Line management

Line management is the art of getting the best out of people to achieve an objective and therefore an effective line manager may employ the other roles outlined above as appropriate to the situation. Much has been written about the role of the line manager in coaching. Current thinking seems to suggest that an effective line manager will coach his or her team members as and when this is required. We think that what line managers are actually being asked to adopt is a coaching style , rather than necessarily do the coaching. A coaching style is one where individual development is encouraged, through whichever means is appropriate for that individual, team and organization “ it is a style which is able to adapt and be flexible to changing needs. An effective manager, therefore, is one who recognizes that a development need exists and knows whether or not he or she is the right person to conduct the coaching (when coaching is chosen to fulfill the need). If that manager is not the right person, he or she may choose someone else in the team or organization or look externally for a coach.

Indicators that the line manager will not be an effective coach are:

• There is not a good relationship between the line manager and the individual.

• Relationships within the organization are formal and laid down by procedure and hierarchy.

• The line manager is still developing his or her coaching skills and the situation does not lend itself to being used for ˜practising .

• The work of the department would make it difficult for both coach and coachee to allocate time to the coaching.

• The coachee would value or benefit from third party involvement.

A key fault with some coaching schemes is that they ask line managers to become coaches without first checking whether these individuals believe in, and understand, development.

Figure 1.4: The relationship of coaching to training, mentoring, counselling and line management