Five Step Approach to a Coaching Session

There are many skills that impact becoming an exceptional supervisor, however, none of them could compare to developing effective coaching skills.

Coaching is a powerful approach to developing employees. Coaching focuses on improving job skills and knowledge and confirming the results meet expectations. Supervisors and managers need to routinely coach – at least monthly. Coach employees on new techniques to make their job performance improve or when regulations change, for instance. Coaching encourages employees to evaluate their performance, reinforces satisfactory performance, and can be an outstanding tool for improving productivity and behavior. Because coaching focuses on communication and ensuring ongoing feedback, employees generally value the approach.

Differences in employees, tasks, and circumstances make every coaching discussion you have unique. Some discussions will be long and complex; others, short, covering a single topic. However, every coaching discussion should follow an approach that ensures that the practical need to understand and accomplish the goal of the meeting is met.

Whatever types of coaching interactions you have, you can put this 5 step approach to work for you.

 

1. Launch

The launch sets the stage for the discussion and provides focus. It is the time to cover the discussion’s purpose and why it is important to everyone involved and to the task at hand.

• State the purpose and importance of the discussion.
• Review or create an agenda.
• Find out if the employee has topics to add to the agenda.

 

2. Explore

This is the fact-finding step.

• Review background information.
• Raise issues and concerns.
• Don’t jump to conclusions.

 

3. Develop

Explore appropriate topics by asking questions and sharing ideas to help the employee determine the best way to goal achievement.

• Develop and explore alternative solutions or actions.
• Ask questions.
• Challenge assumptions.

4. Agree

Before closing the discussion, it is important to check for agreement.

• Agree on solutions.
• Summarize – this is the job of the employee to confirm understanding and clarify who has agreed to do what by when.
• Provide encouragement, but make sure the other person remains responsible for taking action.

5. Conclude

• Make sure all follow-up dates (for taking action, reviewing progress, continuing the coaching discussions, etc.) have been set.
• Document the summary, any agreements and all follow-up actions.
• Express confidence regarding the employee taking the action agreed upon.

Put this 5 step approach to work for you as you elevate your effectiveness in coaching others. You will be glad you did!

Still learning,

Honey

Take Your Professionalism Up a Notch

Ever noticed how some people light up a room when they walk in or how some others might light up a room by walking out of it?  How you light up a room will have much to do with your managerial presence.  Successful lead managers/supervisors encourage an atmosphere that demonstrates they and others deserve attention and respect.

To effectively manage your life, diligently seek new insights, stimulation, and intellectual and emotional development.  Never stop learning.  Keep the student in you learning.  Self-development is good for you and for your workplace.  Make the tiniest adjustments every day and soon you will be significantly improved.

“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. 

Anyone who keeps learning stays young.”

-Henry Ford

Stay on Top of Current Events

To sound intelligent, you must have something intelligent to say. Read newspapers, magazines and industry-related publications to stay current with what is happening in the industry.

Seek out Training Opportunities

Improve Your Vocabulary

It is almost impossible to have a polished, professional image with a poor vocabulary.  Attend classes on communication skills, have someone you trust critique pronunciation, diction, use of grammar, etc.  Use a thesaurus when you write.  Learn a new word a day.

Study Positive Role Models

When you meet someone you admire, study his or her style, speech, dress, and ideas.  Look for what you can use.

Fight the fear and project poise when confronted by persons who intimidate you.  Breathe, breathe, breathe...  Focus on your strengths.  Make your self-talk positive.  Recite affirmations.

Engage in Self-Assessment

Video and audiotape yourself. 

Listen to the message you leave on voice mail.

 

Ask for feedback from a mentor or someone you trust. 

Buy a full-length mirror and view yourself every day before leaving for work.

If you’re not the expert seek the advice of one. 

Learn what you need to know and don’t pretend to be someone you’re not.

Value and honor the expertise in others.

Observe what goes into persuasive presentations and adopt the tactics that feel right for you.

Safeguard Your Value/Power

Power and value are synonymous in business.  Our value (power) is realized by our competency when delivered by a self-control method.  When we choose to move away from self-control, the only thing that gets questioned is our competency.  Managers or supervisors that shout, berate, rant and rave, or demand lose power (value) within the organization.

