Over 80% of all managers report in a study that they use coaching as a leadership style. However effective personal meetings with your employee may be, they are incredibly time-consuming. With the help of an online course, coaching becomes maximally efficient. However, not every tool is suitable for this purpose. Find out what you need to pay attention to when it comes to the online coaching method for employees.
Requirements for Coaching Employees
The central goal of any coaching is self-help. It's no wonder that leaders like to use this method to optimally support their employees. According to a survey by the Hernstein Institute for Management and Leadership (2022), 9 out of 10 leaders believe that the leader of the future is also a coach. In fact, 84% even state that they are already using a coaching leadership style.
Important: The key difference between a trained coach and a leader is neutrality. This can be an advantage because the leader already has a trust advantage with the employee. Additionally, they know their employees better. However, this can be especially critical in personal matters: A coach should always take a neutral position. This is, of course, not possible for a leader. Therefore, personal issues in coaching employees should be taboo for a leader.
Pro Tip: To be able to coach employees optimally, consider bringing in an external coach if necessary. This person can step in as a neutral confidant in cases of conflicts or personal issues.
On the relational level, there are also some requirements for coaching leadership: Trust, voluntary participation, openness, and appreciation are fundamental factors for successful coaching.
Coaching from leader to employee: Voluntary participation and a high level of trust are fundamental prerequisites.
When is a Good Time for Coaching Leadership?
Coaching is particularly suitable as a method for leadership during the onboarding of new tasks, such as during a promotion or transfer. The very beginning of an onboarding process is theoretically also a good time for employee coaching. However, there is usually not enough trust on the relational level at this point.
Another significant advantage of coaching by a leader is the high temporal flexibility: Unlike an external coach, you, as a leader, are usually physically and thematically close to your employees. This allows you to respond much more flexibly to challenges at work. At the same time, time is a precious resource for you as a leader. So how can you successfully coach your employees while still having enough time for other tasks and appointments?
Our Time-Saving Tip: Coach Your Employees via Online Course!
The "Blended" method states: Shift everything that does not necessarily need to happen face-to-face between you and your employee into an online course! Suitable online content for coaching includes:
Short action impulses
Practical tips, e.g., via screencast
Motivating videos
Quizzes or reflection questions
Shift part of your coaching into an online course: This way, your employees can learn independently, and you save a lot of time.
Advantages of Employee Coaching via Online Course
Save time
Allow employees to learn independently
Copy your online course and easily adapt it for new employees
Always get an overview of current learning progress
Support your employees in their work as best as possible
Ideally, you should not coach exclusively via online course, but make the best use of personal meetings: In face-to-face appointments, your employee can speak up, ask questions, and discuss successes and challenges. This way, you combine traditional coaching situations with online impulses based on the blended learning principle – and save a lot of time.
Finding the Right Platform for Your Online Coaching
Classic tools for digital training are geared towards people who are professionally trainers or coaches. It can quickly happen that you feel overwhelmed by hidden functions and technical tricks while searching for an online tool.
With blink.it, you can create your first online course in just a few minutes. Using a modular approach, you create content such as videos, quizzes, or surveys and easily upload your existing content. The blink.it platform is easy to use even for absolute tech skeptics – both in admin functions and in participant functions.
If you have to complete a training course to use the training platform, you have chosen the wrong tool.
Hans-Martin Sprungk, Team Manager in Sales
Conclusion: How to Coach Employees Most Efficiently
With these 7 tips, you can successfully support your employees in helping themselves:
Establish a stable trust base with the employee.
Choose a platform for online coaching that is straightforward to use from the start.
Create coaching content in the online course.
Utilize face-to-face situations to fully engage with your employee.
Flexibly adapt online content or copy entire courses.
Regularly monitor the learning progress.
Bring in an external coach for personal issues.
Start now with the "Online Coaching" project for your employees and save a lot of time in the future!
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