The Coaching Skills' course provided a good example of a process to follow for incorporating coaching with direct reports. Most beneficial was the list of reminders of what not to do such as talking too much, engaging in a coaching session when having a bad day or upset about the employee's behavior, not listening activity to the employee, etc. In my workplace, there is rarely a day that is not filled with conference calls, meetings, webinars, emails, calls, reports, etc., Everyone always needs something now not later. This creates a hectic environment and makes it difficult at times to make time to actively listen to my team members or deal with delays in receiving requested information, especially when it is not done correctly the first time. I have a sign in my office in front of my computer monitor that says, "be here now." I continually have to remind myself of the value of doing so, which is reinfoced in this course. Not sure if anyone else has that problem, but I know that I will continually work on this area. Putting the i phone away is also helpful as the bombardment of work emails and text messages through there does not help either.
