Coaching for Performance—Without Command and Control Tactics

Anita Schamber and Chris Ihrig
This article provided by the Engstrom Institute

When World Vision designed a coaching model for use with their staff around the globe, we knew it had to be different. That's because the traditional idea of performance management was like it is in many organizations: "If you're lucky, we'll see you once a year and tell you what you're doing wrong."

As a starting point, we needed to look back at Scripture and see what Jesus' thinking and actions were toward the 12 in whom He invested. At the same time, other verses about not conforming to ways of this world seemed appropriate: "How can we renew our minds? In what ways can we think differently about people and about the way we do our work so that excellence is a result and outcome?"

The result was the development of a coaching model that would be valuable to other organizations that may be "stuck" in a traditional mode of performance management.

Relationship is Key

In the coaching model that emerged, the relationship between the manager and the staff member is most important. This relationship of understanding is what brings out the potential and enhances performance. In coaching, we build that relationship and we look at where the person is. What is their potential? What are their strengths? How can we take them to greater heights? How can we unlock any of the things that are keeping them in the place they are?

So rather than telling them what we're going to do, we evoke from them some information about themselves: "What are your skills? What are your dreams?" Because we are dealing with the whole person, we inevitably see transformation in other aspects of their lives.

As each manager begins to develop a coaching mindset and HR comes along and supports this coaching process, you begin to see a culture change characterized by ownership and accountability for one's work. That's the ultimate goal.

Coaching is about the Other Person

Coaching really is not as much about what you want; it's about the other person. What are their work goals? What are their development goals? How do they learn? What will help them grow? We're not there to teach them how to do their job, but to help them learn to do it better. Among the tools our coaches use are:

• Active listening
• Asking great questions to draw the person out and help them find their own answers
• Encouraging them to follow the plans that they put together

What we're really asking managers to do is to think about how they look at the other person, and how they can be transformed completely. If you have a good, trusting relationship, work with the employee on their performance. Serve them as a role model; then they should be growing spiritually, emotionally, and in well-being in terms of work.

A lot of times, we think coaching for performance has to do with work only. But often, especially when performance isn't going so well, you begin to find out that there is something underneath the surface that is impacting performance. So when we're working with people in a coaching relationship, it's about who they are being, as well as what they are doing.

A Three-Step Coaching for Performance Process

This three-step "coaching for performance process" is based on three "A"s:

Step 1: Agreement and alignment

Is the person and what you're asking them to do in alignment with what the organization needs to get done? This step is about creating a partnership between manager and staff, whereby you identify the four or five priority goals for their role in the organization—goals that are written and measurable. This is where the manager or leader becomes a catalyst to say, "Here's what I understand we as an organization are doing. Here's our mission. Here's what we're trying to accomplish in the next year, the next three months, the next six months. Let me help you understand how that fits into your role in the organization."

Coaching is often associated with the "touchy-feely" world. This, however, is about alignment—trying to get the tasks of the organization done, accomplishing the mission, and at the same time making sure the person is actively involved in that process. Basically the focus is: "What is the organization trying to accomplish and where do we fit within that organization? How do we get agreement, and what are we going to measure and review? That determines how to coach each of your employees. This kind of mindset moves an organization to a place of higher performance—a culture that actually demands, expects, and encourages high participation and high performance.

Step 2: Adjusting and monitoring

In this step, we ask: Where do we need to make course adjustments to make sure we're all on the same page? When you have a performance agreement in writing, together you can talk about what will be set aside as a priority goal if the person has to take on a new thing. Whether you communicate weekly or by project deadline or in some other way—a performance agreement serves as a tool to help the dialogue and adjustment process go forward.

After the performance agreement is made, you will connect with the employee you are coaching from time to time until the performance review. In between, you will have conversations that are "coachable" moments. It might be a time in the hall when one of your staff asks you a question directly such as, "What should I do about … ?" They go on to talk about a project they're working on.

In old-hat thinking, you might immediately say: "I think you should do —" and give what you think they should do in your expert opinion. But if your mindset toward them is being a coach, evoking excellence, and developing them to a higher level, you might turn the question around and say, "What do you think would be a good tactic? What have you tried before? What hasn't worked?" The goal is not to answer a question with a question, but really honoring the knowledge and experience the employee already has. This approach also decreases the dependency they have on you, and increases their own ownership of their work in the process.

Step 3: The review and appraising process

It has been said that performance appraisals are second only to dentist appointments as being unpopular meetings. However, it should be something looked forward to, a time to review and match the outcomes with the performance agreement written months earlier.

