Would you call these coaching?
- Asking an employee, "What do you think went well?" after they lead a meeting.
- Debriefing a project to discuss key lessons and what to adjust next time.
- Checking in on what an employee is learning during a stretch assignment.
- Helping an employee map out how to use a new skill right after completing a course.
Spoiler: It absolutely is.
Many supervisors wouldn't describe these conversations as coaching. Many employees wouldn't either. When the Employee Engagement Survey asks whether managers "coach for development," employees often picture formal sessions, executive coaches, or conversations that happen only when someone is struggling. Yet every example above is coaching in action. The common thread? They all help someone learn from experience and improve performance.
As leadership expert David Peterson puts it, coaching is simply “equipping people with the tools, knowledge, and opportunities they need to develop themselves and become more effective.”
That definition broadens how we think about coaching. Rather than treating coaching as a standalone event, supervisors can begin to spot and use the growth opportunities already built into the daily routine.
Coaching happens in the flow of work
Much of a supervisor's coaching happens in the moment, while work is happening. A conversation after a meeting. A quick check-in following a presentation. A discussion about how a project unfolded. These interactions may last only a few minutes, but they can have a lasting impact when they help employees learn from their experiences. One way to think about coaching is through the relationship between feedback and learning:
- Feedback helps employees understand what happened and creates awareness. "In yesterday's meeting, I noticed you jumped ahead before a few colleagues finished their thoughts, which cut off some of the discussion."
- Coaching builds on that feedback by helping employees think about what they'll do next. "In yesterday's meeting, I noticed you jumped ahead before a few colleagues finished their thoughts, which cut off some of the discussion. How might you structure the meeting next time to ensure everyone gets a chance to share?"
It is important to note that asking a question is not, by itself, coaching. A supervisor can ask, "What would you do differently?" and still rush the answer, steer the employee toward a predetermined conclusion, or never revisit the commitment. Coaching requires genuine curiosity and a willingness to let employees think through their own responses. The goal is to help them develop their own judgment, not simply arrive at the manager's answer.
Seeing coaching differently
Supervisors often worry that coaching requires more time than they have or specialized expertise they don't possess. In reality, many are already coaching without calling it that.
The opportunity for supervisors is to become more intentional about those moments because employees grow through the work they do every day. As a supervisor, one of your most important roles is helping them recognize what they're learning and how to apply it to where they want to go next.
