Importance of coaching skills training

Coaching skills training

Coaching skills training is very important for every Manager. And I got proof of that once again while conducting a Managerial Skills session.

The role of a Manager encompasses looking after his team along with getting the work done. Unfortunately, many Managers tend to focus on the latter while completely forgetting the former. They are so busy with deadlines and piles of projects that they forget that in order to get the best out of their team, they need to spend time developing them. They also need to understand that delegation is not just about dumping work on your team members. Its about supporting the team complete the tasks so that they learn through them and are able to go to the next level. And this is exactly where coaching skills training comes into the picture.

So why does a Manager need to have good coaching skills? Simply to support their team members. And why coaching skills specifically and why not training skills? Because some team members need support when it comes to their attitude and its coaching that will be able to fix that.

We all know how difficult it is to change our behaviour. So, you can well imagine how tough it would be to alter our attitude! And the depth of the intervention and attention required for the same can only be met through a suitable coaching intervention.

Coaching Skills training is therefore extremely important for every Manager.  He must have the right skills to be able to coach his team members. And what may be the right coaching skills you may ask? Well he needs to be able to listen well without interrupting, ask suitable questions and be comfortable being silent wherever required. He should be able to provide a safe space for the team member to open up and share his thoughts and emotions on the issue at hand.

The Manager also needs to be a facilitator and allow the team member to find his own solution rather than providing him with ready-made solutions. This not only increases their buy-in towards finding a solution, but also the commitment with which they take appropriate steps towards the solution. This in turn helps the team member think on his own feet, thereby making him independent and self-sufficient for the future.

Being able to coach his team himself also increases ownership and accountability of the Manager. Team Bonding improves with team members and the Manager works towards creating a strong cohesive team. It also increases the respect that team members have towards their Manager. It makes them more open and able to share not only professional issues but also their personal issues.  And you know who is the happiest person of all? The human resources manager. He can now focus on his work as all the Managers are capable of handling their own teams and do not need the HR to intervene every now and then.

In short, it’s a win-win for everyone. The Manager, his team, other teams that interact with this team, vendors, customers and the organisation on the whole. And how did we do this? By simply giving coaching skills training to our Managers. A magic wand that can really create wonders!

Hmm… So, have you taken your coaching skills training?

What are the top 5 soft skills for an ideal leader?

Soft skills training and behavioural skills training need to be on the cards for everyone, be it a leader or an entry level executive. And although it’s one of those skills that can make or break a person’s career at any level, its frankly the most neglected!

So today I’m going to list down the top 5 soft skills that a leader needs to possess. Here goes…

1. Communication Skills – Now that’s definitely a skill you will find in pretty much every soft skills training, but one that tends to get missed out in soft skills training sessions for leaders! Why? Because we often think that communication skills meant for those at the entry level. And that’s why you’ll always find it at multiple places in the training calendar of very organisation especially for lower level employees! However, its also one of those skills that takes time and continuous efforts to master. Which is why you will find many leaders still lacking in it.

Leaders need to be able to listen to their team members. They need to allow their teams to share their opinions in a safe and non-threatening environment. They also need to master the art of handling conflict and saying what they need to assertively, without aggression.

2. Emotional Intelligence – Yes another extremely important skill or should I say intelligence! Managing their own emotions and learning how to manage those of others is of prime importance for leaders especially in such stressful times. And for that, a leader must have a very high level of awareness. He must be able to manage his own reactions, thoughts and emotions and at the same time be empathetic towards others. And that is another skill that can take years if not lifetimes to develop!

3. Time Management – Leaders are always short on time. And as much as they may think that they don’t need soft skills training on how to manage their and their teams time better, they actually do. After all, there’s always a scope to do more in 24 hours, isn’t there?

4. Decision Making – Decisions don’t leave leaders. They follow them around until they take them!  Therefore, being able to take decisions after considering the larger picture and in the interest of the majority is very important. And that’s why leaders should learn the various decision-making tools. It will not only help them take those tough decisions but will also reduce the time they take to take them.

