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google.com/grow

#GrowWithGoogle

Coach Your Team

to Success

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Startups that fail because of people-related issues:

65%

Source: Noam Wasserman, The Founder’s Dilemmas (2013)

When you think about startups failing, you might immediately assume it was a cash flow issue. You could also guess that it was a product or marketing problem. One of the last things many of us might assume is that the failure was related to the company’s people.
But in reality, 65% of startups fail because of people-related issues.
Many startups think about their people and their HR processes after their product and marketing strategy. But in actuality, this could not be more important. This stuff really matters. Nothing is more important than the people you bring on your team to accomplish your dream with you. You can have the most brilliant business idea, and without the right team, it will never work.

[Venture capitalists in one survey attributed 65% of failures within their portfolio to “people issues”, compared to 35% due to product, functional or market problems.]

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AGENDA

LEARN THE SKILLS OF GREAT MANAGERS

Discuss attributes and behaviors observed through research

UNDERSTAND HOW TO COACH YOUR TEAM

Learn when to direct, when to mentor, and when to coach

PROVIDE MEANINGFUL FEEDBACK

Understand how to maximize your team’s potential, performance and development

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Understand what makes �a great manager

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10 ATTRIBUTES OF GOOD MANAGERS

Source: More resources on each attribute at https://rework.withgoogle.com/subjects/managers/

Create an inclusive environment

Empower the team & don’t micromanage

Support career development & discuss�performance

Be a good coach

Be a good communicator

Have a clear vision & strategy for the team

Be productive & results-oriented

Collaborate

Be a strong decision maker

Have key technical skills to advise the team

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Many of you might feel uncomfortable with the idea of managing others, or believe that a talented team will do a good job naturally. But effective management plays a key role in a team's success and, even more important, is one of the strongest reasons for employees to stay with a company - or decide to leave.
So what does this mean for all of you? There are some really basic things, many of which I’m sure you’re already doing, to ensure you are a great manager.
Create an inclusive environment: Are you modeling a respectful and inclusive environment? Are you encouraging everyone to show up as their true authentic selves, and are you supporting your team in good times and in bad?
Empower the team and don’t micromanage: Are you involved in every nitty gritty detail or path your team takes, or do they feel empowered to make decisions, take risks, and innovate on their own?
Support career development and discuss performance: Do you communicate performance expectations clearly? Are you aware of your team’s career goals/dreams? Do you help your team find opportunities and continue to grow in their career and potential?
Be a good coach: Are you providing specific feedback? Are you asking good questions to help your team find solutions and explore options? Are you having regular one-to-ones with each member of your team that include feedback and coaching?
Be a good communicator: Do you encourage open dialogue on your team? Are you responsive and transparent within your team? Are you truthful, and calm, and are you a good listener?
Have a clear vision and strategy for the team: This one is especially important for startups, as people who join you likely join for the vision of your company. So, do you have a compelling vision and strategy that motivates and inspires your team? Did you involve your team in the creation of that vision, and are you able to clearly communicate it?
Be productive and results-oriented: Are you able to translate the vision and strategy into tangible goals, objectives and key results? Are you clear about who owns what? Do you structure your team and allocate resources appropriately? Do you have a diverse team, with different skills, perspectives and experiences?
Collaborate: Are you modeling collaboration across all parts of the team? Do you hold your team accountable for upholding your cultural and team values? Do you contribute to the culture and community of your team by working across functions and locations (when applicable)?
Be a strong decision maker: Are you able to make tough decisions efficiently in a way that is good for your company? Do you clearly communicate that decision (for example, when you get full consensus versus when you make an executive decision as the founder?)
Have key technical skills to help advise the team: Lastly, are you able and willing to roll up your sleeves and actually do work alongside your team? Do you understand the challenges and complexities of the work your team is doing? Are you constantly learning and growing your skills to meet the needs of your business?
So, think about what resonates for you. What do you think you’d like to focus on? Where are you already doing well? Which areas feel like they’re not applicable to you?

