Phase 3 - Try-Out

The third step of the Four-Step Coaching Method is Try-out. During this step, you will:

• Implement the employees’ practice.
• Observe the employees’ practice.
• Provide feedback to the employees.
• Help the employees gain speed and develop accuracy.

Experienced coaches take different approaches to the try-out step. Some keep it separate from the follow-up, while others prefer employees perform them at the same time. Coaches also have combined the try-out with the presentation and demonstration. You should decide which method will work best for you. That decision may be determined by the task being trained.

Inexperienced coaches often stop the coaching process after they have completed the presentation and demonstration. They assume that because they have “trained”, surely the employees have “learned”. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. During practice, the coach will determine what employees have learned, found any problem areas, and help them increase their skills.

Never leave employees to their own devices during the try-out. Remain alert and involved in the continuing learning process.

Implement the Employee’s Practice

A try-out should follow the presentation and demonstration as soon as it is practical. The less time that passes between the presentation/demonstration step and practice, the easier it will be for the employees to perform the task correctly. The employees also will need less review.

To make the practice time beneficial:

Have the Employees Explain the Task: Their explanation will help you determine whether they understand what you have taught. If every employee makes the same mistake, you will want to assess the points at which the presentation and demonstration were not clear. Verbalising the task while they are performing it also reinforces the employees’ understanding. In a sense, they are “programming” their minds to recall the correct procedures. If their explanations are incomplete, correct them, so they are not “programmed” the wrong way.

Ask the Employees to Repeat the Practice to Create Habits: It has been said that “practice makes perfect”. Well, it does, provided it is a perfect practice. Some employees can practice the task correctly the first time, while others will have difficulty. Multiple practices are important because they create habits. The number of times a task is practiced will vary from employee to employee. The coach can move on to another task after the employee consecutively performs the task correctly two or three times.

Observe the Employees’ Practice

Watch the employees as they practice and note any areas which need to be clarified or corrected. The goal of practice is to give the employees the opportunity to practice the task in a controlled environment while someone is available to help.

There are four ways to make the observation process easier:

Explain Why you are Observing: Tell the employees you are checking that the presentation and demonstration were enough for them to perform the task.

Look at Individual Steps: Watch the steps in the process to determine which ones are correct and which needs improvement.

Review the Task More than Once: Have the employees perform the task two or three times to verify that they have the techniques and the knowledge needed to work independently.

Evaluate the End-Result: Does the product or performance meet the standard? What areas of the process created problems for the end-result?

Monitor and Review Performance

Monitoring and review is primarily a means of reinforcing the knowledge that contributions are recognised and valued. It is not an isolated event, but an ongoing process that takes place continuously. As shown, assignments and projects are monitored continually. Monitoring means consistently measuring performance and providing ongoing feedback to coaches or employees on their progress toward reaching their goals.

Click here to view a video on how performance reviews should be done.

Ongoing monitoring provides the coach the opportunity to check how well coaches/employees are meeting predetermined standards and to make changes to unrealistic or problematic standards. By monitoring continually, coaches can identify unacceptable performance at any time during the appraisal period and help address such performance rather than wait until the end of the period when summary rating levels are assigned.

Ways through which performance can be observed include:

• Direct observation and feedback.
• Specific work results (tangible, observable evidence that can be reviewed in the staff member’s absence).
• Records and reports (attendance, safety, inventory, financial records, publications).
• Constructive and/or critical comments made by others.

It is important that the atmosphere in performance review meeting is positive and that both parties treat each other as equals. Make the other party feel at ease.

Remember that employees are entering the meeting with feelings of uneasiness, fear, trepidation and even hostility.

The coach’s role in this meeting is to ensure that the organisation’s performance requirements will be achieved through the action of the coaches/employees they manage.

The formal performance review has three purposes:

• To review the performance of the coaches/employees.
• To review the performance of the coach in supporting the staff member (upward feedback).
• To evaluate the progress on a learning and development plan for the coaches/employees.

Before the Review

• Decide what rating you think should be awarded to the coacher/employee and write down evidence to support this view. Make sure this rating can be justified in terms of the ratings you have given in the earlier formal reviews (no surprise principle).
• Think about how well you have performed in supporting the work of your coaches/employees. Write down some specific examples of strong support and ideas about how to improve performance.
• Think about the job performance of the coaches/employees over the past months/year. What does this tell you about the things he/she is good at and the things he/she is not so good at? Does it point to any areas in which he/she needs development?
• Consider the coaches’/employees' performances results and think about more skills he/she might need to successfully achieve these. Write them down and suggest them at the review meeting.

During the Review

• The coaches/employees may be very anxious about this meeting, so do not do anything to aggravate the situation (being flippant, too intense, late for the meeting, and so on).
• To break the ice and get the employee at ease you could offer him/her something to drink, ask about his/her personal life (family, hobbies, etc.), or ask him/her how he/she is doing lately.
• Begin the review by setting the context – provide an overview of the department and organisation’s overall performance.
• Start the formal review by focussing on the performance goals.
• Ask the coach/employee to explain what rating they think they deserve for each goal respectively and let them give reasons for this rating. Support them where you feel they are right and give examples of your own.
• If you think they have rated themselves too high or too low, tell them to provide specific examples and give them plenty of opportunity to question your judgement and provide their own supporting evidence.
• Receiving feedback can be threatening to people. Do not become aggressive of defensive at the meeting. If this happens call “time out”.
• Stick to the facts. Do not let personality differences get in the way of a productive meeting.
• Carefully discuss gaps in performance and follow the facilitative approach (see below) to coach the employee on improving performance.
• If there is a disagreement that you cannot resolve easily, follow the process set up for reaching agreement.
• If you still cannot reach agreement, you may need to resort to the formal dispute resolution process.

