According to a study, over 80% of all executives indicate that they use coaching as a leadership style. However, as effective as personal meetings with your employees are, they are incredibly time-consuming. With the help of an online course, coaching becomes maximally efficient. However, not every tool is suitable for this. Find out now what you need to pay attention to when it comes to online coaching of employees.
Prerequisites for Coaching Employees
The central goal of any coaching is to provide help for self-help. It’s no wonder that executives love to use this method to support their employees in the best possible way. According to a survey by the Hernstein Institute for Management and Leadership (2022), 9 out of 10 executives believe: The leader of the future is simultaneously a coach. In fact, even 84% report that they already use a coaching leadership style.
Importantly: The central difference between a trained coach and a leader is neutrality. This can be an advantage since the leader already has a trust bonus with the employee. Additionally, they know their employees better. However, this can be a critical point, especially with personal issues: A coach should always maintain 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 coach employees in the best possible way, consider bringing in an external coach if necessary. This external individual can act as a neutral trusted person in the case of conflicts or personal issues.
At the relational level, there are also some prerequisites for coaching leadership: Trust, voluntariness, openness, and appreciation are fundamental factors for successful coaching.
Coaching from leader to employee: Voluntariness and a high level of trust are fundamental prerequisites.
When is a good time for coaching leadership?
Coaching is particularly suitable as a method in leadership during the onboarding of new areas of responsibility, for example in the case of a promotion or reassignment. The very beginning of an induction is theoretically also a good time for coaching employees. However, there is usually not enough trust at the relational level present at this stage.
Guide: Blended Onboarding for Companies
The “Blended” method excels on all levels: Combine personal meetings with an online course to onboard employees effectively. Here’s how it works and how you can create your first “Blended Onboarding” in 3 weeks:
Another great advantage of coaching by a leader is the high degree of temporal flexibility: Unlike an external coach, as a leader, you are generally spatially and thematically close to your employees. This allows you to respond much more flexibly to challenges at work. At the same time, for you as a leader, time is a precious commodity. So how do you ensure that you can successfully coach your employees while also having enough time for other tasks and appointments?
Our Time-Saving Tip: Coach your employees via Online Course!
The “Blended” method says: 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, for example 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
Let employees learn independently
Copy your online course and easily adjust it for new employees
Gain an overview of the current learning progress at any time
Support your employees in their work as best as possible
Ideally, you should not coach exclusively via online courses but make the best use of personal meetings: In face-to-face appointments, your employee can express themselves, ask follow-up questions, and report on successes and challenges. In this way, you combine classic coaching situations with online impulses according to the principle of blended learning – and save a lot of time.
Finding the Right Platform for Your Online Coachings
Classic tools for digital training are designed for people whose main job is to be trainers or coaches. It can quickly happen that you get overwhelmed by hidden features and technical nuances when looking for an online tool.
With blink.it, you can create your first own online course in just a few minutes. In a modular system, you can 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 – in both admin and participant functions.
If you first have to undergo training to operate the training platform, you've chosen the wrong tool.
Hans-Martin-Sprungk, Team Manager in Sales
Conclusion: How to Coach Employees Maximally Efficiently
With these 7 tips, you can successfully support your employees in helping themselves through coaching:
Create a stable foundation of trust with the employee.
Find a platform for online coachings that is easy to use from the get-go.
Create coaching content in the online course.
Use face-to-face situations to fully engage with your employee.
Adapt online content flexibly or copy entire courses.
Regularly gain an overview of the learning progress.
Bring in an external coach for personal topics.
Start now with the project “Online Coachings” for your employees and save a lot of time in the future!
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