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LET’S FOCUS

Create an inclusive environment

Empower the team & don’t micromanage

Support career development & discuss�performance

Be a good coach

Be a good communicator

Have a clear vision & strategy for the team

Be productive & results oriented

Collaborate

Be a strong decision maker

Have key technical skills to advise the team

Source: More resources on each attribute at https://rework.withgoogle.com/subjects/managers/

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WHAT IS COACHING?

Coaching is unlocking a �person's potential to �maximize their own performance. It is helping �them to learn rather than teaching them.

Source: Sir John Whitmore, Coaching for Performance, Third Edition (2002)

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MANAGER CONTINUUM

Individual’s�Ideas & Development

Manager

Shares & Influences

Individual

Decides & Develops

Manager’s

Ideas & Knowledge

TEACHING

TRAINING

MENTORING

COACHING

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But when do we know that it’s the appropriate time to coach?
As a people manager, and leader, one of the most difficult things is knowing when and how to coach. You’re asked to do a lot. You have to teach, train, mentor, and coach. And you have to be able to adjust your approach based on the circumstances, the needs of your team, and the opportunity for growth.
On this chart you’ll see teaching on the far end of the spectrum, where a manager shares their ideas and knowledge. But on the opposite end, in a coaching conversation, the individual being coached is mostly sharing their own ideas, which results in their development.
Of course, as a people manager and leader, there are many times when you’ll still have to be directive - to tell someone exactly what and how to do something. But the more time you can spend on the right side of this continuum, the more you’ll be able to free up yourself, empower your team, and maximize the potential of every person you work with.
Coaching is all the way on the right side of the continuum, because it’s about the individual, or the employee you’re working with. It’s about encouraging their ideas, their development, rather than imparting your own experience or knowledge. This is a chance for you to step outside yourself, take the pressure off, and simply focus on the person you’re coaching.

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Be a good coach for

your team

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How can you begin

coaching today?

Good Listening�I hear you and I see you.

Good Asking �Let’s explore together �what’s underneath.

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Good listening

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LEVELS OF LISTENING

Passive attention
Reconfirming judgments
“Yeah, I got it.”

Focused on facts or objects
Attention oriented to tasks and facts and disconfirming data
“Okay, that makes sense.”

Level 1

Internal Listening

Level 2

Factual & Focused Listening

Level 3

Empathic & Whole Body

Listening

Engages with the feelings, �values, stories, and facts
Attention focused toward �the other
Suspend own agenda
“It sounds to me like �[paraphrase facts and feelings]”

Source: Adapted from Otto Scharmer's model of listening

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Many of you likely already know what it means to be an active listener. To tilt your body toward the person you’re talking to, to nod, make eye contact, etc. But did you know there are different ‘levels’ of listening, that can indicate where your focus is when you’re in conversation?
Level 1 listening is really internal listening. We’ve all done this, and we’ve all been on the receiving end of this kind of ‘listening’. Where someone is talking to you, and you’re nodding and saying, ‘oh yeah, uh huh, of course’ but in your head, you’re reviewing your grocery list, wondering if you remembered to feed your cat, and planning what you’ll eat for dinner. This is a really passive attention, stuck in your own head, and really disengaged from the person you’re with.
Level 2 is factual and focused listening. For example, two colleagues might have a business meeting to work out a new sales process. They are listening closely to each other’s ideas. They are engaged and participating, but the focus is on facts, words, and objects.
Level 3 is truly ‘whole body’ listening and really focuses on bringing empathy into the conversation. You’re engaged in what that person is saying, while also taking in the values and feelings involved in what you’re hearing. Most importantly, you’re truly suspending your own agenda and judgment.
When listening to your team members, levels two and three are where you want to be. Now of course, you’ll slip into level 1. It’s human nature. To say or think “oh that’s happened to me” or to get lost in your own head. But the more you can bring your attention back to the human being in front of you, to listen to their stories without judgment, or a need to paraphrase, or connect it to you, the more fully they will feel seen and heard. This is a hugely powerful tool in coaching!

