We love when companies do the research and put their money where their mouth is into finding out what works within their organization.
A team of people can sit in a room all they want speculating about their team experience, but getting to the root of it, asking the people who live and breathe it every day – is always something we recommend to our clients or coaches who work with businesses.
That is why when we came across this article about Google’s Project Oxygen we were equal parts excited and curious about the results. Per this article on INC.com – Project Oxygen, Google’s extensive manager study, analyzed more than 10,000 bits of information including performance reviews, surveys, and nominations for top-manager awards and recognition to determine the best practices of its most effective bosses. After the dust settled, Google was left with eight unique qualities. The trait that rose to the top as the most important was “Is a good coach.”
Google’s working community is vast and filled with all age groups – so this is especially important that their research distilled down to the importance of coaching skills within the management team to achieve great results.
The article goes on to share the 8 characteristics of a great coach as one who is:
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Providing timely and specific feedback
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Delivering hard feedback in a motivational and thoughtful way
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Tailoring approaches to meet individual communication styles in regular one-on-one meetings
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Practicing empathetic “active” listening and being fully present
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Being cognizant of your own mindset and that of the employee
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Asking open-ended questions to discover an employee’s acumen
It is also important to note that after this research, Google opted to apply the GROW Model – an acronym standing for (G)oals, (R)eality, (O)ptions and (W)ill – that was developed back in the 1980s by Sir John Whitmore and colleagues to facilitate corporate coaching conversations.
RELATED: Keeping Track of Your Goals and Measuring For Improvement
The article is full of interesting nuggets of information that is applicable in all area of business. Check out the full article here: https://www.inc.com/michael-schneider/google-discovered-top-trait-of-its-most-effective-managers-you-can-develop-it-too.html?cid=search
To your Success,
Jairek Robbins