Marie G. McIntyre, Ph.D.

(All material on yourofficecoach.com is copyrighted to Marie G. McIntyre.  All rights reserved.)

Coaching discussions are needed not only to address performance problems, but also for employee development – when an employee is new or the job has changed in some way.   The coaching discussion should be focused on development, learning, and problem solving.  Both manager and employee should participate actively in the discussion, sharing perspectives, ideas, and suggestions.  A coaching discussion should always end with an agreement about what actions will be taken or what will be done differently in the future.  Here are the steps in a coaching discussion: 

1. Determine your goal.  Be very clear about what you hope to accomplish in this conversation.  Then be sure to keep the discussion on track.

2. Recognize their strengths.  Discuss what the employee does well.  Even if there are problems, no one is all good or bad, so describe this particular person’s talents or accomplishments.  If the goal is for the person to learn a new task or skill, discuss the reasons why you feel they can be successful.

3. Share your observations of job performance needs.  In neutral, factual terms, describe the problem that needs to be addressed or the skill that needs to be learned.  If there are problems, do not sugarcoat them so that they no longer sound like a problem.  Be direct, but not critical or blaming.  Discuss job behaviors or tasks, not personality traits.  For example, do not say that the person “has no initiative”, but explain what tasks are not being done or what problems are not being resolved.

4. Ask questions to get their point of view.  Coaching discussions should be two-way conversations, so it is important to ask a question early in the conversation.  Otherwise, the employee will just feel that you are lecturing. 

5. Describe the effect of the problem.  Sometimes people really do not understand the effect of their behavior on others or on the work.  So if there are performance issues, describe how they are adversely affecting outcomes, colleagues, the organization, yourself, the employee’s career, customers, etc. 

6. Get input on possible solutions.  Before you suggest a solution, see what the employee has to say.  Often, they will come up with a better idea.  If not, you can always give a different opinion.  Be open to the idea that you might also need to do something differently to support the employee.

7. Agree on action steps.  At the end of the discussion, agree on specific actions to be taken and the timeline that will be followed.  Make arrangements for a follow-up discussion to assess progress.  If you do not end with action steps, then nothing is likely to happen.

8. Appreciate their willingness to change.  Thank the employee for participating in the discussion.

And be sure to follow up on your agreements!  If you don’t, then you send the message that the issue wasn’t actually very important.

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