The key to achieving self-management competency is establishing a strong sense of self-control.

Learn and use healthy boundaries.

Say what you mean and mean what you say.

Don’t react when you are too mad, too glad, or too sad.

Take note of how your emotions “act out.” 

Still learning,

Honey

The Bank Teller & The Bank Secrecy Act

Since inception, the Bank Secrecy Act’s impact on the teller position has been, in large part, about complying with the regulation’s requirement to report and/or maintain information on certain cash transactions.  Your financial institution will provide you with required Bank Secrecy Act training.  Use this checklist to verify your expertise.

Bank Secrecy Act Checklist for Tellers
Question	Yes/No
The teller can explain how BSA impacts work on the teller line
The teller is aware of who at the company can provide guidance on BSA
Training has been provided for the teller on the following:
·        The distinction between placing a hold and sending an item for collection
·        The company’s Customer Identification Program (CIP)
·        Rules that impact cash transactions specifically:
$3,000 Monetary Instruments rule
Greater than $10,000 Currency Transactions rule
Suspicious Structuring of Cash
How to complete work expected of the teller that relates to the rules
How to discuss following the rules, when applicable, with the customer
How to handle uncooperative customers when obtaining required information for BSA reporting
Identifying and reporting suspicious activity for any combination of transactions that are not “the norm”

This is just an example of the types of training tools you will find in our Essential Teller Issues manual.  Click right here, right now,  to order one for each of your tellers.  Train them, coach them and raise the bar on the teller line!

Still learning,

Honey

Training Bank Tellers - Detecting Kiting

Check kiting is a form of fraud involving moving theoretical funds between two or more checking accounts.  A check written to the criminal from one bank is deposited, and more importantly credited, to an account at a second bank. Because that second bank now shows a positive balance, the criminal can withdraw enough money to deposit back into the first bank before the check bounces for lack of funds.

This form of check kiting may seem to be too complicated for such a small payoff, but flipping the funds back and forth between accounts can buy the criminal enough time to generate real money to cover any other outstanding checks.

Some people have been known to use this method, called payday kiting, when several checks on an overdrawn account may come due before a paycheck or other regular funds can be deposited. The payday kiting scheme depends on the bank's delay between receipt of deposits and checks and their eventual processing, also known as "float time."

When kiting takes place, the financial institution stands at risk.  If a kite goes undetected, the account holder may have numerous financial institutions involved.  When the kite stops "working," usually the last institution involved experiences a loss.

Here are steps to take to determine kiting and minimize risk:

Tighten the review process on all funds deposited by an account holder that include any item drawn on other banks that the depositor is the maker of the item, even if it involves a cashier’s checks or money orders where the remitter is the account holder.

Tellers are to alert management anytime

• The size or frequency of these types of items exceed a certain conservative amount
• When a quick review of the depositor’s account indicate withdrawals and deposits that are for the same amount.

 Place special instructions on the account to alert other tellers.

Contact the other institution(s) involved to confirm the funds are available, if not, refuse the check or send the check for collection.

Alert the compliance officer of suspicious activity.

Financial institutions lose millions of dollars annually as a result of kiting schemes.  The strongest method for deterring or stopping kiting is observant, alert tellers, and the aid of the computer to detail a list of all items presented for payment that are drawn against uncollected funds.

The institution would be well-advised to purchase "watch dog" software that overviews all potential kiting or to have a kite-watch procedure where all "not on us" items of an established amount (i. e., $5,000 or more) are placed in a review bin so a designated deposit review person gives these items a second look.  Centralizing the effort allows a few "specialists" to become very familiar with depositors moving money from one institution to another, amounts, frequency, etc.  Also, this approach allows tellers to work efficiently and reduces the need to slow transactions down delaying the account holder at the window, as well as others in line.

Stay tuned - more to come on training tellers. 

Still learning,

Honey

Building Success at the Branch - Part 1

Building a highly successful branch requires serious thought, research, questions, answers and decisions to shape and layout your strategy.  No doubt the struggle for success is execution.  Ideas are everywhere, strategies are abundant, but the lack of execution is what stalls building a high performing branch.  You have homework, you must do the dig.  So here we go.

