Looking back on your career, which boss stands out as the most helpful?  Was it the one who was quick to criticize and put you in your place?  Was it an intellectual bully? Or, was it the one who asked you important questions and mentored you to success?  Chances are it was the latter, assuming you were one of the lucky few that had a boss that knew how to use coaching skills effectively.

Many professionals share that their own experience with bosses was difficult; they worked for bosses who wanted to own the glory but not share the struggle.  How might it have been for you if your past boss had helped you to hone your skills and improve your confidence?  And what if you could do that for your direct reports?  Imagine how morale, productivity and overall effectiveness would change. So how does coaching help?  Here are three benefits of growing the coaching skills of your managers; increased morale, increased productivity and increased effectiveness.

1. Increased Morale:

Staff members who feel supported report that they feel better about their work and specifically that they feel better about their relationship with their boss.  They are more likely to share anecdotes and participate in joint discussions and problem solving, rather than try to hide problems under the rug.  Overall, team members who have received coaching say they feel valued and appreciated; and their overall morale improves.

2. Increased Productivity:

Ever spent too much time worrying about making a mistake, or trying to cover your tracks for fear of getting in trouble with a difficult boss? What if you didn’t have to do all that? What if you could decrease the down time of worry and anxiety, and instead focus on getting tasks done.  Over time, staff members who are in a positive relationship with their manager indicate they feel increased confidence in their roles, and that they can contribute in more productive ways since they are not fearful of failure. The coaching relationship helps to change the culture of the workplace to one that rewards innovation and effort and this in itself creates more productivity within the team.

3. Increased Effectiveness: 

Just like a well-oiled machine, a company that works together smoothly hits less snags and has less downtime.  Direct reports who spend less time feeling frustrated, worried or bullied, have more time to devote to getting things done – well!  Coaching can even be the oil that lubricates the various cogs in your company machine; preventing and dissolving friction that might occur, lubricating the innovation and creativity of your workers.  By increasing effectiveness of key players on your team, coaching helps your organization perform at a higher standard.

All in all, training programs that help your managers develop coaching skills pay off in spades.  By assisting your managers to develop the attitude, knowledge and skills of how to coach an employee to success you set up your organization to receive multiple benefits from increased morale, to increased productivity, to increased effectiveness.  Ask us about our Coaching Skills For Managers Training Program which can be delivered onsite at your organization.  The immediate results and the long-term pay off will make you glad you did.

Do you ever notice there’s a run on avocados?  Or that every restaurant you visit has guacamole on their menu?  Sometimes life’s like that; a new topic comes along and everyone’s asking for it.  For us that avocado is Resilience Training!  Of late, the phone rings frequently and email inquiries arrive daily asking “how can we improve resilience in the workplace?”.  But why is Resilience so popular now?  Let’s take a look at what’s going on in the world around us and how  its creating a momentum for greater resilience training in the workplace. We’ll explore what’s happening on the national, organizational and individual level, drilling down to the essential undercurrents that are stirring up stress and discontent.  Then we’ll consider what to do about it.

On the national level, recent events in security, politics, and the greater environment have been troubling to many households. Watching the nightly news can expose us to stories of tragedy and destruction that chip away at our core “good feelings”.  Similarly, on the organizational level many government groups are experiencing funding cuts and downsizing.  The remaining employees feel the uncertainty and the overwhelm as they have to take on additional tasks once handled by their former colleagues.  On the individual level, the overall stress takes a toll.  Working parents may be alarmed about finances, crime, and child care all in the context of trying to juggle busy work and home lives.  All in all, it makes for a troubling time for the individual.  Too much stress, too much overload, too much overwhelm.

In the midst of all these factors, Resilience Training is like a beacon of hope. With it’s emphasis on the whole person, strengths and resources, Resilience Training helps employees access tools to remain optimistic, buoyant and upbeat.  Who wouldn’t say more of that please.  So pass the Avocado’s would you, they are good for us.

Does your company have a sales team?  Do they ever struggle to meet their goals?  Want to know a sure fire way to get them engaged and more effective?  Consider a refresher of Powerful Sales Presentations Skills.  While its true that many good sales professionals have taken a presentation training course at some time in their career, a refresher offers a lot of great value.  First there is the teamwork and camaraderie which boost morale; second there is the renewed focus on wording messages to land clearly on the client; third, there is a focus on body language that exudes confidence and success.  At the end of our presentation training sessions, we are continually amazed at the number of sales professionals who tell us “I wish I had taken this training 20 years ago when I started my career!”.  Nonetheless, it’s never too late to boost your sales teams’ ability to pitch their products with greater polish and success.  Ask us about Powerful Sales Presentations Training for your team or take a few minutes to look at some free resources on our RESOURCES page to help you boost your own presentation skills.

This past week has brought a flurry of interest in Interactive keynotes on topics from Resilience to Leadership to Negotiations.  What’s an Interactive Keynote you might ask?  How does it differ from more traditional training sessions?  Is it a lecture or lengthy speech?  These are all great questions that bear exploration.  Over the past decade we have honed our skills delivering interactive training sessions that help transform people and performance. The interactive nature of the sessions, which use learning partners, role-plays, small group activities and large group discussions, is a huge part of our success.  By getting participants interested and engaged in activities that stimulate their heart, soul and mind – our interactive training gets better results than the old-fashioned lecture.  So it goes for our Keynotes too.  Instead of leading a 2 hour keynote in lecture style, our expert speakers incorporate activities and exercises into the agenda thereby engaging audience members in deeper exploration of topics.  This week we’re in Chicago and New York leading interactive keynotes, and our team has worked with groups that range from 25 to 500 in the audience.  So next time you have an important event or transition, consider the benefits of an interactive keynote for your crowd!

Are you expected to give updates and presentations to your Executive Team?  Do you ever feel disappointed with their reaction to your presentation? Want to know how to get a better response and feel good about your presentation experience?  Remember these three simple tips to boost your success when your audience is made up of busy executives.

1. Keep it Brief – Executives have a lot of responsibilities and tasks to complete.  They don’t need extra background information but typically want key points only.  So keep your presentation brief and focus on key messages.
2. Paint a Big Picture – Since your executive audience most likely has staff to implement a new initiative they don’t usually need details but prefer a big picture overview.  Focus on Who, Where, What, When and Why.
3. Focus on Outcomes – Don’t get lost in the weeds of how a process was created, or what happened last time around.  Most executives want to see how a project is tied to concrete outcomes such as outputs, revenue or cost savings.

By keeping these three tips in mind you can craft more powerful presentations that keep your executive audience interested and engaged in your remarks.  Not only will they get their needs met, but you will feel more successful in your public speaking skills. So get started; keep it brief, paint a big picture, and focus on outcomes. Learn more at our sister site www.presentationtraininginstitute.com or look at our Presentation Training solutions on the homepage.