In the everyday world we come across difficult situations that we must learn to deal with and are faced with unpleasant conversations that we must handle and address with team members.

I have been in the Customer Service field for many years and have been challenged at many points in my career. I have worked in places where coaching is not a priority and is not even discussed. In my current position I have introduced coaching to my team members. I have also inspired other Supervisors in the coaching to begin coaching sessions in their own teams. Keeping track of the sessions and discussions will assist in comparing the progress of each individual team member. Coaching is becoming an important part of the personal development of employees through the various work places.

Coaching is a very effective tool in a team. There should be monthly coaching sessions to determine:

Daily, weekly and monthly individual goals (Personal goals)
Company Goals & Expectations
The identification of training needs
Addressing attendance issues
Career development

This allows the manager to:

Take immediate action
Implement training sessions

To be a good Coach you must be:

A good listener/communicator
Confident
Proactive at addressing issues
Positive in your attitude
Understanding and fair to all
Approachable
Able to recognize hard work
Able to assist with personal development of staff

Coaching will assist your team in achieving the team goals and working together as one. Manager/Team Leader should always be upfront with staff members and help them to develop new work knowledge and build confidence. Staff should always be aware of any issues that are occurring, be aware of any good/bad performance issues. The team member should be given a monthly copy of all issues/performance discussed in the session. Team members should not be surprised with annual reviews if monthly coaching sessions are being held and issues are being addressed. Coaching should be about recognizing for a job “well done” and given motivation for them to succeed and become better professionals.

It doesn’t matter what line of work you do, coaching should become a priority in every office.

Help your staff understand how important they are to the organization and in assisting achieve the goals as a team. Coaching can also be held with the entire team so that the Team Leader/Manager/Supervisor can also receive feedback and suggestions in making the team more efficient.

Sandra Valente is the Customer Service Director at TradePals, a B2B directory of entrepreneurs, business people, trades people, sales people, and freelancers across North America.

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