5. Influencing – Last but not the least, comes the skill to influence others around. And that’s an extremely important skill for a leader. People must look up to him and respect him. And for that, he needs to take actions that will earn him the respect rather than having people give respect out of fear.

So those were my top 5. What do you think? Are there any other important soft skills that leaders need to be have and be trained on?

Well that’s all from me today, but I would love to hear what you have to say. And I now better get down to creating the content for another soft skills training session that I need to deliver by the end of the week.

Wish you adieu and Happy learning!

Top 3 Benefits of leadership skills training

I was conducting a leadership skill training last week for a client. It was for a bunch of young leaders who were comparatively new to the role. And therefore, we had to go to the basics. After all, there’s really no sense in going to something very advanced when the basics are where you really need to work on!

I must say, the participants were also very open to learning. They were open to learning more on how they could practically ‘practice’ the basics rather than jumping towards ‘knowing’ the more complex. And so I thought I’d share with you some of the benefits they got from this leadership skills training. It may be of help to you too and give you insights into what you can do to be a better leader.

1. Self-Awareness: Most of us our so lost in our thoughts that we are unaware of all that is happening within us. Therefore, having a finger on our thoughts, emotions, feelings and reactions is of utmost important. Not only does it help us in staying in the present moment, it also helps us in becoming emotionally more intelligent. We can manage our emotions as well as the reactions that we tend to succumb to so often! And although most leadership skills trainings do not focus on this aspect, if you ask me, its absolutely essential.

2. Interpersonal Communication: A leader needs to be a good communicator; whether it be with his subordinates, peers or even with the top management. He must be able to say what he wants clearly and receive appropriate responses from those he communicates with. However, many leaders fall back on communication, especially due to their personality styles. Learning how to overcome such barriers for smoothening communication is therefore essential. It adds great value to the leader as well as the leadership skills training, he is attending!

3. Managing Tasks: Most of the times, leaders get overwhelmed by the number of tasks they need to complete. It’s difficult as they have to manage not only their own tasks but those of the teams they look after too. Therefore, delegation is a skill that forms an integral part of a leadership skills training. Leaders need to understand the best way to delegate to their subordinates, taking individual skill sets and their commitment into consideration. This can make completion of tasks a lot easier for them and their subordinates and also help them get more done in their day.

These were just some of skills that we sharpened during this leadership skills training. I would love to hear your experiences on the same. Do let us know what valuable skills you picked up from a leadership skills session you may have attended…

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION SKILLS TO MAINTAIN A GOOD WORK ENVIRONMENT

We get a lot of enquires for conducting communication skills training for teams who specifically interact with customers or external stakeholders. After all, we all want the people representing our company to be great at communication while interacting with those outside the organisation. But what about communication within the organisation?

Most of the communication that takes place happens with those inside the organisation. It’s with our subordinates, managers, top leaders, peers and people from different teams and departments who all form a part of our ‘internal customers.’ And communicating with our internal customers effectively is equally important.

A major focus of most communication skills training is to help us communicate effectively with our own team members and with those from different teams. And this does not include only verbal communication. It also includes non-verbal communication such as written communication as well as body language and voice. These are parts of communication that we typically tend to overlook but are extremely important and can make a big difference.

For creating a healthy workplace, it is important to have a culture that promotes open communication across the organisation. One that encourages new ideas, fosters creativity, encourages people, reduces unwanted conflict and misunderstanding and increases trust among people. A communication skills training helps in doing all of these.

The best part about a communication skills training programme is that it is helpful in a person’s professional and personal life. We all interact with people at our home and in our society and really could do with having smoother communication with them!

It also helps you in being assertive and managing difficult situations smoothly, something that many of us need, right? And if we can learn these, we would not just have a great environment at our workplace but also every other place we operate in. And for that, communication skills training is the way to go!