After the Review

You and the coach/employee need to reach agreement of feedback given and received. Both parties need to accept the current reality and the underlying reasons for that reality, before one can move forward by developing an action plan.

Summarise the main points of feedback. Then, develop an action plan to address all these points. Some actions might have to be taken by the coach and some by the coacher/employee. An action plan is specifically aimed at bringing performance to an acceptable level of standard.

How to Give Feedback

Feedback is the process according to which you receive information from the external environment on both the positive and negative aspects of your performance. Feedback provides an answer to the question "How am I doing?"

Another important aspect of performance and development management is the aspect of giving and receiving feedback. Feedback answers the question: ‘How am I doing?’

Once people agree to achieve certain goals and goals, they need to know how well they are doing.

Constructive feedback on performance and development is important because it encourages and motivates employees to perform at acceptable standards. It helps correct mistakes and solves problems; it builds relationships between people; saves money; and provides direction. People taking part in a performance management process, both coaches and employees and staff members, need to know how to provide constructive feedback as well as how to receive feedback in such a manner that it will have a positive effect on performance. Open and direct criticism provides the opportunity to clear misunderstandings and correct wrong perceptions and behaviour.

Key actions that need to be performed are:

• Be honest but maintain the person’s self-esteem by providing balanced feedback. Begin and end with a positive statement. People are more receptive to corrective feedback when it is mixed with positive comments.
• Be specific about what was said or done, and state why it was effective or ineffective. Give examples of how the situation could have been handled more effectively.
• Offer alternatives. If you are giving feedback for improvement, tell the person what he or she could have said or done differently; your perspective will be helpful. Your feedback has more value and credibility when you show that you have thought of other ways to deal with the situation.

Click here to view a video on how to give feedback.

NOTE: Because coaches/learners check their own performance in this process, they receive much of their feedback directly, using monitoring methods established during the planning phase. As a result, they can act whenever necessary to stay on target towards these objectives.

In addition to data obtained from own monitoring sources, coaches or employees also depend on coaches for information. When they perform effectively or need to improve, you need to tell them and provide specific feedback on what they did well and what they did not do so well. Your feedback is important. It helps determine whether individuals meet goals. For best results, your feedback should be prompt, balanced, and specific.

Timely Feedback

Provide feedback as soon as possible after the incident occurs. Feedback today on something that happened this morning means much more than feedback tomorrow or the following week. The incident is still fresh in the person’s mind, so feedback will be more meaningful.

Balanced Feedback

Mix positive and constructive comments throughout the discussion where possible. Too much negative feedback might make people defensive and unwilling to communicate. If you recognise satisfactory performance in the beginning and leave the corrective feedback for the end, a person might feel ‘set up’. Disappointment and resentment might then replace any feeling of satisfaction. After giving corrective feedback, end the discussion with a plan for improving performance. Work closely with the staff member on the plan. The more the individual contributes to it, the more committed she will be to carry it out.

Specific Feedback

A vague comment, like “You could have done a better job on that report”, does not identify a problem. It does not show what was wrong and how to improve. It is not the type of feedback that will help someone achieve his or her goals. Along the same lines, general praise like “You have done a decent job on that report”, also does not specify what the individual did well and should continue doing. Specific feedback explains what the individual did and why it as effective or ineffective.

Positive vs. Negative Feedback

Positive feedback is more readily and accurately perceived than negative feedback. Further, while positive feedback is always acceptable, the negative variety often meets resistance. Why? The logical answer seems to be that people want to hear good news and block out the bad. Positive feedback fits what most people wish to hear and already believe about them.

Does this mean that you should avoid giving negative feedback? No!

What it means is that you need to be aware of potential resistance and learn to use negative feedback in situations where it is most likely to be accepted.

Research shows that negative feedback is most likely to be accepted when it comes from a credible source or if it is goal in form.

Negative feedback that is supported by hard data – numbers, specific examples and the like – has a good chance of being accepted.

Guidelines when Giving Feedback on the Performance of the Coached

Step 1: Get to the Point

The purpose for this meeting is…

I asked you here to discuss…

I want to spend some time discussing how you…

Step 2: State Why you are Having this Conversation

I have a concern about…

A problem has occurred in…

Step 3: Describe what you Know

I saw…

A problem has occurred in…

Step 4: Describe the Consequences of the Continued Behaviour

If this continues then…

In looking at this situation as a customer would, it appears…

Step 5: Describe How you Feel about What You Know

I am concerned about…

I do not think it is right that…

Step 6: Encourage the Other Party to Give their Side of the Story

That is what I know but what is your view…

Is that the way you see it?

OK, what is your reaction?

Step 7: Ask as Many Questions as you Need to Understand the Situation

Well, how do you know that?

And then what happened?

If you did that, then why did...?