Joan Potter is waiting in her office for Bob Harris to arrive. Bob is the manager of a project that is way behind schedule. The purpose of this meeting is to get Bob's project back on track. Joan is puzzled about Bob's performance. It's difficult to know if his problems are due to a deficiency in skills, motivation or resources. Should she be tough on him or look for ways to resolve key issues?

Joan's struggle with how to approach Bob is a common one. Savvy managers have known for years that no one approach, technique or theory can be universally applied to their daily challenges. They understand that in dealing with complex situations many factors must be considered. This article focuses on three important approaches to performance management: teaching, correcting and coaching.

Teaching:
If an employee has not mastered the required skills for his or her job, it may be important for the manager to teach the individual. The teaching might involve using a piece of sophisticated test equipment, newly purchased software or a creating a business plan. The manager may send the employee to outside training or decide to do the teaching herself. We sometimes think of teaching as applying only to managers of inexperienced employees. Teaching can also be very effective in delivering a leadership message. In his book, The Leadership Engine - How Winning Companies Build Leaders at Every Level, Noel M. Tichy states, In order to be a leader at any level of an organization, a person must be a teacher.Simply put, if you aren't teaching, you aren't leading. He does a masterful job of describing how to communicate a leadership message through the use of stories from the past, present and future. In our fictional case, Joan must decide if teaching will play a role in working with Bob or if this situation requires correcting or coaching.

Correcting:
There are situations where neither teaching nor coaching will resolve a performance management situation. In these instances, the employee either has not followed an agreed upon strategy, demonstrated behavior that is counter to the organization's values or failed to live up to the responsibilities of his or her job. These situations require the manager to move quickly, speak directly and outline the consequences of the employee's behavior. Some managers who are excellent teachers and coaches find the correcting role extremely difficult to execute. However, the price of not correcting people can be an increase in morale problems. No one likes to see a coworker get away with poor performance. If correcting is necessary in Bob's case, Joan will need to take a very different approach from teaching or coaching and develop a detailed turnaround plan.

Coaching:
It is not uncommon for someone in Bob's situation to eventually become an effective performer. Once Bob's performance has stabilized, Joan can use coaching to help him grow professionally. She can begin by discussing his career goals and help him develop a strategy for achieving these goals. Unlike teaching and correcting, coaching relies more on high involvement by the coachee. When they meet to discuss Bob's career goals, it would be important for Joan to listen rather than give strong direction. Joan will now be able to expand her role of coach to other areas of Bob's performance. Her non-directive approach will include a wide array of skills including: active listening, observation, balanced feedback, exploring options, negotiating agreement and recognizing positive performance.

Teaching, correcting and coaching are not mutually exclusive. In Joan's case, she may have to call on techniques from all three approaches to turn Bob's situation around. We can easily predict that she will use coaching skills such as giving balanced feedback, active listening and negotiating agreement. She may also need to teach Bob by pointing out past projects where he has performed well and identifying specific tactics that could be applied to his current situation. If coaching and teaching fail to get the desired results, Joan may be required to call on correcting skills and clearly define the consequences of continued poor performance.

You may be interested in my article, Getting the Story Behind the Story; A Powerful Coaching Technique. You can read this article by going to my website, www.mjcampbellassoc.com, and clicking on "Newsletter."

Recommended Reading:
The Leadership Engine - How Winning Companies Build Leaders at Every Level by Noel M. Tichy, Harper Collins Publishers, 1997. An excellent book referenced is this month's article, "Knowing When To Teach, Correct or Coach." This is one of the best books written on leadership in recent years. In particular Tichy provides numerous examples of how well known executives use teaching to communicate their message.

Copyright © 2002 M. J. Campbell Associates. All Rights Reserved.
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