Every branch must have an owner.  The owner has a clear understanding of what is expected and has created a plan on how to deliver.  All efforts, results, and any issue that impacts the branch is the responsibility for the branch leader.  When ownership is a committee it will move like one – slow, clumsy, no one is sure who really needs to make it happen. 

What do both executive management and the strategic plan expect from the branch?  A realistic, stretch-oriented, measurable approach has to come into play for every branch.  What will you use to be able to say at the end of the year, “We did it!”?

How are the branches structured?   A glaring weakness often is leadership for the branch manager. Sometimes, the manager reports to two supervisors such an operations/branch administration person and the other a branch president.  This can create fear, confusion and conflicting direction.  Who is accountable for how successful the branch manager executes?  Coaching is required for branch managers so they can embrace expectations, receive guidance, encouragement and accountability.  They will learn how to coach best by being coached.

check out our website for tools, 

free newsletter, articles, training calendar 

we can help you build a high performing branch

www.interaction-training.com

What do your job descriptions look like at the branch level and how current are they?  What are the expectations of each member of the branch team?  Job descriptions and performance plans are how managers and direct reports know who is responsible for what.  Keep expectations clear, current and the focus of coaching.

This is the first in a series of how to build a high performing branch, more on this in a few days…

Still learning,

Honey

From One of Them to Supervisor

Many times a promotion is bitter sweet.  Especially, when you are on a team and then promoted to being the supervisor of that very team.  You are elated that your hard work has paid off and excited to be named a leader but others on the team thought they were just as deserving as you.  You can see a caution light flashing in your future.

 

How do you make the best possible transition from team member to supervisor?   What needs to happen to ensure success?

• Ask leadership to stage a transition meeting with you and the team to prepare for the change.  In the meeting best practices for how a team can work well together are explored, explained and all participants write out and share what they plan to do to ensure the team can work successfully.  Each person speaks only in “I” statements.

• Work on building a plan for how you will gauge progress and measure success for the team; ask for input and ideas from each member.

• Meet one-on-one with each team member to tell them what they can count on from you and invite them to share any concerns or suggestions they have.  Prepare yourself for this meeting and practice being a non-defensive listener.  If you receive unkind or hard to hear information, ask tough questions like “how can we get past obstacles”.  When the team member claims they can’t get past or around challenges, suggest they think about it for a few days and you will follow up with them.  Ask them to Google for ideas and suggestions and bring you what they find.

• When people say hurtful things to you, ask them not to.  When others on the team share things they have been told or have heard about you, ask them not to share anything others say about you.  Establish a boundary that you only deal face-to-face with anyone that wants to share their opinion of you.

•  Keep the focus on the facts and self-check often how things are going.

• Give people who are having a hard time with the transition some time, then check back in with them.

• Find peers you highly respect and ask for direction and suggestions on how to make the transition from a team member to becoming a supervisor.

Hang tough with a smile on your face and an open door.  Establish boundaries; don’t let anyone grab a fire extinguisher and douse your fire and passion about your new position.

Still learning,

Honey

Five Best Practices for Branch Managers

How do we get others to do what we want them to do?  As a branch manager your job requires you to set expectations for performance; communicate those expectations, and monitor and evaluate the performance. Try these five best practices to promote excellence at your branch. 

1. You engage your team in a discussion of the quality of the work to be done and the time needed to do it so that they have a chance to add their input.  Continuously, you make a constant effort to fit the job to the skills and the needs of the workers.
2. You or a worker you have designated shows or models the job so that the worker who is to perform the job can see exactly what is expected.  At the same time, the workers are continually asked for their input as to what they believe may be a better way.
3. You ask the workers to inspect or evaluate their own work for quality, with the understanding that you are willing to accept that they know a great deal about how to produce high-quality work and will therefore listen to what they say.
4. You act as a facilitator in that you show workers that you have done everything possible to provide your team with the best tools and workplace as well as a non-coercive, non-adversarial atmosphere in which to do the job.
5. You routinely provide 20 minute coaching sessions to every member on your team to encourage excellence and to allow the employee to share their findings about inspecting and evaluating their own work.

    Want your staff to meet, even exceed, expectations?  Put these best practices to work!

    Still learning, 

    Honey

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More Cross-Selling Tips for Bankers

Prepare for Objections

When timing is good always find out what the customers objections, concerns or reservations are when you suggest a product or service.  Gentle probing will help you and your company in several ways:

When you know why the customer won’t buy you can share more information or clarify facts.

