When you Coach an employee, you ask questions to gain clarity about goals, and to provide guidance about achieving those goals.
However, just because you ask questions does not mean the employee will have ready-made answers. So you need to be prepared to follow-up with questions, comments, or statements that help the person communicate effectively and clearly.
Consider the following communication Problems and Questions you can ask to handle those problems:
Communication Problem The Employee Might Have: Is not clear about the goal.
Questions You Can Ask:
1. During our last performance discussion, you mentioned that you were interested in…
2. Tell me more about why you want to…
3. Tell me more about what you want to…
4. Tell me more about the reasons for your decision to…
5. Give me an example of what you mean by…
6. Talk a little more about why this is important.
Communication Problem The Employee Might Have: Cannot think of options to achieve the goal.
Questions You Can Ask:
1. What would you do if you could work only on this goal?
2. What would you do if you knew that you could not fail?
3. What would be the perfect way to achieve this goal?
4. What if you could do anything you wanted as you pursue this goal?
5. Name one goal you achieved in the past year?
What is one thing you did to achieve that goal?
6. Name one goal you achieved in high-school, college, or at your last company?
What is one thing you did to achieve that goal?
Communication Problem The Employee Might Have: Cannot think of ways to move forward.
Questions You Can Ask:
1. What might be the first step you should take?
2. Who could you contact first about this?
3. What might be the easiest way to begin?
4. How can you break your overall goal into small steps?
5. What can you do tomorrow to begin achieving your goal?
6. What is one thing you could do each week to begin achieving your goal?
Be Ready To Help Your Employee
When coaching, it is realistic to expect that employees may have difficulty at some part during the discussion. They may falter or hesitate when talking about goals or how to achieve them. So you want to be ready with questions to help the conversation move forward. Try using the questions in this article.
Dr. Barbara Brown trains, writes, and consults on strategies to enhance and improve workplace performance.She has created over a dozen iPhone and iPad APPS that provide HOW TO techniques for succeeding in the workplace.Get the APP Coaching On Career, Performance, And General Topics:http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/coaching-on-career-performance/id424008094?mt=8
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