Lately, I’ve been reading a lot about the need for leaders to be better coaches.  Employees are increasingly looking for on-going, on-the-job development.  Most of the leaders that I work with want to do a better job.  The problem is that many are intimidated by the idea of coaching.  They aren’t sure where to start.  Most see only two options:  providing the answer or telling the person to work on it on their own.  Neither is good for development.

Here are eight simple coaching techniques to add to your toolkit.

Specify: have people explain in specific, concrete terms an issue, design idea, or decision they make

Extrapolate: challenge people to think several steps ahead as to the results and impacts of their current decisions

Challenge: argue from an opposing perspective, uncover assumptions and biases, play Devil’s advocate

Audit: have people explain their assumptions, interim conclusions, resources, etc.

Expand: suggest alternative ideas, explanations, theories, or designs and have people refute them

Reflect: have people discuss their processes and how well they are working within them

Assess: make a judgment about people’s decisions or actions

Refer: suggest external resources that the team can consult (books, articles, experts, etc.)

To help people learn, focus on their thinking, not their products/deliverables. This is not to say that deliverables are unimportant. Rather you should make sure that people are really learning. This is especially true when they do things “right”. Be sure that they just didn’t get lucky.

Use these techniques to help people work through their problems.  Doing so will help them develop and grow.

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Brad Kolar is an Executive Consultant, Speaker, and Author with Avail Advisors.  Avail helps leaders become more efficient and effective at problem solving and driving results.  Contact Brad at brad.kolar@availadvisors.com