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Good asking

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ASK OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS

WHY

Info Questions:

WHO, WHEN, WHERE

Best Questions: �WHAT and HOW

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Coaching has so much to do with asking good questions. The good news is, that when you’re coaching, you never need to know the answer! Congratulations! You just get to sit back and ask open-ended questions.
Of course, we really want to avoid yes/no questions in coaching because these questions don’t allow for greater discovery and learning for the coachee.
A great tip for you when you’re in a coaching conversation, or trying to coach your employee, is to ask yourself, am I asking this question for my own ‘information gathering’ or for my coachees’ discovery? If you’re ever asking the question just to gather information on the topic at hand, don’t ask it! You truly don’t need to know anything about the topic when you’re coaching - oftentimes, knowing more makes it more difficult for you to remain unbiased, and to not give advice.
The best types of questions to ask are WHAT and HOW questions because they solicit more thoughtful exploration from the coachee.
Who, when, and where questions can be useful, but usually are more informative and factual based.
We want to steer clear from WHY questions because they can often get people into a defensive place. A great alternative is “how come.”

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A coaching conversation �is active listening.

Why

Am

I

Talking

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GOOD COACHING IN 3 QUESTIONS

What’s happening? �To establish current state.

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What’s most important? �To establish future state.

How do you get there?

To establish the steps �to move toward the �future state.

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Maybe you’re wondering where to start when it comes to asking questions.
Here are some great sample questions you can use to get started coaching.
What’s happening?: This is all about establishing the current state. Coaching is present- and future-focused, so this is about bringing the coachee to the present moment, to understand what’s happening exactly now.
What’s most important?: This is great to get an understanding of what’s most important to the coachee, where they want to go, and to establish that ideal future state.
How do you get there?: This is about laying the groundwork, and having the coachee understand how to take the steps to move toward their ideal future state. Once again, in this place, you don’t need to advise, or tell them what to do. It’s all in their hands!
Good coaching is based on the foundational belief that people are “Naturally creative, resourceful, and whole” which might sound a little woo-woo, but what it really means is that every person you’re working with and coaching has all the solutions and ideas inside them. When you’re coaching, your job is merely to help them uncover those solutions.

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GROW MODEL

Source: The GROW Model was developed by Graham Alexander, Alan Fine, and Sir John Whitmore.

1.

2.

Goal you want

Reality of today

Options for action

Will take these steps

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A great model we can use to begin coaching is the GROW model. This will help you work through a basic coaching framework when you’re working with your team.
The G in Grow stands for “goal you want,” the R: “reality of today,” O: “options for action,” and W: “will take these steps.”
The GROW model (Goal, Reality, Options, and Will) can aid in the natural evolution of a coaching conversation.
The key here is to not rush to the Will - or to the action. Coaching is all about discovery!
You should spend 90% of your time in the Goal, Reality, and Options space, really focusing on the Goal and Reality.
It’s so rare for people to explore options aloud, to dream about their goal, to explore the reality. Coaching is the time for this.
It’s a human tendency to rush toward the solutions, to immediately find the problem, and “fix” it, but if you free yourself from this urge, you can truly help your team explore and grow on their own, without a need to find the solution.

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GROW COACHING MODEL

What have you done so far?

What’s happening in the situation?

How could you learn more?

What do your colleagues say?

How would you rank your priorities?

(If your perspective is welcome, consider feedback on skills / accomplishments, reputation, strengths & weaknesses)

What are steps forward?

What experiments could you try?

What else? What else?

Stretch assignments / big projects / experiences?

Networking options / mentors?

What is the next right step?

What do you want to do?

What is a good deadline for that?

What resources would help?

How can I help? What advocacy would help?

What is a small step forward?

How do you want us to monitor?

How can we track progress?

What is your goal?

What is most important for you?

How can I help?

What is on your mind?

What are your innermost interests and needs?

What does success look like �for you?

What is your ideal outcome?

