IT administrators understand that they are responsible for conducting performance reviews with their team from time to time. What many IT managers don’t realize is that they are also responsible for what comes next: training…

What is Coaching and why do you have to do it?

Coaching is not managing. Instead, it’s a two-way activity where you work with your team member to help them improve in a very specific way.

Your coaching activities are based on a goal that a member of your team wants to achieve. This goal was identified during the employee performance review; however, as their manager, you realize that they will not be able to achieve this goal on their own.

This is where coaching comes in. When you engage in coaching, you share your experiences and knowledge with your employee to show them how they can achieve their goal. A critical part of training is that the employee must want to be trained; he can never force someone to accept training input from him.

The benefits of coaching when done correctly are immense. An employee’s job satisfaction and motivation can skyrocket when they feel like they’re receiving personalized attention from you. Plus, by spending time with an employee who trains them, you may be preparing them to take on management responsibilities later on.

How does an IT administrator train their staff?

The first step in starting to train an employee is to take the time to observe their actions. The goal of doing this is to allow you to understand what strengths and weaknesses you currently have.

You should also carefully watch how they interact with their co-workers. Taking some of these co-workers aside and finding out what they think of the employee being trained can also reveal important information.

Your next step should be to sit down and have a chat with the employee. The purpose of this discussion will be to share with them the results of their observations.

You must be careful to make sure that everything you say is based on what you saw. You will want to describe the behaviors you saw and what their impacts were.

During this type of discussion, what you hear from the employee will be more important than what you say. You need to work very carefully to be an active listener.

When you’re an active listener, you should maintain eye contact with the employee and repeat what they just said to make sure you’re hearing them correctly. These types of behaviors will show the employee that you are interested in what they have to say.

During a coaching session, you must also ask the right questions. By asking questions, you are showing the employee that you are interested in what they have to say and that you want more information from them.

When you ask a question, you want to ask an open question. This type of question cannot be answered with a simple “yes” or “no”, it requires a more detailed response from your employee.

Ultimately, the result of any coaching session should be a plan of action. This is a plan that you and the employee make that will allow you to achieve your goal. This type of plan doesn’t always have to be in writing, but it should be created by the employee and contain clear goals and a time frame that you both agree on.

What does all this mean to you?

Good IT managers understand that their responsibility to develop their staff includes training team members who need additional assistance to improve. By taking the time to train team members, IT managers can help them improve their job performance and increase their job satisfaction.

To be an effective coach, an IT manager must start by taking the time to look at what the employee is doing well and where improvements are needed. Next, discussing what to do with the employee and doing a good job of listening will create a plan of action. Finally, coaching can occur as you use the information you’ve gathered to offer constructive feedback.

Coaching is one of the most important tasks you will perform as an IT manager. Take the time to study how to do it right, and you’ll have developed the skills you need to turn a good team into a great team.