5 Important features when it comes to Training the Trainer

A few days back I attended a Train the Trainer training. It was an amazing learning experience. It helped me unfold various aspects of being a better trainer. And so I thought, let me share my learning with you all today…

The first most important feature of a train the trainer session is understanding what training and facilitation is. In the current dynamic scenario, if you 'train' people, you will end up doing most of the talking! You will put in all you have to impart the required knowledge and skills, but do you think that’s all adults really need to learn? Is there something else a trainer can do to facilitate learning? Well there is. And it’s precisely that word, facilitate! Facilitation helps in stimulating the learner inside each one of us and creates a safe space where participants can find their answers rather being told them. It allows reflection and introspection through questioning which gives participants a chance to realise what’s happening in and around them.

Next is understanding the importance of preparation. For you to deliver a programme well, it’s important that you start preparing for it well in advance. Spend time in understanding the participants, their expectations, challenges and needs well. Select an appropriate methodology and tools to cover what you need to in a way that will increase learning for the audience. It’s only when your preparation is solid can your session go well. And we all know the importance of having a strong foundation! 

The third important feature of a train the trainer workshop is clearly understanding the context of the programme you are going to conduct. You must know who the audience is, why they need this session and what they need to be able to do so that you can cover the same in the session. This gives a trainer clarity and ensures that s/he is moving in the right direction.

The fourth thing is understanding the difference between objectives and outcomes. While the former focusses on what the session is aimed at, the latter points towards what the participants will be able to do post attending the session. Having both these clear helps us in designing a session that fulfils the needs of the learners.  

Last but not the least, is how to conduct an activity successfully. Every activity has a set of instructions which we call the brief and the reflection which is done at the end called the debrief. Being able to clearly give instructions to participants and then deciphering what has happened during the activity is an art in itself. And one that needs to be taught in every train the trainer session. Its also one that can take a trainer from training to facilitation and from being mediocre to a true mirror for participants. 

Train the trainer workshops have really evolved over time. They now cover a large number of modules which help trainers cater to the adult need for learning. They have come a long way from presentation skills to facilitation. And I’m sure with changing learner needs they will keep evolving.

Why business etiquette is important

I’m currently busy preparing for a business etiquette training. It’s for the manufacturing unit of a large Indian brand. And guess who the audience is? A set of engineers. Yes, my favourite. Being one myself, I do relate to them the best.

                                                    

I’m sure you must be curious as to what topics I’m going to cover in this business etiquette training. Well, it’s going to be a mixed bag. A little bit of face to face etiquette, meeting, telephone and email etiquette.

So, what is business etiquette and why is business etiquette training so important?

Well, business etiquette it simply our mannerisms in a business scenario. The way we present ourselves in our communication with various people we interact with like customers, colleagues, superiors, subordinates, vendors, suppliers, etc. The way we talk when meeting people, shaking hands, greeting, introducing ourselves, being polite; to how we talk while on the phone, opening and closing a call, putting it on hold, etc. It also covers how we start and end emails, how to write in clear and concise words what we mean, etc.; to how to behave while attending a meeting.

How does it help?

1. It firstly helps us improve our interpersonal relationships skills by treating everyone with respect. Whether it be a customer, vendor, supplier, subordinate or superior; who doesn’t want to be treated with respect and feel like an equal. We all do. And following business etiquette is an excellent way to ensure that.

2. Business etiquette training provides us with guidelines while communicating. And many of us would be at a complete loss if we had to communicate without them! It provides a direction and gives us a set of dos and don’ts that can help us in not only starting a conversation well but also completing it in a polite and courteous manner. Just imagine what it would be like to not know what to do when you go to meet a prospective client for the first time!

3. Professionalism is another area that business etiquette training really works on. Don’t you feel great when you receive a call from a vendor who never forgets to greet you and also conveys his message in a well-articulated manner! Truly, business etiquette is what really helps you create a great impression on people.

And what happens when professionalism and interpersonal relationships improve? We become more successful as individuals. And it becomes easier to achieve our desired goals and success faster.

And you know the best part? Not only does it affect us, it also rubs off on those around us. We actually start becoming a role model and people start following our ways. This not only improves them, but also takes the organisation to the next level and gives customers a whole new experience.

Yup, one training, multi-fold advantages!