If You Coach to Motivate, It Means Giving Feedback

When leaders dread giving feedback, the task can seem daunting, especially with the current hiring challenges. They risk team members feeling insulted and the possibility of the good vibes going away.

But feedback is a necessary part of getting better at anything.

Feedback is simply information.

Coaching is impossible without the other person knowing what they need to practice in order to get better. Think of an athlete. Feedback may be in the form of a scoreboard, a video camera, or observations from coaches, but they are all needed for the athlete to know what they should work on. While a leaders may worry about a team member being insulted, feedback is no different than a video replay. It provides necessary information for someone to make changes for the better. Feedback is merely information about past performance that can improve future performance.

Coaching is your role.

Coaching is what employees value in a boss today. To them, the boss should be invested in what they are trying to achieve as individuals and as part of a team.

Feedback as a scorecard

It could be as simple as leaders furnishing employees with data to measure their performance. Financial data, customer input, and comparison data that ranks employees against one another are all forms of feedback. When the employee can track their own work, they may discover improvements they need to make and take action before their boss even comes to them.

Feedback as a video camera

Leaders or coworkers may offer feedback about what they observed in a meeting, heard on a phone call, or saw in a document composed by the employee. When the employee has access to that information, improvement proves easier.

Seeing your role as information-giver makes it easier.

Coaching people well is really about the information! If you focus on providing relevant information, you’ve taken any possible sting out of providing helpful feedback.

For more tips and strategies read the best-selling Feeback book: The Feedback Imperative: How to Give Feedback to Speed Up Your Team's Success.