When you have delegated something to your team member, and they get stuck – how often do you just tell them what to do so they get unstuck?
I know that this can be really tempting, especially when you are up against time pressure, or a bit of a recovering control freak (like yours truly).
Instead of fixing it, your job as manager is to help them solve the issue, by asking questions to help them get their ideas straight.
Here are some questions you can use …
– What is your concern with this?
– What have you already tried?
– Where have you already looked?
– What options are you considering?
– What is stopping you from pursuing a particular option?
– If you knew you couldn’t fail, what would you try?
– What additional resources (for example, people, materials) do you need to help complete the assignment?
– If we weren’t having this conversation, and you had to make a decision yourself, what would you do next?
– What is your first next step?
What about you? What questions do you ask when you are coaching your team member?