Home Career Center Leaders 2017 April

The “W” Word Every Coaching Leader Should Stop Using and Other Coaching Tips

According to a Bersin & Associates study, business results improve by 21 percent when leaders coach effectively and frequently.

As you coach your direct reports, always keep in mind that the coaching conversation is about the employee’s development and you are facilitating the learning process. Keep a few key coaching plays in your back pocket to make the process more effective and help you get the results you need.  

Play #1. It’s about capitalizing on learning moments.

Try not to wait too long after an incident to address problem issues. Talk about and reinforce behavior best practices in-the-moment. It is the best way for learning to occur. 

Play #2. It’s about two-way conversation.

Take an ask vs. tell approach in your coaching dialogue. Avoid telling the employee what to do. Ask powerful questions that allow the employee to create their own solutions. As you guide them through the problem solving process, you have a better chance of them buying into the solution because the solution will be their idea.

Play #3. It’s about choosing your words wisely. 

Confucius said, “Without knowing the force of words, it is impossible to know more.”  Many times we use great words or phrases irresponsibly because we don’t know any better. One word in particular is the word why. It is not a negative word but it limits a leader’s ability to have an effective conversation.

The goal of a coaching conversation is to have a two-way dialogue that produces a useful outcome.  Leveraging good questions enables this type of outcome. Ask open-ended questions that steer away from asking “why?”.  Why tends to give off an air of judgment.  Open-ended questions invite positive dialogue. Try the ones listed below.

  • What is the status on “x”?
  •  How can I help you? 
  •  Can you tell me about that error?
  • Walk me through your thought process?
  • What other approaches might you take next time?
  • How are your emotions influencing your perception of the situation?

Your career will blossom if you are known to be a good developer of people and that takes strong coaching skills – a critical skill for long-term leadership success!

Can you think of other open-ended questions to use when coaching? Comment below and share your ideas.

7 Productive Ways to Handover a Project

At some point in your career, you will need to transition a project to another person or team. The reason for the transition will vary but the steps for a smooth transition remain the same.  Make it your goal to give your replacement all the information they need to ensure they can carry out the project properly. Creating a transition process gets easier when you think about type of questions you would ask or the type of information you would need if you were the person that was going to take over your project? What would make you feel confident to take on this new project? Below are several plays you may currently use or want to borrow to handover a project to a new person or team.

#1. Create and document a project transition process. 

During a project transition, it is hard to think about the project in transition. Typically, you are preoccupied with getting it off your plate or focusing on the next thing. For this reason, you want to make sure key transition steps are not missed by documenting your process and reviewing it with key stakeholders to make sure it fits the needs of everyone involved.

#2. Ensure the project is current. 

Tie up any loose ends. If you can’t do that, write down pertinent notes and make sure you share this information at your official transition meeting.

#3. Create a transition package.  

Centralize all project documents and information. Some people consolidate everything in one folder on the network and share it. Others create a spreadsheet of the relevant documents and create a hyperlink that points to where they reside. Whichever way you choose to do it consider including some or all of the following items:

  • Project plan document
  • All documents involved in initial project plans
  • Change requests throughout the project
  • Communication and document templates
  • Financial Reports, Invoices, SOWs, etc.
  • Process documents, SOPs, protocols, etc.
  • Copies of all project deliverables
  • Updated project status reports and minutes
  • A list of project contacts and their roles
  • Copies of project emails

#4. Plan how you will make yourself available. 

An overlap time between yourself and the new replacement is highly recommended. Define what that overlap time will be and how you plan to communicate expectations. Be available for them via phone or email for at least the first couple of week. Even if they don’t reach out to you, you need to reassure them that there is somewhere to go to if they get stuck.

#5. Schedule a transition meeting. 

Have a formal meeting to pass all information over to your replacements and all other identified stakeholders. Don’t rush through this meeting. If needed, share the information in chunks over time to reduce overwhelm and ensure information retention.

Plan to review project status updates and task status updates. Outline some of the project methods and ways specific actions are implemented. Suggest next steps for the new replacement. Share your transition package location and share the process on how you want to handle questions about the package and any other information you share.

#6. Have a culture conversation. 

Take the time to update your replacement of some of the cultural nuances of the project. This may be at a separate more informal meeting. Meet to discuss the different personalities on the team, overall politics, and project culture. Your replacement can definitely draw their own conclusions but your cultural insight will give them some foundation to work with as they begin to determine how they will work with the team dynamics.

#7. Transition your relationships.

Help your replacement manage the project relationships. This is the perfect opportunity to introduce the new replacement to team members. Start copying your replacement on emails with your client or team members.  Save all of your emails in a folder and send them over is another option. Involve them in a couple of conference calls between your client and/or team to give them some knowledge on status updates. You could propose that you take over the first conference call and then ask them to lead the second to reflect the transition.

All the above are great work plays to make sure those involved in a project transition are at ease in what can be a highly stressful and difficult situation.

Do you use any of these approaches? What other approaches do you use to handover a project? Comment below and share your ideas.

6 Signs You Need More Leader Sensitivity

The words of a leader carry a lot of weight with the people they manage. Certain words lift someone up while others simply demotivate. Here are 6 common phrases you might hear from an insensitive leader. These are plays you want to remove from your leadership playbook, if you want to influence and have greater impact in your leadership role.

Insensitive Play #1: You should know this.

It would be nice if there was stage in life where everyone became all-knowing. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Whether you are young, old, new, or seasoned, there will be times when you just don’t know. So, if you encounter someone on your journey who you feel doesn’t know as much as you think they should. Throw them a grace line. Share information, educate them with a humble spirit and hope it sticks for future reference.

Insensitive Play #2: You are lucky to even have a job.

The positive aspect of this statement is that whoever uses it is trying to have focus on gratitude opposed to lack. There are people out there that would love to make an income doing anything but a statement like this also discredits someone’s feelings of dissatisfaction. In addition to sharing how you think they are blessed, also share statements that make them feel that you empathize with their feelings of dissatisfaction and/or need for more. 

Insensitive Play #3: Just figure it out.

It’s convenient if an employee can take the time to figure out something themselves by asking questions, reading materials themselves, etc. However a good manager knows that part of their role is to guide and direct. If you are trying to develop self-sufficiency skills, you can say, “This is something I would like you to handle yourself, using resources X, Y, and Z.

Insensitive Play #4: I don’t have time for your performance review but you are doing fine.

Employees need specific feedback even when they are performing well. High performers especially need feedback because it is their nature to want to grow.  Make it a point to tell them what they are doing well, what they could do differently, or stop all together.

Insensitive Play #5: That is a dumb idea.

Great ideas can only be nurtured in a safe environment where people can feel safe to make suggestions. Whether you agree with an idea or not, work to preserve a team member’s self-esteem. Their idea may not be ideal at the time but they may be the source of something brilliant in the future.  

Insensitive Play #6: Just do what I tell you.

Nobody wants orders barked at them. If you groom your team to just follow commands, you are creating a team of robots that cannot think for themselves. This type of leadership stifles accountability and innovation. It causes people not to think beyond what is required and removes feelings of ownership for their projects. Instead, inform team members of what is required from them, allow them to share their concerns, and work towards mutual agreement and respect.

Can you think of other signs of an insensitive leader?  Comment below and share your ideas.