Do you know Know When and How to Give Answers Without Hijacking a conversation?
You can do your job better by drawing out the best in others at work. Sometimes you can trigger others’ thoughts by supplying some ideas of your own. When used deliberately and sparingly, giving a PBC answers can actually help him or her move forward without hijacking the coaching conversation or turning it into a consulting conversation.
Definition
Hijacking is coaching jargon for turning the agenda from focusing on the PBC to focusing on you. In this case, the hijacking would focus on you as the expert. Once the conversation is hijacked, it is very hard to turn the focus back to the PBC.
When to Give Answers in Coaching
Sometimes you’ll need to provide answers in the middle of a coaching conversation. Here are some situations where it might be appropriate to give answers:
- You participate in brainstorming with the PBC.
- You know the PBC knows you have some ideas or opinions on the matter and you want to preserve his or her trust.
- You feel certain that the PBC will give your information the same weight as his or her own ideas and will take action on them with the same enthusiasm.
How to Give Answers in Coaching
Once you decide to give answers, do so sparingly. Offer your ideas with humility, making sure the PBC knows your ideas are just one opinion and not the fail-proof answer.
When you are in a brainstorming conversation with a PBC, make sure that you do not offer the first suggestion. Also make sure that you don’t offer most of the ideas. Hold back and let the PBC make the first–and most–contributions.
Of course, sometimes you have to give answers because of your role in the company–you may be the boss, for instance. In a couple of weeks we will talk about how to switch between coaching and other roles where giving answers is more appropriate than asking questions.