G(oals)

Ask & listen

R(eality)

Assess give feedback & perspective

O(ptions)

Explore possibilities & experiments

W(ill)

Support planning, connect to resources

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Here are some sample questions for the GROW coaching model that you may find helpful. We have broken out the different categories of the GROW coaching model and applied questions that can guide you in getting started with each phase of the model.
Goals:
What is your goal?
What is most important for you?
How can I help?
What is on your mind?
What are your innermost interests and needs?
What does success look like for you?
What is your ideal outcome?
Reality:
What have you done so far?
What’s happening in the situation?
How could you learn more?
What do your colleagues say?
How would you rank your priorities?
(If your perspective is welcome, consider feedback on skills / accomplishments, reputation, strengths & weaknesses)
Options:
What are steps forward?
What experiments could you try?
What else? What else?
Stretch assignments / big projects / experiences?
Networking options / mentors?
And finally, Will:
What is the next right step?
What do you want to do?
What is a good deadline for that?
What resources would help?
How can I help? What advocacy would help?
What is a small step forward?
How do you want us to monitor?
How can we track progress?

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Coaching case study

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COACHING SCENARIO

Meet Angela and Claire.

Angela is a small business owner, and Claire’s manager. She set up this coaching session because lately Claire has been showing up late to work, unable to focus and seems generally unhappy and stressed.

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As a manager, you may have been faced with situations on your team where one member in particular who was once a high performer makes a total shift in their performance and overall demeanor.
In our mock scenario, Angela is the owner of a local coffee shop. One of Angela’s store managers, Claire, is displaying behavior that seems out of the ordinary for her. Angela has addressed these concerns in a more formal performance review and Claire responded that she will try harder. Because not much change has resulted from those conversations, Angela decides to sit down with Claire for a coaching session. Angela chooses a quiet, informal, private place to have this coaching conversation and greets Claire with a warm and welcoming smile. Coaching conversations should be designed to put the coachee at ease. The more comfortable they are, the more likely they are to open up about their challenges and goals.
Let’s look at some of the questions Angela may decide to ask Claire during their coaching session.

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COACHING SCENARIO

Goal you want

Reality of today

Options for action

Will take these steps

Source: The GROW Model was developed by Graham Alexander, Alan Fine, and Sir John Whitmore.

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Using the GROW model, Angela may start with asking Claire to discuss her goals and desires for her role. Through a series of questioning and active listening, Angela may learn that Claire actually just graduated from a part-time graduate school where she was studying marketing. She has a deep passion for design, and would like to utilize those skills, but her demanding management role at the coffee shop doesn’t allow for much extra time for creativity.
As Angela moves into some reality questions, she also learns that Claire is caring for an ill family member at home and the hours that she keeps at the coffee shop make it difficult for her to juggle her personal duties.
Sometimes she is late for work because she has to arrange for extra help at home, or has to take her family member to doctor’s visits.
The stress of her home situation often carries over to her work and affects her mood with the baristas and customers.
From this example, Angela has learned that some assumptions she made about Claire’s performance issues were totally wrong. The concerns have everything to do with Claire’s motivation for the type of work she is doing, and a challenging personal situation.
As Angela moves through the questions related to options and steps to move forward, she learns that Claire has some great ideas for marketing the coffee shop. Angela knows that her marketing is lacking and she really needs some extra support in that area.
Together, Angela and Claire come up with a plan for Claire to do some marketing work for the coffee shop at home during the day so she can care for her ill family member. Angela also gives Claire the option to work more evening hours to give her more flexibility to be home for doctors appointments.
Angela and Claire commit to meeting every other week for more coaching to discuss her progress with the new responsibilities and any changing needs in her home life.
Had this coaching conversation never taken place, Claire may have sought out a marketing position elsewhere, and Angela may have made assumptions about Claire’s work ethic or focus when she was merely stretched too thin due to caring for her family member in need.
Coaching can help us to creatively problem-solve, and to be a bit more human as well.

