Coaching is managing

           Do you notice that the successful coaches are the ones that get their players to develop their skills, execute them at the right time and come together as a team when it matters?

            Managing is very similar to coaching and a lot of managers could learn a thing or two from observing how successful coaches interact with their players.

            In order to field a good team the coach has to know what each player’s strengths, weaknesses, and limitations are in order to determine how they can be effectively used on the field. The same is true of mangers trying to establish a winning team in the office. They need to know each one of the team members and what they bring to the table. Then, they need to determine how each person can effectively contribute to make projects a success.

            Players practice in order to get better. The coach guides the practice, determines what is being addressed that day, what needs help, where to spend extra time and how to ensure that the players are being developed in a way that contributes to the overall team. A good manager will train their staff. Working with the staff members to acquire new skills, or sharpen existing skills, helps each person improve. The better the overall quality of the staff, the better the team.

            When it’s game time, the coach knows that this is an opportunity to see how effective he has been in coaching his team and how well they execute. They will look to see how the team comes together and what the skills look like that they have been working on. If there is something wrong with the game plan they make adjustments to correct it. Managers do the same thing. By observing their staff in action they can see how well they have understood the objectives and work to solve problems. If it looks like there is a problem, they can then make the necessary changes and recheck to see how it looks.

Poor coaches, just like poor managers, pace up and down, yell, holler and scream, blame the other team or the officials for not being fair and berate team members for not playing well. Good coaches sit and observe. The want to know how well the team is coming together, what is working well, what needs improvement and where to put their energy in the next practice to get better for the next competition. They do not shout or blame others; they take responsibility for themselves and the team. If there is a bad call then they voice their concern respectfully. The same is true of managers, if they are not providing constructive feedback, then how can the team improve? Instead, give clear, precise feedback about what needs to be done right now in order to be successful.

In order to get the most from each member of your staff, think of yourself as a coach. It is your job to determine what skills are needed for the position, develop training programs to improve those skills, monitor how well the staff displays those skills and make any adjustments. The better a manager gets at doing this the more productive the staff will be.