December Ascend Newsletter 2014
FEBRUARY 2015 Newsletter
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Hello! This is our second to last newsletter on the Competencies of Effective Supervisors. This month the Competency is Coaching and Developing. It is a Leader's responsibility to develop the abilities and skills of each direct report and leadership skills are no exception. Of course, most leaders have little time to spend teaching the various strategies and details of leadership theory, but every manager can coach and ensure those skills are developed. We like to collaborate with the Supervisors in our clients' organizations and provide the theory and practice training so that the in house leader can follow up, enhance, and support the development of leadership skills. In this issue, we address what we mean by Coaching and Developing as well as how we support that effort with our clients.

Wishing you a productive and gratifying March!

Sue 
In This Issue
TIP OF THE MONTH
How to Give
Constructive Feedback

 

An important aspect of coaching others is effectively conveying feedback so the employee/learner is not discouraged, but encouraged and empowered to grow and develop.  
 
A few things to consider: 
 
▶ Collect comprehensive data on the learner's performance by incorporating available statistics and customer and/or peer feedback, as well as your own observations.  This process results in more informed and less biased feedback to discuss with the employee.
 

▶ In the next scheduled coaching session, share the data collected with the learner in a timely, direct, balanced and supportive manner. 

 

▶ ASK THE EMPLOYEE her thoughts on the feedback and her personal perception of her performance.  Encourage her to think of alternative methods or solutions to agreed challenges moving forward.

GROW_DEVELOP

 

▶ By the close of the discussion, be sure to set specific short-term goals with the employee, collaborate on a direction and agree upon the next follow-up period. 

 

Again, a comprehensive and collaborative feedback process engages and encourages the employee in her own growth as opposed to leaving her feeling discouraged and demotivated.

 
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Competencies of Great Supervisors

Part 15 - Coaching and Developing   

As our ongoing series Competencies of Great Supervisors clearly highlights, today's leaders have an awful lot on their plates.  And the seemingly ever-growing list of responsibilities and job COACHING!ASCEND expectations leaves precious little time for one to fall short or be ineffective at any one skill.  "The ability to coach and develop others" is a key competency we're seeing more and more of in the long list of requirements for supervisory and management level (READ: leadership) roles.  This indicates a focus on efficient employee training and development.  But with such limited time to devote to coaching, how does a supervisor or manager ensure he or she is doing it right?  Let's dive in...  

 

COACHING  

What IS Coaching?
Giving reviews, holding occasional meetings and offering advice has long been the standard for coaching and development.  But, times have changed and the bar raised.  To be a truly effective coach, one needs to understand what exactly coaching is and what specific steps to take to effectively coach his or her direct reports.

Coaching focuses on helping another person learn in ways that let him or her keep growing afterward. It is based on providing constructive feedback by asking rather than telling, on provoking thought rather than giving directions and on holding a person accountable for his or her goals.   

   

Why Coach?

Strong leaders and successful organizations understand the value in continually developing the knowledge and skills of their employee base.  When new competencies are needed due to a change in the work situation, or when poor performance indicates that remedial instruction is needed, managers can leverage coaching to fill the gap...     

 

 Read Entire Article....
FEBRUARY Spotlight  

Spotlight on Collaborative Training

One of the hallmarks of an Ascend Training Solutions training program is the integration of in-house Supervisor coaching with our training sessions.  As I have explained in previous newsletters, we have found that ongoing periodic training, delivered in 3-4 hour biweekly or monthly modules is the best way to ensure behavior change. This behavior change is further enhanced by discussions of the content with the trainee's Supervisor in between training sessions. One way that we support such discussions is by null providing an assignment to the trainees to discuss a specific question or strategy from the session with their own managers before the next session. We design questions that encourage a discussion of how a particular concept or strategy has been or could be applied in their workplace. We can also provide the prompt to the Supervisor if that is a more appropriate approach for your organization. The benefits of these coaching sessions between training sessions are: 

a). Supervisors or Managers and their direct reports discuss specific leadership or operational strategies and apply them directly to their work environment


b). Trainees revisit concepts and how they will be applied, keeping them "top of mind."

c). Supervisors and Managers are clear on the concepts their direct reports have and are learning.

d). Supervisors and Managers develop their own skill at coaching and developing.

d). Revisiting new information increases the likelihood of its retention and utilization.

The other great outcome of this approach to training is that many people in the workplace are discussing leadership strategies and their application; thinking about their own leadership skills; and being much more thoughtful about their conversations and actions with others in the workplace.  
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