Reference the article! 

It can be challenging in a remote workplace for sure, so that open communication is key. Have you thought of initiating that afterwards call yourself and asking for feedback?

Hey y'all! 

Playing catch up this week and doing all the reading. 

I REALLY liked this week's topic. As an aspiring leader and current employee, week 5's readings gave me a ton of ideas and things to think on. I think the most insightful article was the article from Baird Group - 4 tips for improving your on the spot coaching. Specifically, the "keys to employee engagement" really spelled out what I, as an employee, really value from leaders on my teams. Employees are engaged when managers spend time with their team, when managers provide regular feedback, and when the employees know where they stand regarding their performance and team engagement.

Our Marketing team is fully remote so these ideas and tips made me wonder how my managers and leaders could better coach in casual ways remotely. My brain went to "offline" follow ups after calls. Like it would be awesome to hear from my manager that they enjoyed seeing me engage and enjoy my time in a social call with the team. Or if they followed up after I led a call with external teams and let me know that they thought I did a great job.

What are your thoughts? How could we encourage "water cooler" moments for coaching when we are not all together in a shared office space? 

What an interesting section this week! Positive feedback! Typically, when I think about coaching, what comes to mind is how can I help in a situation … Often, the good work goes overlooked. Feedback is essential for everyone. One thing I've been working on with feedback is providing a "why" to the good job. Think back to a time when someone told you "Good job" or "Great work" or "You're awesome". It is lovely to hear, but do you know why you are getting that feedback; what did you do that made it a good job, great work, and why are you awesome? When providing constructive feedback, we're specific, but why not with positive feedback? Being specific in why you have positive feedback, not only boosts morale, but it also will reinforce the behavior. For me, whenever I get a "thumbs up" my response is "thank you for saying that, tell me why you think that."

I appreciated the tips from Lisa Adam's video about on the spot coaching. Approaching the conversation calmly (even if you may not be calm), asking questions about what is going on (gaining clarity), don't go in with a game plan for a resolution – but reacting quickly to small situations so they don't become bigger in the future.

I really enjoyed the sample coaching conversation in the Informal Coaching for Managers article. It gave a nice example of how to ask the right questions without leading to and answer from you. In this case, the team member acknowledged the issue, and a provided resolution – the perfect scenario. How could this have gone awry?

Please share your thoughts from this week, I can't wait to hear about your takeaways. Do you have examples of times you've received on the spot coaching? As a people leader, are you doing this type of coaching? If not, do you think you'll start implementing it?

So, how about informal coaching? Let's learn about it in Section 5!

See you Wednesday!

So, how about informal coaching? Let's learn about it in Section 5!

See you Wednesday!