When customer’s resist or don’t perceive a product is valuable the company needs to be aware of how frequently that is happening.  It could be pricing or product features need to be adjusted.

Remember these tips when preparing for anticipated objections.

·         Don’t take "no" as an answer every time.  When it seems right, find out why a customer objects to a product or service.

Mrs. Lewis, tell me about your reservations.

·         Restate what they said and encourage more conversation

You just don’t feel comfortable paying bills online, tell me more about that.

·         Encourage the customer to share about their opinion, concerns or experience.

Tell me more about that.

·         Use the feel, felt, found formula:

I understand how you feel. Other customers have told me they felt that way. Let me share with you what they found out.

Put these tips to work for you as you develop the skills of effective cross-selling.  For more information on this topic, click here for free tools and articles in our web store.

Still learning,

Honey

What Stage is Your Team In? Teamwork Series

The Team Handbook*, says that teams go through four predictable stages of growth as they learn to work together effectively.  Key word here is "effectively."

Stage 1:  Forming

When a team is first organized or when there is a change up in who is on the team or who leads the team, forming will be the best way to describe the team.

At this stage, team members are exploring the boundaries of acceptable group behavior and trying to establish their position and status with the team.  While being somewhat excited about the opportunity to be on a team or reorganizing a team, they may be suspicious and anxious about how everything will work.  It is perfectly normal at this stage to see little progress, as the team may complain about the purpose of the team and are inclined to get stuck in discussions that end up nowhere.  Impatience and frustration are common symptoms of members on the team in this stage.

Stage 2:  Storming

At this stage the team members are beginning to realize that the task and responsibilities of the team are different and more difficult than first imagined.  Some may become impatient with the lack of progress and begin to vocalize their ideas and resist the need to collaborate. Others might simply withdraw as discussions may start to heat up.  They are beginning to understand one another and realize how the differences in personalities, agendas and communication style are going to impact them.  Storming takes on many different faces, but it is part of the predictable process of a team trying to work together.  Sometimes a team stays in stuck in storming and has a low success rate.

Stage 3:  Norming

This is the stage when team members are accepting the individuality of each person, beginning to trust the ground rules to keep equality in the process, and realizing that competitiveness must give way to cooperation.  They begin to look forward to the contribution of the others on the team as a sense of team spirit and dedication to a common goal unfolds.  With this shift in team energy, they begin to make significant progress.

Stage 4:  Performing

Team members now have insights into personal and group processes.  They recognize, and even anticipate, how they can each contribute to the mission.  They quickly identify and resolve interpersonal communication problems.  They develop a synergy that enables rapid progress.

What stage is your team in?  Encourage and lead the team to the performing stage!  For your free copy of a Team Effectiveness Survey, email honey@interaction-training.com.

Still learning, 

Honey

*Scholtes, Peter R. and other contributors, The Team Handbook.  Madison, WI: Joiner Associates, Inc. 1988

The New Supervisor

It can be both exciting and nerve racking when you are named the new supervisor.  Along with learning the ropes there can be prevailing issues you face from the start.  Perhaps the former supervisor is on your team.  That will present a challenge with boundaries and everyone will go through an adjustment period.  Maybe you and several others on what is now your team were considered for the promotion and now that you’ve been named there are hurt feelings and resentments.

The key to your long term success will be tied to your ability to establish boundaries and to create a plan targeted to helping you and your team focus on what needs to be accomplished. 

Learn all you can about setting healthy boundaries.  Be caring, firm and consistent.  Recognize that it does take time for people to adjust to change and encourage people to talk to you directly about what they are thinking and feeling.  You will need to set up private meetings with each person on the team in the beginning to solicit feedback and convey your interest in the success of each person and the team as a whole.  That is a best practice you should consider continuing monthly and incorporating coaching as a part of the meeting.

Determine what success with your team looks like – inquire about this with your manager and with the team.  If we are very successful over the next year what would we have accomplished?  You will want to construct a plan with input from others and zero in on what the strategies must be to accomplish the objectives.  Monthly analysis where you are with the plan and make adjustments and increase effort where it is needed to stay on track.

Still learning,

Honey