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Help your team grow

through feedback

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Keeping the balance

Good

Not good

Good

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Feedback and how to say it

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SBI FORMULA FOR FEEDBACK

Situation - Describe the situation�

Behavior - The behavior (what they did)�

Impact - And the impact of that behavior, �then discuss and clarify, create options, �agree on next steps

Tip: �Link the impact to something they care about, �e.g. critical business goal, personal development goal, etc.

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Have you ever heard the old adage, it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it? Well, approach is everything when it comes to feedback. If you deliver feedback in an ineffective way, it could have a negative impact on the morale of your team, their development, their trust in you, and their commitment to your company.
This is where approach really matters. You need to find a style that works for you, but here is a framework we recommend to ensure your feedback is grounded, action-oriented, and truly aimed to develop your team, not criticize them.
Your feedback should always start with the Situation - exactly when did you see this happening (avoid generalizations, be as specific as possible).
Move to the Behavior you observed - what did they do/say?
Lastly, and most importantly, is the Impact - what’s the impact of the behavior, or in other words, what’s the purpose of providing this feedback.
Once you move through this framework, you can work with your team member to clarify any questions, create options, and agree on next steps.

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SBI FORMULA FOR FEEDBACK

	Situation	Behavior	Impact
A	In the coffee shop this morning,	You went above �and beyond to accommodate a customer with special needs.	The customer later contacted management to show appreciation for how supported they felt.
B	When the store got busy during the rush hour,	You didn’t perform �or delegate out our important cleaning protocol.	This puts our customers and �staff at risk.

Motivational

Developmental

Source: The SBI Model was developed by Center for Creative Leadership

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Here are some examples of what the SBI framework looks like in action, using the example of Angela’s coffee shop from our case study. I encourage you to think about the kind of situation you may face as a manager in your business, startup or workplace.
Situation: When the store got busy during the rush hour:
Behavior: You went above and beyond to accommodate a customer with special needs.
And the impact was: The customer later contacted management to show appreciation for how supported they felt.
That’s great, positive feedback!
Now let’s look at another scenario.
Same situation: the store was busy during rush hour
The behavior being addressed: you didn’t perform or delegate an important cleaning protocol. (like mopping up a spilled coffee on the floor)
And the impact: it puts our customers and staff at risk.
This is meant to be developmental/constructive feedback

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SUMMARY

Mindset for giving feedback: It is always positive because it shows you care about their success.

Try using the steps - preparation is key.

Be yourself - authentic and honest.

Adapt the conversation to your style and to your direct report’s style.

Share more positive/motivational feedback than developmental (5 to 1).

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Recap

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10 ATTRIBUTES OF GOOD MANAGERS

Create an inclusive environment

Empower the team & don’t micromanage

Support career development & discuss� performance

Be a good coach

Be a good communicator

Have a clear vision & strategy for the team

Be productive & results-oriented

Collaborate

Be a strong decision maker

Have key technical skills to advise the team

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2

3

4

5

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9

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Source: More resources on each attribute at https://rework.withgoogle.com/subjects/managers/

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GROW MODEL

1.

2.

Goal

Goal you want

Reality

Reality of today

Options

Options for action

Will

Will take these steps

1.

2.

3.

4.

Source: The GROW Model was developed by Graham Alexander, Alan Fine, and Sir John Whitmore.

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SBI FORMULA FOR FEEDBACK

	Situation	Behavior	Impact
A	In the coffee shop this morning,	You went above �and beyond to accommodate a customer with special needs.	The customer later contacted management to show appreciation for how supported they felt.
B	When the store got busy during the rush hour,	You didn’t perform �or delegate out our important cleaning protocol.	This puts our customers and �staff at risk.

Motivational

Developmental

Source: The SBI Model was developed by Center for Creative Leadership

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Resources

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KEEP LEARNING ON YOUTUBE

Check out the Grow with Google YouTube Channel for expert tips to grow your skills, career, or business.

Quick Tip:

Subscribe on YouTube

YouTube.com/GrowWithGoogle

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GOOGLE CAREER CERTIFICATES

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For teachers and students

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Thank You

Share your feedback

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#GrowWithGoogle

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