It’s common for workers to harbor reservations about taking on management roles because they don’t want to deal with “people issues.” After all, it can be intimidating and unpleasant to manage conflict, lead disgruntled employees and provide tough feedback.
However, if you develop certain coaching skills, you’ll be better positioned to manage a team. Career coaching has similarities to athletic coaching: Both processes help someone else learn and develop new habits to improve his or her performance. Both involve providing feedback, asking the right questions, demonstrating or explaining tasks and offering encouragement.
These soft skills necessary to create a positive work environment and manage other people require time and training to develop. Indeed, 93 percent of human resources leaders believe managers need training on how to coach employees, according to the 2016 SHRM/Globoforce Employee Recognition Survey of nearly 800 people who work in HR.
Unfortunately, new managers don’t always get the preparation they require. A 2011 Career Builder survey found that 58 percent of respondents didn’t receive any management training before they became workplace leaders.
Regardless of whether you received official training, new and experienced managers alike can benefit from polishing their coaching skills. Read on to improve your ability to motivate and connect with your employees.
[See: The Most Important Allies to Make at Work.]
Create a safe environment and set clear relationship expectations.
Managers must establish trust with workers to help them grow and make them feel comfortable enough to share ideas and ask questions. This involves providing a structure for relationships, meetings and conversations, plus creating guidelines for how to work together effectively.
Start by explaining your style, strengths and desires as a leader. If there are any conversations or meetings that need to be confidential, let your employees know. When conducting meetings, define clear goals and ask for feedback. Let workers know they can come to you with any urgent issues or questions.
If you need to backtrack with current employees, it is completely fine to do so in order to improve your relationships. Make sure to give them time to adjust to the changes.
Manage yourself.
As a leader, you want your employees to feel comfortable approaching and collaborating with you. Create this comfort by listening effectively and managing your negative emotions, such as anger, frustration and impatience.
It is difficult to be present for your employees if you are too distracted by your own inner world and responsibilities. While conversing with employees, listen to their struggles and any negativity they might be feeling in order to help them find positive solutions. Pay more attention to them than to your own stressors. This is a skill that takes time to master, but the more you work on it, the more effective you will be with your employees.
[See: 8 Careers for Creative People.]
Develop curiosity.
Some leaders feel that efficiency precludes time for curiosity. However, gleaning information from your employees makes you a better leader and tips you off about their frustrations, preferences and work challenges and triumphs.
Talk to your employees on a regular basis about big-picture topics such as how you work together, how processes may be improved and what they think about certain projects. Listen to their perspectives and try to understand where they are coming from. Only offer your own opinion or a correction if it’s necessary.
Cultivate empathy.
Psychology Today defines empathy as “the experience of understanding another person’s thoughts, feelings, and condition from his or her point of view, rather than from one’s own.” That means imagining yourself in someone else’s place to comprehend what he or she is feeling or experiencing. You can’t effectively lead, motivate or encourage your employees if you don’t understand them.
[Read: Empathy May Reside in Your DNA.]
Understand critical needs.
Developing these coaching skills will enable you to address the four critical needs of followers:
— Trust. Cultivate honesty and respect within your team.
— Compassion. Help employees develop a sense of happiness and professional fulfillment, no matter how they define that.
— Stability. Look out for your workers’ well-being. Be a source of strength and support for them.
— Hope. Provide your employees with guidance, direction and encouragement.
To evaluate yourself as a leader, use a scale of 1 to 5 to rank how well you address these needs your employees have. Use the advice above to improve weak areas. Next, consider each of your current employees and identify which need each person has most strongly and how you can help address it.
Employees want guidance and support from their leaders. Whether you receive leadership training or not, by improving your coaching skills, you can contribute to a stronger and more engaged workforce. This will help you train future leaders.
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Use Coaching Skills to Improve Office Management originally appeared on usnews.com
