Improve your teams performance by improving your coaching performance
Sharon Feltham, Excellerate
If I were to ask "What one action could you take to immediately improve your effectiveness as frontline coach?" what would your answer be?
If you were to ask me the same question my answer would be:
When they wonder what they should do next – Ask a question
When they can't decide between A or B or C – Ask a question
When they feel stuck – Ask a question
When they look to you for the answer – Ask a question
If you did nothing else but increase the quantity and quality of your questions you would dramatically improve your frontline coaching, your leadership AND the performance of your team.
Sometimes as a leader/manager we feel that we should have all the answers. Sometimes when we are under pressure and short on time it may seem easier to give them the answer or to "tell" them what to do, to give them the answer. (Assuming you know what it is!) The risk with this approach is that yours may not be the best answer or even the right answer. And it's a short-term solution. It lets your team member off the hook. It keeps them in the same place. They don't grow.
Great leader coaches realise that rather than having all the right answers, it is much more important to ask the right question.
Why do Questions work?
We have a left and right brain. In simple terms, our left-brain is logical and rational. We access the left when we make a statement. However, a question will encourage us to access our more creative right brain. Whereas a statement can close down our thinking a question will open up our thinking. We kick into problem solving mode. We use our imagination more and so we explore the possibilities.
A question can also activate the subconscious mind. Your subconscious acts on whatever your conscious minds tells it. Ask a question and your subconscious will answer it.
"It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question"
Decouvertes
The purpose of a powerful question is to encourage us to think more rigorously which helps us to generate more possibilities, greater insight and clarity. To trigger this quality of thinking, powerful questions need to be "open".
Open questions require more than a yes or no response. (Try phrasing your questions using How, What...) Surprisingly, powerful questions don't have to be profound or clever. Sometimes the apparently "dumb question" can be the most powerful.
Lets take a look at a few examples .
How would you summarize your work/progress/achievements so far?
What seems to be holding you back?
What seems to be your biggest obstacle?
What have you already tried?
What do you need to change in order to get where you want to go?
If you could do this any way you wanted, what would you do?
What if that does not work?
What else do you need to consider?
If you continue as you are, will you reach your goals in the time you've given yourself?
What's the next step?
When will you do it?
Questions: A Team Performance Tool
Powerful questions are great tools to use with employees and teams. They encourage collaboration and invite everyone into the conversation. They can move a conversation forward because they encourage people to think in a way that looks for solutions and leads to action. As a team leader coach talk less and question more to improve the quality of your team's thinking and problem solving.
Last Question. Once you have asked your powerful question, what do you think your follow up coaching action should be? Yes, that's right. Keep quiet and listen. Very, very closely. Which leads me to my complete answer: If you want to dramatically improve your frontline leader coach effectiveness. Increase your curiosity. Ask powerful questions, keep asking and listen very closely.
How to Work with this:
What keeps you from asking powerful questions?
What more do you need to do to develop the skill of asking powerful questions?
Answers in your Inbox:
Subscribe now to our free monthly newsletter Excellerate Update for more coaching tips and team tactics
