People - Self Coaching - Coaching styles

Coaching styles

To assess your coaching style:

This quick quiz will not tell you anything you don’t already know, but it may give you food for thought. Select one answer to each of the questions below.

Q1 Listening

You have a deadline looming and one of your team interrupts you with a longwinded account of a problem they are having. Do you:

1. Carry on with your work and half-listen absent-mindedly

2. Stop what you are doing and invite them to sit down and take their time to tell you all about it. You can catch up by working late.

3. Stop what you are doing, give them five minutes undivided attention, then explain you have a deadline to meet, and arrange to meet them later when you can give them as much time as they need.

4. They would never dare interrupt as when you are busy you close the door or put up a ‘do not disturb’ sign.

5. Tell them they can have five minutes and that’s all

Q2 Feedback

An experienced team member is working on a task for you that will stretch them but is within their capabilities. Do you:

1. Ask for a daily report to establish progress

2. Agree dates and times for review meetings where you can note progress and offer support

3. Ask regular, informal questions on specific aspects of the task

4. This wouldn’t arise as you keep your team working well within their capabilities.

5. Let them get on with it and ask if they have any questions

Q3 Learning styles

Your computer system is being upgraded and you have attended a course to learn the system. You now have to train your team. Do you:

1. Gather them all in a meeting room, give them each a copy of the manual and talk through it

2. Gather them all in a training room, draw a diagram on the flipchart and talk through it

3. Demonstrate it to them in small groups making sure everyone has a go

4. Send them all an email with a link to the online learning and telling them to ask you if they have any questions

5. A combination of two or more of the above

Q4 Communication

You need to introduce a new admin process that will involve your team making a simple change to one of their tasks. Do you:

1. Send them all a document about the new process

2. Hold a meeting to discuss it and hand out the document there

3. Send them all an email outlining the new process

4. Pin a copy of the document on the notice board

5. A combination of two or more of the above

People - Self Coaching - Coaching styles

Coaching styles

Q5 Individual learning

One of your team has confided in you that they feel they need to improve their written English. Do you:

1. Discuss the benefits of this and ask them to find some sources of help and report back to you

2. Feel pleased they’ve come to you for advice and call the local college to find out what’s available

3. Offer to go with them to the college

4. Tell them to ask at the library for a college prospectus

5. Feel worried about your recruitment if they’re that bad and look closely at other parts of their performance

Q6 Developing skills

One of your team avoids speaking in front of groups although they have just attended a presentation skills course. Do you:

1. Offer them a chance to do an informal presentation within the team to develop their skills

2. Suggest they visualise what success will look like to help build confidence

3. Recommend a book on improving presentation skills

4. Ask them how this would benefit them and why they’re avoiding it

5. Decide that they’re no good at it and offer no more opportunities

Q7 Poor performance

A team member has made a major mistake that caused you a great deal of trouble to sort out. Do you:

1. Start proceedings for gross misconduct to get them dismissed

2. Say nothing and hope it doesn’t happen again – after all, it’s over now

3. Meet privately with them, review their actions, and help them learn from it

4. Give them a written warning so that they understand how serious it is

5. Point out a colleague who has completed a similar task correctly and suggest they speak with them

Q8 Good performance

One of your team has carried out a task you delegated to them extremely well and your senior manager has personally told you how impressed they are with the job done. Do you:

1. Pass on the manager’s praise in person, having already thanked them for a job well done

2. Make sure the manager knows what your contribution to the achievement was

3. Stress to the person that they are a team member, not an individual star performer

4. Pass on the manager’s praise in person, having already thanked them for a job well done, then give positive feedback to other team members

5. Take the credit yourself and say nothing

People - Self Coaching - Coaching styles

Coaching styles

Q9 Communicating the big picture

Your manager has asked you to think about the strategic direction of your part of the business over the next five years. Do you:

1. Let your imagination run riot and put in some suggestions of your own

2. Email your team and ask them to mail you back with their ideas

3. Hold a meeting, explain the request, and brainstorm a range of options

4. Ignore it. You’ve got enough to do in the next five minutes, never mind the next five years

5. Think about it as you were asked but keep your thoughts to yourself

Q10 Work - life balance

One of your team has worked late each evening to meet a deadline. Do you:

1. Ask how it’s going and help them review their workload to see if they can reduce other tasks

2. Say you’re pleased with their commitment but they won’t get any overtime

3. Say nothing, as there’s nothing wrong with hard work and they can always ask if they need help

4. Offer to work late each night with them until the deadline’s met

5. Tell them you have concerns that they can’t cope within the working day

Scoring

For each question the boxes below tell you for which answer you have chosen. EG. If you have chosen answer c for question 1 you would score 3 points

Q1 Listening

Q2 Feedback

Q3 Learning styles

Q4 Communication

Q5 Individual learning

Q6 Developing skills

Q7 Poor performance

Q8 Good performance

Q9 Communicating the big picture

Q10 Work - life balance