As a manager in Marketing or IT technology, it’s important to not only develop your team members understanding of technology and performance, it is also important to coach them how to be business-minded technologists.To be truly successful within a business organization, every contributor needs to understand the business. However, this is often lost on your individual contributors, especially within technology fields. And that, I believe, is the manager/directors responsibility. For instance, within the field of web development, each developer or designer or programmer, should think first about the business needs. What are the key drivers for my company’s business success? Perhaps it is lead generation. If so, what is our main demographic? How does our web presence contribute to the goal of improved efficiency of our lead generation? Understanding that will inform your architecture or programming or design. Each team member should think like the business person they ultimately serve.As a leader, you can help break down the KPIs and business model for your teams.Ask business-minded questions in 1:1s with your team members to guage there understanding levelThrough discussion help them articulate those needsHave them state 3 ways the project they are working on will serve the business needsTeach them to evaluate each stakeholder requirement through that lensEncourage them to offer revised solutions that can more effectively address those requirements from a technical perspectiveInvolve you team in higher level discussions of purpose for projectsDirect them to include at least two solutions, one with a short term, faster turn-around and one with a longer-term, but more elegant solution, but both should still focus on the business needs.It may take some time to help your teams fully understand and implement this extra level of thinking, but it will help elevate your team within your organization, and improve the career paths of each of your direct reports.You can watch each of my podcasts on Spotify or YouTube, as well as listen on iHeartRadio and Amazon Music.

An important part of being a manager is communicating regularly with your direct reports. This can be a valuable time to connect with your team members. But for many it ends up being a lost opportunity or a checking-the-box experience. Here are some helpful tips on how to get the most out of your 1:1s: 1. Have a meeting agenda for the appointment. 2. Ask open-ended questions. 3. Seek feedback - Anything we as a team should be paying for attention to? 4. Share your own thoughts to make it okay for them to as well. 5. Listen. 6. Tell them you appreciate their thoughts and take them to heart and will do what they recommend 7. Discuss their career path and professional growth 8. Be conversational, not preachy or HR-like. 9. Be open to talk about fun and interesting things not related to work 10. Discuss coaching tips by talking about something you learned and how it made you better, rather than telling them exactly what to do. Above all, be yourself, be genuine and honest. Trust building takes time, but if you use these tips, not only will you build trusting relationships with your team members, you will also develop your team’s professional abilities. Did I miss any? Let me know in the comments section.

Manager as coach tips:

1. Demonstrate through examples - show them how you do it and talk about why it works

2. Provide feedback on performance - meaningful, not participation ribbon type positive feedback and not overtly harsh or destructive

3. Give opportunities for growth/advancement

4. Create gameplans/strategies to make them successful - play to their strengths

5. Reward them for outstanding performance

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