IT administrators understand that they are responsible for conducting performance reviews with their team from time to time. What many IT managers don’t realize is that they are also responsible for what comes next: training…

What is Coaching and why do you have to do it?

Coaching is not managing. Instead, it’s a two-way activity where you work with your team member to help them improve in a very specific way.

Your coaching activities are based on a goal that a member of your team wants to achieve. This objective was identified during the employee performance review; however, as their manager, you realize that they will not be able to achieve this goal on their own.

This is where coaching comes in. When you engage in coaching, you share your experiences and knowledge with your employee to show him how he can achieve his goal. A critical part of training is that the employee must want to be trained; he can never force someone to accept training input from him.

The benefits of coaching when done correctly are immense. An employee’s job satisfaction and motivation can skyrocket when they feel like they’re getting personal attention from you. Additionally, by spending time with an employee who trains them, you may be preparing them to take on management responsibilities later.

How does an IT administrator train his staff?

The first step in beginning to train an employee is to take the time to observe their actions. The point of doing this is to allow you to understand what strengths and weaknesses they currently have.

You should also carefully watch how they interact with your coworkers. Taking a few of these co-workers aside and finding out what they think of the employee to be trained can also reveal important information.

Your next step should be to sit down and have a chat with the employee. The purpose of this discussion will be to share with them the results of their observations.

You have to be careful to make sure that everything you say is based on what you saw. You will want to describe the behaviors you saw and what their impacts were.

During this type of discussion, what you hear from the employee will be more important than what he says. You need to work very carefully to be an active listener.

When you’re an active listener, you should maintain eye contact with the employee and repeat back what they just said to make sure you’re hearing them correctly. These types of behaviors will show the employee that you are interested in what he has to say.

During a coaching session, you also need to ask the right questions. By asking questions, you are showing the employee that you are interested in what they have to say and that you want to get more information from them.

When you ask a question, you want to ask an open question. This type of question cannot be answered with a simple “yes” or “no”, it requires a more detailed answer from your employee.

Ultimately, the outcome of any coaching session should be an action plan. This is a plan that you and the employee come up with that will allow you to achieve your goal. This type of plan does not always have to be in writing, but it must be created by the employee and must contain clear objectives and a time frame that both agree to.

What does all this mean to you?

Good IT managers understand that their responsibility to develop their people includes training team members who need additional assistance to improve. By taking the time to train team members, IT managers can help them improve their job performance and increase their job satisfaction.

To be an effective coach, an IT manager must start by taking the time to observe what the employee is doing well and where improvements are needed. Next, discussing what needs to be done with the employee and doing a good job of listening will help create a plan of action. Finally, training can occur as you use the information you’ve collected to offer constructive feedback.

Coaching is one of the most important tasks you will undertake as an IT manager. Take the time to study how to do it right, and you’ll have developed the skills you need to turn a good team into a great team.