The Manager As Coach

The manager of an organization is one of the most important people within the organization as he is responsible for managing the human resources as well as the other resources in the company. Today the manager has to take the responsibility of being a coach to his people. He has to see that his team works in proper coordination so as to achieve the desired results within the stipulated time period. The manager has to show his leadership qualities in helping his team achieve personal as well as professional development in the organization. As the coach of his team, the manager has to make his juniors understand that any lapse in following commands and instructions can lead to a waste of time, money and efforts. The manager has to believe in the abilities of his people to work in harmony with each other to get positive results.

The staff should not only be briefed about the short term goals of the organization but also how accomplishing the short term goals will lead to achieving the longer term goals of the company. It becomes necessary for the manager cum coach to involve each and every person in setting the goals of the organization and achieving them so that they feel motivated when the projects are completed. In addition to fulfilling the normal duties of a manager the coach cum manager has to invest extra time and effort in helping his members build positive relationships with other members in the department. The team members are also taught to prevent mistakes right from the beginning and also to learn from the mistakes (if any) so that they are not repeated again. It becomes necessary to remove any obstacles that may hamper the progress of the projects.

The manager coach attains the responsibility of becoming the single most important communication link between the senior level personnel and his team. He has to spend a considerable proportion of time in talking with others and also sorting out problems, if any. Hence the manager has to see to it that his teammates support and encourage each other.

It also becomes necessary for the manager to give feedbacks to the team members on a regular basis. This feedback could be positive or negative. The manager should make his team members understand that negative feedback has to be taken in the right spirit and context and the correct steps should be immediately to convert the negative feedback into positive feedback in the next evaluation report. It is necessary to develop empathy with those people working around the manager so that communications can become more open and frank.

In fact the manager can undertake a special coaching program which proves to be an ideal platform to develop new techniques and skills to improve management practices in the organization. After the program the manager will be able to learn something useful from each situation and put his past experience to good use. In the end he will develop a certain level of confidence in handling his teammates and getting the best out of them.