How to Spot a Winning Technical Coach

Milwaukee is no different then anywhere else in the world. Bosses everywhere usually hate “observing” members on their team. And then there are the feedback sessions that must follow the observations (I'm afraid they're no fun either). I think this is because bosses feel they are watching history occur instead of helping to shape history and thereby the success of one of their employees. Observations often put bosses or supervisors in the “gotcha” mode. So, why do these observations at all? Instead, why not just become one of the best darn technical coaches around?

When you think of the term “coach”, as it relates to teams, what comes to mind? If you’re like me it’s probably a first or third base coach at a Brewer’s game. I see the third base coach waving the player home or throwing up their hands, holding them at third. Now imagine that same coach taking off and running the base for the player? Absurd! And yet that happens everyday in the business world. Bosses or coaches “running the base” for one of their employees instead of helping them be successful and finish a task on their own. That’s where a great technical coach enters stage left.

In fact there are three great reasons to technically coach (over observing) with your employees:

1. To help them through an unfamiliar condition.

2. Randomly, to commend excellent actions.

3. To reinforce when improvements have been made. For example, you may see an employee use poor judgment in a particular situation but you hold off commenting until you see a second or third time they handle the same situation. If they handle it better the second and/or third time around, you positively reinforce that second or third situation only (never mentioning the first situation that they handled poorly). If they don’t handle the situation better in those three tries, you simply state the correct way to handle the situation or contact when the situation comes up for them again.

Let me give you some examples of each before we go on:

1. When you are helping a team member through an unfamiliar condition you would want to speak up (not whisper) and confidently say something like, "Ask the customer for their account number first". Don’t worry about a customer overhearing you. Each employee has a boss and customers always appreciate that someone is there to help them out when they are new or struggling. Get to the point, none of the, “what you probably want to do” or “why don’t you try” kind of talk. Just clear, precise instructions for what to do next.

2. When you give someone positive feedback, make it specific. It could sound like this, “Great, you used the customer’s name” or “That’s exactly right, you key 22 at this point”. Don't worry about being overheard by the customer. Everyone loves to get in on the good stuff!

3. And last of all, when you are waiting to “catch them doing it right”, be patient. It will be better for both of you if they handle a contact or situation correctly and you can positively reinforce that over constantly correcting them (and don’t get nuts, if the situation they handle incorrectly could cost your company thousands of dollars, then jump in right away on the first instance and help them through it).

What’s nice for the boss or supervisor in all of this is that they provide technical coaching whether the team member correctly or incorrectly handles a situation or contact. Easier for them to be a great coach!

This information probably works best when you are coaching those in a telephone center (like credit card centers) or other professions where there is not a customer sitting across the desk from you (like bank loan specialists who are inputting information, etc).

Just remember, both you and your team members are after a home run, no matter what your business or who your clients are!