What It Means To Coach The Hybrid Workforce

Reinventing the manager

"I don't know what to do." "I want to be supportive, but I don't know what the issue is." "I feel helpless as a manager."

I've been hearing things like this from more and more managers over the past year. Nurturing direct reports and providing meaningful support have always been among the more challenging aspects of managing people. A year wrought with anxiety and isolation has only made them harder. The lines between the personal and professional have been blurred beyond recognition, and managers are finding their work more emotionally taxing than they ever expected or prepared for.

Still, leaders at all levels of their organizations have risen to new challenges, not least of which was an overnight pivot to fully remote workplaces. By bringing the practices and mindset of coaching to their work, managers can conquer the challenge of individualized support, too.

Many leaders believe that their only value to an organization and their employees is their knowledge and expertise. It's time for a total cognitive reframe, and for managers to understand that we don't expect them to "have all the answers" or have perfect authority. In fact, they can create the most value by facilitating learning, evoking awareness, and helping employees find their next step.
 
When their direct report comes up against a roadblock, a manager's instinct might be to pull from their own experience for a solution: "If I were you, I would..." A coach might take a different approach, rooted in curiosity: "You've handled obstacles like this before. What worked then that could work for you now?"

It's a significant shift. It puts the direct report in the driver's seat, whereas some might prefer offering a solution. With coaching at the center of their leadership style, managers bring a new kind of value — by recognizing and pointing out strengths and encouraging a solution-oriented approach from their reports.

The tides of the employee experience are turning in favor of greater individualized support. Employees expect a more customized experience and access to the tools they need to do their best work, and companies can either meet those expectations or lose their best talent.

Organizations can — and will — try to set all the "right" policies and processes to help their hybrid workforces succeed. That's important work, but there are no one-size-fits-all solutions, and people will still experience their own stress and anxiety.

Coaching allows managers to meet the needs that blanket policies don't. By creating space, listening, and asking strategic questions, manager-coaches guide their employees to solutions they can take ownership of and commit to. "Let's try this solution. / What about that solution?" turns into, "What's one small step you can try this week to make life at work a little better?" With coaching, employees feel heard, create clarity, form an action plan, and take ownership of that plan.

I won't pretend that coaching can be mastered overnight or that it's a magic bullet. Like any other skill, it's a muscle that needs to be trained, and the only way to do that is to put it to use. Leaders can practice with a friend, a peer, or their own coach. Instead of looking for a sounding board with a peer, challenge yourself to have them coach you: "I have an issue I'd like to bounce around with you. Can you coach me on it? I need to nail down my next steps."

The hybrid workforce also presents its own set of challenges to coaching. There’s a sense of inequity that arises when some people are in the office and others are remote. For an employee trying to make their work visible to a manager, a scheduled video call just can’t compete with an impromptu coffee break. Managers may have to consciously take a “remote-first” approach to leading and collaborating.

Besides that, coaching often means moving more slowly than you might when simply delegating. The rewards are great, though: when someone "owns" a game plan, they're more likely to follow through, be engaged, and succeed than when they're told what to do.

There’s an element in trial-and-error in all of this, and managers can save time by "reality-checking" their employees' will and commitment: "That sounds like a great plan. How do you feel about making it happen? What excites you about it? What worries do you still have?"

Finally, a foundation of trust is essential for a manager to coach effectively. By modeling vulnerability, acknowledging effort, and rewarding their people for being forthcoming with feedback, managers can create an environment in which employees feel they can share safely and have productive conversations.

Coaching takes time, but you can think of it as moving slowly to move quickly. The time managers spend listening, providing structure for problem-solving, and encouraging a solutions-oriented approach pays dividends.