Invest your coaching time and energy wisely

You have only so much time and energy to devote to all your managerial responsibilities—including coaching. To make the most of those limited resources, be judicious in how much of them you allocate to coaching. These guidelines can help:

• Know when to coach and when not to coach. If an employee is completely unaware of a behavior or performance problem, coaching at this juncture may not be the best use of your time.
  For example, if one of your direct reports writes wordy, hard-to-read reports but isn't aware that this is a problem, it might make more sense to raise the issue with the person and then give him or her an opportunity to address it independently. If the individual fails to take corrective actions, coaching may then be necessary. 
• Delegate coaching when possible. Some coaching situations may be candidates for delegation.
  For instance, a peer or another employee in your group may be able to provide more expertise or better coaching than you can for a particular performance problem or skills gap. If so, consider delegating—you'll conserve your time and energy, provide a developmental opportunity to the delegated coach, and help the employee in question improve.
  To illustrate, if a direct report wants to learn how to write better technical reports, ask a technical writer on your staff if she would like to coach him. If you choose to delegate coaching, however, ensure that the delegated coach assumes responsibility for the outcome.