5 Steps to Effective Coaching for Managers

As a manager, you likely wear many hats. You are responsible for setting goals and direction for your team, delegating tasks, managing projects, and deadlines, and supporting your direct reports in their development. With all of these demands on your time, it can be difficult to find the opportunity to effectively coach your team members. 

However, research has shown that coaching is one of the most important things a manager can do to support employee development and engagement. Gallup found that employees who receive regular coaching are more than twice as likely to be engaged at work. And engaged employees are more productive, profitable, and likely to stay with their company. 

So how can you make time for coaching when you have so many other demands on your time? By following these five steps: 

Step 1: Define What You Want to Achieve With Your Coaching Session

Before you even sit down with your direct report, take some time to define what you want to achieve with the coaching session. What goal do you want to accomplish? What skills or behavior do you want to change? When you have a clear objective in mind, it will be easier to stay focused during the coaching session and measure whether or not the coaching was successful. 

Step 2: Schedule a Time for the Coaching Session 

One of the biggest obstacles to effective coaching is failing to schedule enough time. An effective coaching session should last at least 30 minutes, but depending on the issue you're addressing, it may need to be longer. Once you've identified a goal for the coaching session, schedule some uninterrupted time on both calendars to give the coaching your full attention. 

Step 3: Come Prepared 

Like any other meeting, come prepared for your coaching session by bringing any relevant documents or data points that will help support your discussion. Review these materials beforehand so you can refer to them as needed during the conversation. If possible, send them to your direct report in advance, so they have a chance to review them as well.  

You should also come prepared with questions that will help surface key insights about the issue. Questions like "What was going through your mind when that happened?" or "What would you do differently next time?" can help prompt reflections that lead to meaningful conversations and insights. 

Step 4: Listen More Than You Talk 

The best coaches are also great listeners. During the coaching session, resist the urge to jump in and offer solutions too quickly—instead, let your direct report talk through the problem and develop their solutions. Simply being heard and understood is enough to help people feel better about a situation and see things from a new perspective. Of course, if they get stuck, you can always offer advice or guide as needed—just be sure not to use this as an opportunity to lecture them or tell them what they should have done instead.  

Step 5: Follow Up Afterward 

Once the coaching session is over, don't just move on with your day—take some time afterward (preferably within 24 hours)to follow up with your direct report via email or another written communication tool like Slack. This written follow-up serves two purposes: first, it helps ensure that both parties are clear about what was discussed and agreed upon during the meeting; second, it provides documentation of the conversation in case there's any confusion or misunderstanding. Plus, if you copied someone else on the follow-up email (like their manager), they'll know that you're committed to helping this individual growth and development—which can go a long way toward boosting morale and engagement throughout your entire team. 

Coaching is essential to being an effective manager—but it's not always easy to find the time between our other responsibilities. By following these five steps—defining what you want to achieve with your coaching session; scheduling sufficient time for it; coming prepared; listening more than talking, and following up afterward—you can make sure that every coaching conversation is impactful and reinforces your commitment to developing your team members' skillset so they can reach their full potential within your organization.