Coaching For Better Delegation

Obviously you can’t just say to a team member, ‘Here is a new task, it’s now yours, go away and get on with it.’ You need to prepare the ground and ensure that the team member is in a good position to accept the new tasks that you would like them to take on. You must try to find out why anyone is reluctant to take on a new work task. To be an effective delegator you need to be aware of how your coaching skills can smooth the path for the person to whom you are delegating. This delegated work should always represent an opportunity for genuine advancement in terms of skill and responsibility.

Coaching is the art of improving the performance of others. It attempts to close the gaps between an individual’s present level of performance and the desired one. It is a continuous process of setting goals and then helping get them achieved. One useful model to use in goal setting is the GROW model:

• Define the performance Goals.
• Understand the Reality of what is going on at the moment.
• Explore the Options for achieving the goals.
• Agree When the tasks will be done.
• Implement the agreed actions.
• Feedback on how things went.

This process should take place whenever you interact on a formal basis with your team. You will also need to decide the most appropriate way to coach different team members. Initially some will need to be directed more than others, but the long-term aim should be to let employees do most of the talking so that they set their own goals and find their own solutions. They are likely to be more committed than others who may have been more closely directed by you.

The hospitality industry has always championed practical skills rather than academic learning. To be a top performer you need to be able to influence others and be sensitive to their feelings, whether these are your colleagues or your guests. These issues of ‘emotional intelligence’ rather than ‘academic intelligence’ were highlighted by Daniel Goleman in his 1996 book Emotional Intelligence – why it can matter more than IQ. He contends that people with emotional intelligence are:

• Self-aware: People who are self-aware know how they feel and how they are likely to react in any given situation.
• Self-regulated: People who are self-regulated are able to accept and manage their own feelings. They work well within teams and develop good working relationships. They remain in control when conflicts arise and encourage staff to do the same. They recognise their own limitations and their need for a sensible work/life balance.
• Motivated: People who are motivated have the desire to excel for themselves and the hotel. The skill is to link their desire to succeed to improving your hotel’s service.

You can help yourself and your team to improve everyone’s emotional intelligence by collectively reflecting on your experiences and learning from them. You need to be willing and able to give and receive feedback that helps you all see yourselves through other people’s eyes. Your team members can then be encouraged to take responsibility for their own results and pursue challenging goals. This requires quite a high level of self-confidence and skill on the part of a manager but is really the key to progressing from delegation to empowerment.