When I wrote my book ‘Leading People - a practical toolbox for managers’ in 2019 we had no Coronavirus and I was hot about 1-on-1’s. 18 months on and I’m even more passionate and convinced that this is an essential ‘big rock’ in our current environment. Read my post outlining six benefits to investing time into 1-on-1’s..

After you have got into the right frame of mind, use this discussion template to plan the right questions. This series of great questions from Ken Trass, Professional Development Manager at the New Zealand Law Society, will assist you to think deeply about what is causing the issue and facilitate a successful tough conversation…

Before confronting a team member with a tough conversation, first take a close, objective look at what might be causing the person’s poor behaviour or performance – starting with yourself. It could be that initiating the tough conversation is the first step in resolving the issue that is causing the poor performance. This would be a great outcome for both of you. Whatever the outcome, some preparation and planning needs to happen before you have the tough conversation…

"Coaching focuses on future possibilities, not past mistakes” - Sir John Whitmore

If that isn’t a strong enough reason to coach your people, I don’t know what is. People leaders learn from other leaders and managers around them. It’s that simple. Focusing on the day-to- day experiences that get you interacting and engaging with your people is a must for all leaders. It’s not enough to just employ people based on their previous job experience and trust that they will know what to do in an organisation. Managers need to show how they would like their direct reports to manage their people by demonstrating the skills and tools themselves.

What are some styles of giving feedback, and how effective are they? Managers wanting to give their staff feedback commonly employ the sandwich technique, also known as the ‘commend, recommend, commend’ technique but I think it misses the mark.  By following the SBI/AA paradigm, you can communicate clearly to your direct report.

Generally speaking, New Zealanders are not great at giving feedback in business. I have heard countless stories of either poorly given feedback or no feedback at all. Many people who have attended my workshops over the years have mentioned they don’t often get feedback, so they don’t really know how they are doing. This is a huge disservice to employees, who give their time and expertise to work in the organisation.  

I have definitely benefited from being coached by colleagues, as well as from coaching others in training workshops. In many ways, I get to practise being coached by participants every time I deliver workshops on coaching as a tool for managers. But the benefits of coaching can only be realised when the coachee owns the goal.