Managers are bad at coaching: 4 tips for improving

Ask managers and their employees what coaching in the workplace looks like, and they’ll probably describe a formal scenario: a weekly calendar reminder that pops up midtask, a stiff conversation about performance during an annual review, or a manager stepping in to solve an employee’s problem. For managers, coaching feels like a time-consuming, uncomfortable, and high-pressure responsibility. That may help explain why managers struggle with it. According to a Gallup study that assessed how managers lead their teams based on a list of 20 responsibilities, both managers and individual contributors identified coaching-related behaviors as areas where managers need the most improvement. Stewart Leadership’s internal data tells a similar story. Based on 12 years of 360-degree assessments from 1,776 leaders and 27,329 evaluators, direct reports rated their leaders lowest on coaching. But coaching becomes a lot easier when you broaden the definition to include all of the coaching opportunities managers have available to them. 1. Reframe what coaching means Coaching isn’t limited to annual reviews, weekly 1:1s, or formal conversations. There are dozens of everyday workplace interactions t…