To be successful (putting on a coaching mindset), the work should be owned by the staff member, so the staff member should first self-assess. By honoring the other person and letting them have more airtime to explain their performance results first, you're likely to create a better review. Without going off on tangents, look at … "What were the successful things that happened with the three or four priorities in the performance agreement? If one goal didn't get met, what happened? Let's learn from that."

Development naturally flows sometimes out of performance reviews. Coaching questions include things like … "How can I help you grow stronger in this area or maximize your strengths?" Or … "To be a better leader, what could you do in the next three months to improve in that area?" Then provide support in the way of tools, resources, money, time to develop, and have coaches and other people to help them.

Think of the GROW Model of Coaching

Another way of framing this concept of investing in your staff is through the GROW model of coaching.

• "G" stands for goal. Where do you want to go? What do want to achieve? What is that end result? When talking to your staff, you need to dig a little bit deeper and find out where they're trying to go, while at the same time, articulating where the organization is trying to go.
  
  
• "R" stands for reality. What is the current situation that we're dealing with?
  
  
• "O" stands for options. What choices do you have to do things differently? This is not only about me encouraging my employee to think about alternatives and other additional options, but as an organization and as a team, how do we think about how we could do things differently? Given all those options, which one is best? It's taking a look at the complete picture—throwing a little bit of creativity and innovation into the mix and seeing what potentially comes out.
  
  
• "W" stands for wrap-up. What will we do, and by when will we do it? In other words, we're shifting into the gear of, "We're going to actually do something to get us to the goal." It's one thing to sit here and talk about it; it's another to put it into some action steps.
  

So start with the coaching conversation being fairly general—then somewhat specific to them as an individual, somewhat specific to the organization. Then expand and let all the things come out on the table.

Some managers who coach have the luxury of spending an hour with their staff for these kinds of conversations. Other times it has to be very compressed and it's a 15-minute dialogue. The idea is that at the end of the time together, you've taken all that information and synthesized it down to what is important for that person and for the organization, to get that alignment.

Then the question invariably comes up: "Okay, if I know how I have to change, do I have the ability? Do I presently have the skills to change?" Then, of course, the big factor, is, "Do I have the will to change? Do I really want it badly enough? Am I motivated to do it? Can I see the benefit to me and to others, to my organization? Would God want me to do this?" Sometimes a person has to get down to the idea: "I think God is nudging me. I don't have enough motivation on my own." Again, the leader as coach can come alongside and provide the encouragement and sideline support.

Finally, you need to put together an action plan or a strategy to make it happen, and to clarify when that will happen, how it will happen, who's involved, etc. All of these things need a covering of prayer and continuous support.

Ideas to Create an Environment of Change

Below are some suggestions for ways to create an environment of change to encourage and invest in staff.

• Job shadowing. Here, someone follows another staff member who's been around for a while, to get an idea of what the job is all about. It's a great way to pass on expertise from one person to the other.
  
  
• Mentoring. Mentoring differs from coaching because it is more specific to an area of knowledge. For instance, if you have a person who is interested in finance, he/she could be mentored by an individual in the finance department. Or, perhaps, a young lady coming into the ministry is struggling with being a female in a male-dominant organization, so you pair her up with a senior female who can help her understand and navigate some of those challenges.
  
  
• Stretch assignments (i.e., looking for jobs in different areas or cross training). It's not just a matter of putting the person into a job, but giving them the grace to learn it, and then you give them feedback on what's going well and what's not going so well.
  
  
• Quiet time (i.e., give your employees the opportunity to do something quiet through reading, reflecting, and journaling). This is a difficult strategy to encourage in the work environment, but very important.
  
  
• Ongoing education (e.g., conference, e-Learning, etc.). Whatever your approach, the point is to keep people fresh.

To be effective as a coach, continually examine your mindset.

• Ask yourself … Are you aligning your mind with Christ?
• Learn to ask great questions.
• Ensure two-way communication.
• Provide the big picture. Then ask those you are coaching about the realities that they're facing.
• Cultivate a common language and learning culture. This helps employees know where and how they can engage.

The whole outcome you're looking for in coaching for performance is greater accountability of staff in owning their jobs, identifying the goals, completing assignments, and creating a greater organization of excellence and higher results.

Based on a presentation at the 2006 CMA Conference by Anita Schamber, World Vision International, and Chris Ihrig, World Vision US.