IndexWhy managers fail as coachesMotivation: theories that can and cannot be usedAn alternative to psychotherapyA theory that can be put into practice Avoiding the problem of communicationA practical approach to management People in businessThe magic of feedbackCoaching analysisCoaching: the face-to-face discussionThe requirements for success in eliminating unsatisfactory employee performanceConclusionBefore reading Coaching to improve work performance by Ferdinand Fournies I have a preconceived idea that it will be a book on improving management skills. I think it's a good idea for all managers to read this book before taking on the role of manager. It also seems like a book that managers should keep looking back at whenever they have a problem. This book will help people become better managers by changing the way they think. It will also help a manager overcome many problems he may encounter. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Why Managers Fail as Coaches Many managers fail to have an effective face-to-face meeting because they don't have adequate training. Many managers don't know the truth about what management is. They don't fully understand what they are supposed to do as a manager. Often when they fail it's because they haven't received the proper training. “If you don't know what you're doing, you can't teach your employees how to do it, much less measure whether or not they're doing it correctly” (Fournies, 2000, p. 7). It is important for managers to carry out tasks through others, so it is very important that they know what they are doing. A manager is evaluated based on the success of his employees. If an employee is in difficulty, they should help him. Managers get paid for what their employees do, not what they do themselves. A manager needs his employees more than they need him. Employees can get the job done without a manager, but a manager can't get the entire job done without the help of the employees. It is very important for managers to remember this to be more successful. When a manager forgets this, he often begins to belittle his employees and talk harshly to them. “The only reason you are there as a manager is to do everything in your power to help them be the success you need.” . You only succeed when they succeed” (Fournies, 2000, p.12). A manager should never want to see his employees fail. A failure in one of the manager's employees is a failure for the manager. Managers should not use the “I'm only human” excuse. They should remember that although they have many employees, each of them has only one manager. They should not take out their anger on their employees. Managers should realize that people are a resource. Often, helping an employee succeed will cost less than it will cost to hire a new one. Motivation: Theories You Can and Cannot Use One way to see what motivates an individual is to look at Maslow's hierarchy of needs. It is also important to realize that needs can change and as a result the motivation of individuals will also change. While this would be a good technique, it is difficult for a manager to evaluate. Another way of looking at motivation is Douglas McGregor's theory X versus theory Y model. The flaw with this theory is that it is actually based on what managers believe their employees can do rather than what motivates their employees. Another way to look at what motivatesemployees is to look at what satisfies them and what dissatisfies them. It's important to remember that just because a manager fixes something that doesn't satisfy his employees doesn't mean they are satisfied. It's important to also look at what satisfies them to see what motivates them. Employees like to know that their manager sees their results. It is important for managers to praise them for their achievements. An Alternative to Psychotherapy When a manager labels an employee as lazy, it is difficult for the manager not to believe it. When an individual has many alternatives, he will choose the one that best suits him, if that one doesn't work he will move on to the next one. It is easier for a manager to identify alternatives rather than their reasons. It is important for a manager to realize that he cannot know the attitudes of his employees at all times. The reason for this is because sometimes we don't know the attitude we have. Furthermore, it is difficult to understand someone's attitude because many people lie about their attitude. A theory that can be put into practice When an individual changes their behavior, there will be a positive or negative consequence. If there is a positive consequence, the behavior is likely to be repeated. “Any consequence that occurs after an action and increases the frequency of that action is called positive reinforcement” (Fournies, 2000, p. 69). This is important to know because sometimes positive reinforcements are used even when there should be negative consequences. Negative and positive consequences are felt by the individual receiving them rather than by the individual who is initiating the consequence. When a manager always assigns important tasks to a selected individual because he always does the job well, he lets other employees know that their mistakes make it less likely that they will be assigned tasks. They are likely to continue to have errors every now and then, so they won't be given as much work. This is something to pay attention to as a manager. It is important for a manager to be able to separate themselves from their own behavior so they can do the same for their employees. (Fournies, 2000, p. 67-82) Avoid the communication problem It is very important for a manager to know how to communicate correctly. It is important to know that our minds are reactive. Instead of thinking about what someone says, we react before they finish what they say. We like to trust people based on their actions. If a manager wants an employee to trust him, he should show him why he should trust him. Body language and facial expressions really say a lot about what you think. Although the manager may think they are hiding body language and facial expressions, it is actually very difficult to do. A manager should be able to communicate what he thinks through his employees. This will take some practice but will make communication much better. Employees will think it's their ideas even if the manager initiated the idea. The best way for a manager to communicate is to not answer their own questions. When they ask a question, they should keep quiet and not answer the question themselves. Let the employee answer. A Practical Approach to Managing People in Business Many problems with employees start with how they are managed. An employee won't know what to do if his manager doesn't instruct him what to do or teach him how to do it. “If your employees have the ability to do something and have been trained how to do it, but the consequences are not reinforcing for doing it, you can reasonably expect that performance will not occur” (Fournies, 2000, p. 97). It is important to have appropriate consequences for each performance. It is important for managers to know why theiremployees are not completing tasks because they think they should be completed in order to solve the problem. (Fournies, 2000, p. 92-100) The magic of feedback It is always important for a manager to give feedback. If no feedback is provided, the employee may not know whether they have done a good job or a bad job. “About 50% of what appear to be motivational problems in business are actually feedback problems” (Fournies, 2000, p. 103). Even though employees know that what they are doing may not be right, they will often continue to do it because there is no feedback. Even if a manager thinks that performance cannot be managed by a specific task, there is always a way to measure it. (Fournies, 2000, p. 101-106) Coaching Analysis Asking employees why they don't improve at work is not a bad thing. Show them that their mistakes don't go unnoticed. I think the coaching analysis on page 109 is something managers should print out and hang on the wall so they can look at it whenever they need to. It is important for a manager to understand what is going wrong before trying to fix the problem and say what he means. It is important for a manager not to assume that one employee is absent more than another. There needs to be proven evidence before you go to an employee and tell them. Before establishing a rule, a manager must ask himself whether it is related to the job at hand. Otherwise, it's just a waste of time to implement that rule. When assigning a task to an employee, it is important to make sure the employee knows what is being asked of him or her. If they don't know what's being asked of them, they can't produce the quality work the manager wants. Sometimes it's not the employees' fault if they don't know what they're doing. Sometimes, during training, the trainer does not know how to teach effectively. To see if the training your employees attended worked, it is important to test them on the important parts of the training. If there is something that can really go wrong due to lack of knowledge, try it. When trying to change the way an employee does something, it's important that the employee knows that the manager knows what he or she is doing. It is important to convince them that the way managers will work or if not, the manager will take the blame. Managers may need to tell their employees what is most important at any given time because sometimes the employee may think that something else is the most important thing. Positive reinforcement is important because people like to be praised and rewarded for hard work. Coaching: The Face-to-Face Discussion “The purpose of the face-to-face process is to redirect an employee's behavior to resolve a performance problem” (Fournies), 2000, p. 156). A manager should verify the coaching analysis before having a face-to-face coaching discussion. The manager must plan the discussion. They should prepare where it will be held, what the discussion will be about and some alternative actions. The manager's first step in the discussion is to show the employee that there is a problem and get him to recognize that there is a problem. This may be difficult because many employees don't see what they're doing as wrong. If the employee does not agree that there is a problem, do not continue with step 2 because the problem will not be resolved unless they agree that it is a problem. The coaching discussion plan is very useful because it helps lead the discussion. Phase 2 of the process requires the employee and manager to work together to find alternatives. After identifying the alternatives, step 3 involves the employee and manager working together to find the alternative(s)..