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Is the manager necessarily the best person to coach his/her people?

In our opinion, there is no straightforward answer to this because it really does depend on the balance of a number of different factors including:

Skills: Does the manager have the skills and knowledge to be a good coach? Often an assumption is made, mistakenly, that if you are a good manager you will also be a good coach but this is not always the case as the skills sets are distinctly different.

The solution: Coaching offers a flexible approach to developing an individual, but it is not necessarily the best nor the only solution. A careful and objective appraisal of the situation or problem should take place before a decision to coach is reached. Other methods of learning and development may be more suited to the individual or meet their needs more effectively.

Time: Managers simply don’t always have the time to do all of the coaching and therefore when they attempt to do so the coaching may be less effective than if the individual had been coached by someone else who could give them quality time (assuming they have the skills to coach).

Different Learning Needs: People have different learning preferences and therefore the learning solutions should relate to their needs if you want to maximise the effectiveness of any interaction. Imposing coaching on people who are not receptive to this type of learning may lead to the problem growing rather than being addressed.

Keeping up to date: There may be other people within the team or organisation or you may have access to resources that will provide an individual with the learning or information they require. It is not always possible for the manager to keep up to date on every topic that his/her team may need to know about- what is important is that the manager knows where they can get assistance.

Feedback: There is evidence which suggests that peers often know more about their colleagues than the managers. They often work more closely and are therefore more likely to know their strengths and weaknesses, concerns or issues, preferences etc.

So before jumping into the ‘Coaching Role’ it may be worth asking yourself whether you are the best person to do the coaching or is it the right solution and approach to use on a particular individual?