2
Step No. 5is the ongoing act of integrating each team member
... at whatever performance stage she exhibits ... into the team in
a positive, productive and fulfilling role. This team result can be
understood as collaboration, with your employees working
individually and as a group to optimize each other’s performance.
Begin with assessment — what is happening now. Don’t let
your thoughts ever waver from the results you want as you assess.
Think of this as a backward process: This is what excellent
performance looks like, this is what we need, this is how she is
performing. So, what do I do? Trainers discuss this as identifying
the gap between what the person is doing and what the person
ideally could be doing. With the result clear in your mind, you
focus the choices. Always ask, “So what?” and “Who cares?” —
“so what” brings you to what you currently have and “who cares”
keeps you tracking results. Start with the employee and end with
you: What is she doing and what do I need to do? In Total Quality
Management (TQM) literature, there is a saying about the
American versus the Japanese approach to planning. The
difference is explained by noting that the Americans have a very
fast trigger and a slow bullet while the Japanese have a slow
trigger but a very fast bullet. This adage often explained why the
Japanese, slower to action, generally had error-free results.
Know Your Employees’ Character and Capabilities: Four Effective Techniques....
Personal Observation
StaffCoaching™ requires firsthand knowledge of, and one-on-
one familiarity with, your team members and their jobs. There is
no way around that; the value of involvement does pay off here.
Knowing where your people are and why gives you an ability to
connect your coaching. The better you know your people, the
better you can target your coaching to what is important to them.
Knowledge gives you more than rapport; it lets you click with
the others.
The Five-Step StaffCoaching™ Model