10 Coaching Skills For Managers And Tips To Improve Them

Managers and team leaders help their colleagues improve their skills and increase productivity. Coaching skills help managers develop effective methods to guide their teams. Learning more about these skills could help you begin or further your management career. In this article, we define coaching skills for managers, provide some examples, outline the steps to improve your skills and share some ways you can highlight them during the job application process.

What Are Coaching Skills For Managers?

Coaching skills for managers are soft skills that help them encourage their teams to improve productivity through guidance and motivation. Managers use these skills to empower their team to achieve their individual goals, advance their careers and improve results for the company. These skills are vital to keeping high employee morale and creating a rapport between the team members.

10 Examples Of Coaching Skills For Managers

Here are some examples of coaching skills for managers:

1. Active listening

Active listening is the skill of paying attention while someone else is speaking. This skill is vital, as it helps managers understand their team better, improve their working style and provide valuable lessons to help their team members grow. Managers often have several tasks to overlook and manage, making it critical to consciously engage in active listening and give attention to a conversation. Managers may use this skill to ask questions that empower their team to resolve issues.

Related: Building Communication Skills: 10 Types Of Listening

2. Forward focus

Employees experience problems in their work and may not find solutions. A manager may help them understand if a problem is trivial or critical and ask questions that assist employees in resolving the issue and moving to the next task. An attitude of forwarding focus helps managers stay fixed on their goals.

3. Problem-solving

Problem-solving skills help managers create effective plans that help their team achieve their goals. It helps managers identify skill gaps, communication gaps and other issues that may hinder the team's productivity. They may use this information to create individual and team goals that make them accountable while overcoming the challenges.

4. Organisational skills

Organisational skills help managers become better coaches and excel at their job. They are in a leadership role that necessitates concentration on the company goals, team growth and personal growth. Staying organised helps managers focus on each facet of their job effectively. They may use project management tools to overlook the team's performance, calendars to manage their daily schedules and set personal goals.

Related: Organisational Skills: Definition And Examples

5. Provide feedback

The ability to provide constructive feedback helps coach team members and inspire colleagues. Managers observe the activities of their team members and provide them feedback that helps improve their productivity. Applaud team members when they surpass expectations and goals or provide an effective solution. Praising employees boosts their morale and encourages them to improve their performance. Similarly, as a coach, managers avoid pointing out errors in public as team members may feel embarrassed or humiliated. Managers understand the situation and rationally think before providing any feedback.

Related: A Step By Step Guide On How To Give Feedback (With Examples)

6. Motivation

As a coach, managers keep the morale high and stay inspired or motivated to achieve their goals. In times of stress, employees may often require the support of their managers to achieve their goals. Managers use this skill in several ways, depending on their leadership style. They may set up tracking systems to monitor the team goals, set and celebrate milestones, deliver motivational speeches in meetings, provide one-to-one mentorship to their team or provide necessary resources that encourage employees to stay focused on the goal.

7. Leadership skills

Managers develop different leadership styles to suit their work. As a coach, they work to empower their team members to become leaders. Managers develop methods to guide their team, improve their skills and depend less on their coach for solutions. They may conduct team-building exercises, encourage their team to think critically and allow their team to experiment with new methodologies to improve their skills.

Related: How To Develop Leadership Skills (With Practical Tips)

8. Accountability

Managers lead by staying consistent and delivering to their commitments to encourage accountability in their team. Managers who showcase accountability at work are more likely to gain the trust and respect of their team members. Staying accountable ensures that the team respects time and deadlines and stays focused on the goals.

9. Communication

As a coach, managers establish effective communication lines that make them approachable to their team. Managers may use verbal and non-verbal communication to encourage, guide and monitor their team members. Verbal communication helps guide the team, provide feedback and initiate conversations with team members to discuss and resolve their issues. Non-verbal communication helps managers reassure their team in times of crisis or make them feel heard.

10. Empathy

Empathy helps managers understand their team members and connect with them. It is vital to help build effective work relationships and understand the team better. Managers may use this skill to learn more about their employees and create effective plans that help employees improve their skills and productivity.

How To Improve Coaching Skills?

Here are the steps you may follow to improve your coaching skills:

1. Observe your employees

Understand employees and their requirements to coach them better. Observe and listen to their problems to identify skills or communication gaps and develop methods to improve them. Observing employees also helps understand the effectiveness of the current ways of coaching.

2. Collect feedback

Encourage employees to leave honest feedback that may help improve your coaching skills. Speak with employees to identify areas where they require better assistance or guidance. Use this feedback to improve your skill set or change your coaching methodologies.

3. Stay relevant

Adopt new and more impactful coaching skills to help your team. Read about different leadership styles, stories of successful leaders and research on work culture and psychology to develop efficient coaching skills. Staying relevant allows you to experiment with new methods and devise one that is effective for the team.

Coaching Skills In A Workplace

Here are some additional coaching skills for managers that are essential in a workplace:

• Delegation: Managers develop this skill to meet goals within time. They identify the best team members for a particular task, brief them and overlook the progress.

• Goal-setting: Managers are realistic and rationally think while setting goals to complete a task. Setting milestones within a project helps keep the team motivated to meet necessary deadlines.

• Public speaking: As a coach, managers conduct meetings to check progress on a particular project. They set an agenda for meetings and convene them.

• Self-awareness: Team members respect leaders who abide by their words. As a coach, managers set an example for every skill they teach their colleagues to make them more impactful and inspiring.

How To Highlight Coaching Skills For Managers?

A manager may highlight their coaching skills in one or more places to improve their chances of a promotion or a new job. Here are some steps to follow while highlighting coaching skills for managers:

1. Dedicate a section on the resume

Provide a distinctive section on the resume to list skills that showcase coaching expertise in a leadership role. Divide the skills section into two to highlight technical and human skills separately. Substantiate your skills while describing the job role in current or previous workplaces.

Related: How To Create An Effective Manager Resume (With Examples)

2. Highlight achievements in your cover letter

Use the cover letter to showcase the effectiveness of the skills and their impact on the team. It helps add credibility to the skills and may encourage the recruiter to read the resume further. Keep the cover letter brief and highlight a maximum of three strongest skills.

3. Share relevant examples in the interview

Listen carefully to the questions and share examples of using coaching skills to improve employee productivity and performance. Keep the answers brief and to the point. Share relevant statistics to substantiate the growth or improvement in the team.