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Coaching Skills
for Project Managers By John
Kaman There
are many ways to lead and manage a project team. In fact, there are probably as many ways
to lead people, as there are project managers. Some of the things project managers do
to lead people are: being
directive, providing command and control, giving advice, mentoring and
coaching. One of the keys ways a
project manager can lead a team is through coaching. Coaching helps combine positive aspects
of leading to get effective results while at the same time empowering the
project team, helping people to be effective while growing their skills and
getting the job done. A coach in
this setting is not a command and control person like the coaches you might see
on the sidelines at a football game yelling at their quarterback but rather a
person who believes in his or her people and helps the people on the project
team reach inside and find ways to come up with creative solutions to solve
their own problems.
Haven’t
we all given advice to a friend?
And what typically happens when we give advice? Frequently our friend says, “Thank you,
I will consider it.” Then they do
what they really wanted to do in the first place, despite your advice. What could be wrong with giving
advice? For starters, the
“solution” that was given came from you and not the person who owns the
problem. So how can we be more
effective and help our friend? One
way is to ask effective questions to help the person think for themselves. By
effective questions I mean questions that will cause the people to look within
themselves and provoke a positive response. In answering the questions, the
individual will come up with possible solutions to their own problem. In this way they own the problem AND own
the solution, since they are suggesting their own answers! Your role is to
facilitate and invite the person to think of ways to solve the problem. Your role is NOT to give advice or to
come up with answers. This is the
first principal of coaching: do not tell, do not give advice, instead, listen
carefully and ask effective questions to provoke and stimulate thinking.
Timothy
Gallwey, in his book, The Inner Game of Work says: “Coaching is unlocking a person’s
potential to maximize their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than
teaching them.” Certainly
there is an art to asking questions.
Basically there are two types of questions: Close-ended
questions and open-ended questions.
Close-ended questions are not very
effective since they can typically be answered with a "yes" or a "no". Asking a close- ended question will get
a quick reply, but will not stimulate the other person to think. Open-ended questions, on the other hand,
require a person to answer in a sentence, or a series of sentences, and
therefore provoke thinking. It is a
much more effective way to stimulate thinking. A good
way to start a coaching conversation is to begin by asking questions that create
conscious awareness of what is currently happening. The coach listens for what is being said
and what is not being said. The
primary purpose is to focus attention on the critical variables of the
situation. Remembering that
awareness itself will lead toward solving the problem. Some
typical open-ended questions that promote “awareness”:
The
next conversation the coach can focus on is choice. The purpose of this conversation is to
help the person develop mobility; movement towards his or her desired
outcome. If the conversation for
awareness starts with the basic question “What
is happening?” then the conversation for choice starts with the fundamental
question “What do you want?” The
coach is helping the person to get as clear a picture as
possible of what he or she wants to do.
In other words what is the desired outcome? Some
typical open-ended questions to help discover “choice”:
The
next conversation the coach can focus on is “first steps”. The purpose of this conversation is to
help the person to think about, possible first steps toward solving the problem
and achieving his or her desired outcome.
As the coach you are helping the person believe in themselves, in their
value as a team member and in their capability to learn. Some
typical open-ended questions to help discover “first
steps”:
Note
that all of the above questions are short, simple, straightforward and yet
powerful. Powerful because they
cause the person to think for themselves.
John Whitmore, the author of “Coaching for Performance” says: “Telling or
asking close-ended questions saves people from having to think. Asking open-ended questions causes
people to think for themselves.
Coaching questions compel attention for an answer, focus attention for
precision and create a feedback loop.
Instructing does none of these.” As a
project manager many opportunities arise on a daily basis to help people on our
project team overcome problems.
The question is HOW do we help people? Do we give suggested solutions, do we
give advice, do we tell people what to do?
Hopefully, you will consider using effective coaching skills, listen
carefully and then ask open-ended questions to stimulate thinking and help the
person come up with their own solutions.
This is the essence of effective coaching. The
benefits are an empowered team of people, who will learn to solve problems, grow
their skills and take ownership of project tasks and
accomplishments. John
Kaman is a
professional personal coach, facilitator and teacher in the art and science of
project management. He is an
associate of Fissure Corporation, a John
has taught project management at companies such as: Motorola, Ford
Motor,
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