Coaching and Feedback

Mark Cannon
 What is Coaching?
• Coaches enhance employee ability and
performance by facilitating:
– Learning
– Informed choice
– Internal commitment to growth
What are the most effective of
methods of developing
employees?
Factors That Drive Development
 Korn/Ferry’s Lominger 360
Competency Ratings

• Coaching (“developing direct reports and others”)

 rated lowest (3.37/5.00) of all 67 competencies

• Feedback (“confronting direct reports”)

 rated (3.40/5.00) in the bottom 10%
 Focusing on Your Experiences,
Interests, and Current Challenges
• The Change Process / Missed Developmental
Opportunities
– Too often, employees do not proactively work on improving their
weaknesses.
– They also miss opportunities to continue their growth and
development.
– Why don’t we see more continuous, successful growth and
development?

• Key Targets for Coaching and Development:

– Where do you see the greatest opportunities for coaching and
development in your organization? What knowledge, skills,
abilities and performance would you like to see enhanced? What
are some examples?
Almost every executive I meet is successful
because of doing a lot of things right, and
almost every executive I meet is successful in
spite of some behavior that defies common
sense. - Marshall Goldsmith
Typical Growth Pattern
 Why are people not more
successful at making constructive
changes in their behavior?
 Conditions for Growth and
Development
• Accurate perception of current performance
– Where do I stand now?
• Clear vision of desired end state
– Where do I want to be?
• Motivation to change
– Why should I make the effort to change?
• Means of making the change
– How will I get there from here?
• Ongoing assessment, support, and follow-up
– How will we establish accountability and support the change process?
 Key Coaching Skills
• Developmental Relationship
• Active Listening
• Questioning
• Assessment
• Feedback
• Goals
• Action Plans
• Ongoing Assessment, Support and Feedback
 Coaching Styles
Directive
They help by instructing and
advising; by sharing their
knowledge, experience, and
perspective; and giving feedback
and corrective suggestions on
what they’ve observed
Facilitative
They help by asking insightful
questions and listening; by
stimulating their subordinates to
think, reflect, and explore; and by
helping others observe themselves
and learn from their own
experiences.
(Bacon & Spear, Adaptive Coaching)
 Directive Versus Facilitative
• What do you see as the costs and benefits of
directive coaching and facilitative coaching?
– When is a directive style as most useful?
– When is a facilitative style as most useful?
• Which style is more comfortable for you?
 Directive Versus Facilitative
• How do employees prefer to be coached?
– Directive 35%
– Facilitative 65%
• Directive coaching can be particularly useful in
establishing and clarifying performance expectations and
helping employees see performance gaps
• Facilitative coaching tends to help employees “own”
performance problems and be more proactive in taking
personal responsibility for their own development
– 87% of employees said they prefer coaches who ask questions rather
than “being told what to do.”
 Directive Versus Facilitative
Benefits
Directive
• Clarifying expectations
• Giving actionable feedback
• Establishing accountability
• Technical or factual learning
• Addressing performance problems
Facilitative
• Building employee motivation and internal commitment
• Encouraging ownership
• Developing complex capabilities (leadership, judgment, etc.)
• Promoting deeper learning
• Developing goals
• Designing action plans
 Developmental Coaching
• Developmental Coaching—Supports continuing
development in current role or in preparation for future
roles
– May require a shift in our frame of mind
– The distinctive developmental coaching skills are active listening and
asking powerful questions
• A Developmental Frame of Mind
– Focus on employee’s learning needs versus what you know
– Play the role of facilitator versus expert or director
– Transfer commitment and responsibility for development to the
employee versus holding them yourself
– Impact versus speed
 What is Framing?
• A frame is an a set of assumptions that guides
our attention and effort.
• We are often unaware of our frame and how it
is impacting our effectiveness.
• Reframing (adopting and applying a different
set of assumptions) is often helpful in
increasing our effectiveness.
2
 “GROW”

Goal: What we want to achieve

Reality: The circumstances we’re dealing with (or how we

perceive them)

Options: How we might move from our Reality to our Goal

Way Forward: What action we want to take

Source: “You Already Know how to be Great,” Alan Fine, 2010
 Performance: Faith, Fire and Focus

Faith: Belief in one’s ability to succeed

Fire: Passion, energy, commitment

Focus: Attention, concentration

Source: “You Already Know how to be Great,” Alan Fine, 2010

 Key Coaching Skills and Desired
Coaching Outcomes
COACHING OUTCOMES
• Accurate Perception of Current Performance
• Clear Vision of Desired End State
• Motivation to Change
• Means of Making Change
• Ongoing Assessment, Support, and Follow-up
COACHING SKILLS
• Developmental Relationship
• Active Listening and Questioning
• Assessment and Feedback
• Goal Setting and Action Planning
• Ongoing Assessment, Support, and Feedback
 Research Findings on Goal
Setting
• Challenging goals produce better performance
• People may abandon goals if the goal becomes too hard
• Specific challenging goals are better that “Do Your
Best” goals
• Participation on goal setting increases commitment and
attainment of goals
• Feedback and goals improve performance
• Management support is critical
 S.M.A.R.T. Goals
• Specific goals
• Measurable goals
• Agreed upon
• Realistic
• Time specific