The opportunity to change….

The demand for change in business practice has never been greater than it is today. The global pandemic imposed change on many businesses overnight. It has redefined the future relationships between organisations and employees. This paced transition, has seen people reaching into reserves of previously untapped potential they sometimes didn’t realise they possessed. In many instances, employees working remotely, took ownership of issues and adapted in the absence of any specific guidelines from management.

The capacity issue…

Historically, Sir John Whitmore gives the alarming statistic that most people only fulfil 40% of their potential, while at work. There are a multitude of reasons for this including poor top-down micro-management practices, a lack of opportunity within the organisation, a lack of self-confidence or self-belief. Traditionally management regularly addressed this capacity issue by imposing a technical or structural fix. They fixed the issue rather than it’s root cause. So is there a better way to maximise people’s performance? What if we encouraged teams to take ownership of issues and fostered a culture of them presenting possible solutions rather than just problems? What if we leveraged the many wins we’ve witnessed as remote working team players have thrived on their own initiative?

(https://www.performanceconsultants.com/coaching-for-performance-book)

Let’s change the mind-set to change our results…

The real answer to initiating results driven change, lies in improving human psychological performance. We need to change the mind set of managers and their team members. Rather than having staff members afraid to reveal their true feelings and ideas and being subjected to judgmental feedback that stifles innovation and improvement, perhaps you could try some coaching tools to develop these staff?

Start asking some probing questions…

Coaching, while nothing new, requires a mind shift both from the manager and their team. By asking a few simple focused questions the coach-boss can get the employee to start thinking about the issues for themselves. This gives the employee ownership of the problem and prompts them to find a solution. They become more confident, more productive and ultimately more self-empowered. Occasionally, in an emergency, it may be quicker for the manager to tell rather than coach, but in a supportive environment this won’t be an issue. People will appreciate this is an emergency and defer to their manager’s experience. Ideally they will also learn something from this situation.

Don’t accept what you’ve tolerated, raise the bar…

You’ll foster self-belief in people by changing your expectations of them. They, in turn, will rise to this level of expectation. So rather than accepting what you previously tolerated, why don’t you change your mind set and your level of expectation. Do this by asking some focused coaching questions.

(https://noexcuses.ie/coaching-questions-a-first-aid-starter-set-of-questions/)

As with any new skill, attitude, style or belief, adopting a coaching ethos requires commitment, practice and some time before it flows naturally and its effectiveness is optimised. However, there has never been a better time to start using some coaching tools and asking some challenging questions of both yourself and your team. The current pandemic presents a great opportunity for organisations to change the way we manage ourselves. Don’t let the opportunity slip.

If you’re new to coaching and would like to discuss it as a means of addressing your performance or that of your team, why don’t you contact me to discuss your options?

(https://noexcuses.ie/contact/)