Add Coaching to Your Management Toolkit
by Lyn Christian, PMP, Certified Coach

As Project Managers we often struggle with the painful gap between what needs to be done on a project and the work that is actually completed on time by the project team.

A constant concern and question that I hear from Project Managers is, “How do I get people motivated to complete work packages in a timely manner?”

I smile to myself every single time I hear this question? I smile because in the past several years as a project manager and as a corporate coach I’ve learned a few things about motivation.

Let me share four of these insights:

1. The motivation button isn’t accessible to project managers. Each individual’s motivation button is located on the inside of each individual’s self. If a team member is to be motivated, the options open to a project manager are skills such as to: inspire, lead, direct, force, control, etc. In the end, a person is motivated when they decide to flip the switch.
   
2. Directing, forcing and controlling often drain what we at Franklin Covey call “Emotional Bank Accounts.” Draining EBA leaves a ton of employees stranded on the freeway of life.
   
3. Leading and inspiring are skills that work well in building EBA. However, studies show that as many as 60% of all managers assume a managerial position without being trained on how to lead and inspire.
   
4. Coaching is a skill that is founded on leading and inspiring and that is teachable!!!

So, what is coaching and when is coaching appropriate in the project management industry?

Coaching has been called the missing link in self-help. Coaching’s origins can be traced back to leadership and development programs that surfaced during the 1980’s. Sports psychology and educational programs that date back to the 1960’s have also been linked with the development of this growing profession.

In specific terms, coaching is a skill that managers can use in order to guide, support and develop the skills of team members. In the context of project management, coaching is the skill of building awareness, responsibility, and accountability between project tasks and project team members. It is about getting real work completed and closed in a manner that honors the human factor.

Some of the most appropriate and profitable times to use coaching are:

• Everyday briefings and debriefings with staff members
  
• Individual performance reviews
  
• When other methods of management no longer work
  
• When you need upward results
  
• When you need downward results
  
• When you need to check on progress
  
• When you are trying to create ownership and buy-in
  
• When you are holding a planning session
  
• When you are holding a key-stakeholder interview
  
• When a team member needs to learn from their own experiences

Why not try coaching on for a test drive and see what happens? Here is a quick recipe and a “here’s-how-it-might-sound” script we use in our Franklin Covey Coaching methodology.

Recipe for refining and elevating progress

Blend curiosity with your motivation to get answers and results.
Use questions as your main tool.

Apply to a team member who is in the process of completing project tasks.

Steps
1. report and celebrate
2. look and learn
3. improve and commit

Script:
Anne, you’ve been working on the design for the XXX logo. So far, what are you most proud of on this project? Acknowledge and celebrate as appropriate.

As you look at your work on the logo, what are you learning from the experience? How have your skills been sharpened or leveraged? Acknowledge and comment as appropriate.

Do you see any specific opportunities to challenge or elevate your progress on this project? Listen and make mental notes.

What opportunity or challenge would you like to commit to for the next week? Listen and make actual notes.

When would you like to share with me your achievements towards this goal? Listen and schedule the time and date in your planning system right then if possible so you both take the commitment to heart. Thank the team member for sharing their time and experience.

The intent of this article will resonate with some project managers and not with others. If you’re one of the those who want to blend coaching with your current management style, I’d love to know how this recipe and script work for you. Feel free to drop me a line or call.

Being a PMP and a Certified Coach, I know the relief of not spending energy on things like external motivating when coaching is a tool just waiting to get me results.

Lyn Christian is the former Associate Director for Franklin Covey’s Project Management Office where she spent a year implementing an internal Project Management Practice. In this capacity she has coached, consulted, and facilitated the Franklin Covey PM methodology on a variety of projects. From legal acquisition to supply chain projects, she worked with project managers to generate over 4 million dollars of value.

Outside of Franklin Covey, Lyn has coached, consulted, and trained hundreds of clients in implementing one of the most creative, quick to implement, streamline Project Management processes in today’s market. She has worked with clients such as: FedEx, United Way, UPS, Verizon, and the YMCA.