Managers need coaching skills to guide their employees with specificity and bring about growth and development for both their employees and their company. But, what coaching skills do they require, and what does improvement in overall performance as a result of coaching look like?
That’s exactly what we’ll uncover in this post–let’s get started.
What Are Manager Coaching Skills?
By definition, a manager’s coaching skills refer to soft skills that help them become a better leader—active listening, problem-solving, and goal-setting.
They may acquire these skills via skill-specific coaches, life experience, or academics. Sources report that 93% of managers acquire professional skills coaching to implement in their careers. When a coach starts to take this path seriously, they learn how to become a certified professional coach and often pursue an executive coach certification online after training with a reputable company like Symbiosis Coaching.
Top Seven Manager Coaching Skills
Here are the top seven coaching skills that a manager needs to have:
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Adaptability
A manager’s primary role in the team is to maintain stability and ensure progress. This cannot happen unless the manager is flexible, adaptable, and welcoming of changes. As a manager, you should be able to adjust to change and help your team members do the same.
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Empathy
Since managers need to manage teams, they must connect with the people working with them. You can only bring out the best in people if you know what they’re feeling and how it impacts their work.
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Communication
Active listening is a part of a manager’s communication skills. You should be able to listen to your team’s opinions, thoughts, and suggestions. If they’re hesitant about speaking up, your goal should be to lead conversations and ask them the right questions.
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Feedback Skills
A lot of employees resign because they do not feel appreciated at work. They leave because constant negative feedback or rejection lowers their self-esteem and nurtures negative feelings. A manager should avoid the development of these negative feelings by giving constructive, positive feedback.
Instead of only identifying failures and flaws, appreciate your team member’s wins as well. When highlighting mistakes, tell them how to correct them. Meaningful feedback helps employees excel.
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Goal-setting Skills
Managers should break the big picture into small pieces. Set milestones, assign deadlines, and ensure that everyone works in sync to contribute to the big picture. As a manager, you should also be able to monitor the progress of the goals.
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Positivity
Optimism is a key coaching skill for managers to have. If you can’t coach your employees to be happy and receive every challenge with a smile, your team’s morale would go downhill in no time–an unhappy team is an unproductive team.
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Problem-solving Skills
Managers can’t solve every problem that arises in the office, but they must be able to identify and understand some of the bigger problems affecting their employees. They must also be able to devise strategies and implement solutions that work.
Of course, there are many more coaching skills that a manager must have, but these seven are crucial to the growth of a company.
How Does Coaching Benefit a Company?
Now, let’s check out the benefits of a manager’s coaching skills. When used properly, good coaching skills can help an organization:
- Improve retention rate
- Enhance workplace culture
- Boost employee morale
- Reach newer individual and group goals
- Improve engagement among employees
- Build transparency and a positive industry reputation
With the right coaching skills at hand, managers can develop relationships of trust and reliability with their colleagues and subordinates. This creates a comfortable environment where employees feel better and more driven toward work, and is why coaching is one of the most powerful tools.
Final Thoughts
Managers need strong coaching skills to do their job effectively. Remember, every successful company has a skilled manager working on the backend.
It’s noteworthy that about 40% of Gen Z workers await daily interaction with their managers, and around 85% of employees feel highly disengaged because they don’t receive enough constructive feedback from their bosses. The numbers speak for themselves—strong coaching skills are not a bonus, but an essential requirement.
