How to provide ad-hoc support through coaching
"There’s this person on my team and I just don't know how to handle her. Can you help?" a supervisor asks her division manager. Now imagine that division manager were you: What would you tell her? This may not sound like a typical coaching-tools situation at first; its label doesn’t say "long-term people development." Well, it doesn't have to.
A full toolbox
Coaching can do much more than "just" support your big goals. Of course, setting individual development goals with your staff and regularly reviewing their progress are tools that belong in every capable manager’s repertoire. But a fully equipped toolbox will also hold effective approaches for many other, more mundane situations. For instance, when a tangible short-term goal is at stake you can help your people determine a viable approach. You don't present them with an elaborate strategy, mind you – the big hammer stays in...