Author Aditi A Kashyap
Are you a manager wondering how you can help your team member virtually to achieve optimal performance? As a result of the pandemic, are your team members facing new work issues that require you to coach? Is it difficult for you to understand how you can manage your team members' virtual behaviors that are befitting their role? We are all remotely working from home. With no face-to-face contact with our managers, they have no visibility of our on-the-job behaviors. We are all distributed, which is making coaching more essential than ever. Employees are the company's most valuable assets, and managers should invest enough time and resources in helping their team succeed in this crisis.
Restoking career and professional development conversations are critical as the COVID-19 crisis continues. As a manager, you need to be armed with the right skills to be a good coach virtually. Using a structured methodology to support developmental conversations can make a massive difference in how productive your employees become.
When dealing with a crisis like this, managers have to help their team members reflect on their current situation, decide on what they want to achieve, lay milestones for achievement and commit to the way ahead. Coaching can help you peer through the fog of uncertainty. As team members are grappling with making life and work fit together, a manager comes in to create and sustain healthy relationships based on trust and a shared understanding of the context. Managers should play the role of trusted confidants who have the best interests of the individual and the organization at all times.
Understanding the GROW Model of Coaching
GROW stands for – Goal- Reality- Options and Way Forward in the GROW model of coaching. When dealing with times of stress like this pandemic, the model provides employees and managers with a transparent system to follow to set and achieve their goals and is particularly useful in reducing the amount of catastrophizing the situation currently being experienced. Clarity about where to go and how to get there will empower your people to navigate difficult circumstances.
Given the magnitude of the change circumstance, what is the context you have to bear in mind while coaching using the GROW model?
Goal: understand that a changed circumstance leads to a changed goal. As a manager, consider your own goals and ask your team member to reflect on what they want to achieve. The goal should ideally be attainable yet motivating.
Reality: The current reality is that we are grappling with the pandemic, and we have made a lot of changes in our personal and professional lives. Understand from your team member what their current reality looks and feels like and how they are operating in the same
Options: Given the times we are operating in, you need to ask difficult questions such as as-, "If you are not able to reach this goal, what might you do"?
Way forward: Ask questions such as-, "What are some steps you would take to move towards your chosen path in a positive direction?".
As managers, you need to connect with your team members regularly on a much deeper level more than ever, which calls for asking open-ended questions to help your team member develop their solutions. You should play an active role in mitigating your team member's fears by demonstrating empathy and providing a safe space for them to discuss their thoughts and feelings openly.
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ABOUT KNOLSKAPE
KNOLSKAPE is one of the fastest-growing experiential learning tech companies in the world. KNOLSKAPE accelerates employee growth and Development using an award-winning portfolio of simulations and in-depth talent analytics. KNOLSKAPE is a 110+ strong team with offices in Singapore, India, Malaysia, and USA serving a rapidly growing global client base across industries such as banking and finance, consulting, IT, FMCG, retail, manufacturing, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, engineering, auto, government and academia. KNOLSKAPE is a global Top 20 gamification company, recipient of Brandon Hall awards, and has been recognized as a company to watch for in the Talent Management Space, by Frost & Sullivan, and as a disruptor in the learning space, by Bersin by Deloitte.
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