Problem
Role Play Scenario Imagine you are the Operations Manager at a medium-sized manufacturing company. Due to the respect and trust you have built with your operations team of five people, you have also gained influence, which makes you a leader. You believe your team has great potential but given the changing and complex environment in which you are working in, your team's knowledge and skills have become somewhat dated. The lack of professional development opportunities over the past few years is a result of budget cuts and reduced workforce. These changes have resulted in lower performance and team morale. You are looking for ways to upgrade the skills of your team and motivate them in the process. One method in which you decide to upgrade your team's skills is coaching. Specifically, Cony, one of your high performing team members, would benefit from receiving your coaching. As you have gotten to know Cony in working with her over the past two years, you have realized that you have similar career goals. Cony has indicated to you that she respects your career success and has a desire to be the Operations Manager when you leave the position. Cony is a hard worker and consistently goes above and beyond the expectations of her role to ensure the team's success. Also, Cony is very organized. As the machining scheduler for the company, Cony plans which pieces of equipment will be used to produce which parts, and during what times. Her job is complex as she tries to meet the requests for machines from a variety of project managers. She has made two scheduling decisions over the past year that have resulted in a loss of productivity due to the machine run-time not being maximized. Other than these two instances, she has been accurate in her scheduling. Despite her strengths, Cony has struggled to earn the respect of the other operations team members. You have noted that sometimes Cony is not invited to social gatherings after work, which are planned by her team members. About a month ago, you overheard two of Cony's team members talking to each other in the break room, stating that they find her to be bossy and over assertive. When you overheard that, you did recall a meeting that you had with Cony in which you suggested to her that her machining schedule for the upcoming week seemed to have a couple inefficiencies in it. Cony said that she could look it over, but that she knew what she was doing, and was certain her schedule was the best it could be. On another occasion, just two weeks ago, one of Cony's colleagues, Sam, presented an idea for rearranging the furniture in the break room. Immediately, Cony stated that the idea would not work because it would be too difficult to move around the room. You noticed that Sam, who is usually shy to share her ideas, got red in the face and then left the room. You perceived Sam's behaviour to indicate that she was embarrassed. Cony carried on stating a number of other reasons why Sam's idea would not work. The room got quite and no one else shared their opinion. Despite these experiences with Cony, you recognize that she is a dedicated, talented, and valued team member. Cony has shared with you that she likes to be a leader and hopes to be the Operations Manager when you leave the role.
You value Cony, have a positive rapport with her, and see potential in her. You believe you are well suited to provide Cony with coaching.
Task
Prepare a script for your first coaching conversation with Cony.
Write the script from the first-person. This means that you will write the script as if you are actually the Operations Manager and you will actually read the script in your meeting with Cony.
Although feedback conversations are interactive, it is important to prepare a script, or talking points, prior to meeting with someone, particularly if you are planning to provide feedback.
Write the script as closely to how you would speak with Cony as possible.
You can include narration, using square brackets [...]. For example, if you want to insert a comment or thought, without it being included in the script that you would read when talking with Cony, you can do so.
In your script, utilize specific information from the role play scenario.