Coaching & Feedback

Why coaching beats correcting

Most frontline managers default to fixing: see a problem, solve it, move on. It works once and fails forever — the team learns to bring problems instead of solutions. Coaching flips the exchange. Instead of answers, you offer structure, and people build the judgment to solve the next one themselves.

Six to ten minutes, once a week, per person. That's the whole system.

Run GROW in under ten minutes

The GROW model gives a coaching conversation four moves, in order:

• Goal — "What would a win look like by Friday?" Anchor on one specific outcome.
• Reality — "What's actually happening now?" Listen; don't fix yet.
• Options — "What are two ways you could approach it?" Their options first, yours last.
• Way forward — "What will you do, by when, and what do you need from me?"

Timebox it. A GROW conversation that runs past ten minutes has usually turned back into telling.

Deliver feedback with SBI/BI

Feedback lands when it's specific and kind at the same time. Situation–Behavior–Impact keeps it factual; Begin/Improve turns it forward:

• Situation — name the moment: "In yesterday's huddle…"
• Behavior — what you observed, not what you inferred.
• Impact — the effect on the team, the patient, the customer, the shift.
• Begin / Improve — one thing to start, one thing to sharpen. Ninety seconds total.

Make it a rhythm, not an event

Intent doesn't survive a busy week; cadence does. Put a recurring 1:1 on the calendar, track reps with a simple tally, and close every conversation with a three-line recap: decisions, next steps (who/what/when), and the review date. The GROW guide, SBI/BI sheet, and cadence tracker are free downloads.