Spend ONE-ON-ONE Time with Each Team Member by Mark David

[Sales Coach]

 

A coach’s primary responsibility is to grow and develop his/her team members to achieve their next level of performance. To do this successfully, spend One-on-One time with each team member on a regular basis. This allows you to provide your team members with professional direction that will lead to increased productivity and results.

It is important that you prioritize your day to make time for this personal attention. Face-to-face time is best. However, if you are managing from a distance and do not have that opportunity, the telephone is the second best alternative. Schedule One-on-One time with each team member on a weekly basis, if possible. If not, meet monthly. Be prepared – plan, have an agenda, and determine your professional development objectives for the meeting. Inform team members that this is the opportunity to focus on their development, not housekeeping issues.

One-on-One meetings build the skill sets and the professional maturity individuals need to reach their next level of performance. If you do not spend time developing your team members, they will eventually leave you for an organization that will. Use this One-on-One time to talk about the team member’s world . Then, challenge your team members to develop the habits that will take them and the company to their next higher level. By dedicating time to your team members, you will form lasting partnerships and will be better able to keep them motivated and focused. Impactful coaches pull their team members through the knotholes of life. This exercise better equips them to succeed by helping them realize the reality of their situation.

Example
A new manager had been at a company for four months and was not performing successfully. There was high turnover in his department, little loyalty to either him or the company and low productivity. He felt that his team members took up too much of his time and prevented him from performing his other responsibilities. He was so frustrated that he approached his boss to discuss the situation. He asked her to help him determine what he was doing wrong so that he could get his team on track.

She asked some questions and uncovered that the only time he met One-on-One with his team members was to discuss housekeeping issues, productivity levels and corrective action plans. He did not interact with his employees unless they were doing something wrong. She offered him the following simple advice: “Spend time with your team members. You cannot do the job alone. Take the time to educate and develop them. Inspire, engage and challenge them. All winning coaches develop the skill levels of their team members and you can do the same.”

The manager took her advice even though it was outside of his comfort zone. Over the next five months, he met One-on-One with his team members weekly. He realized that spending time to grow and develop his team members was making a difference. The role-playing and “drill for skill” activities he used during these meetings to improve specific skills drove productivity up, and increased job satisfaction.