In this blog, we explore how introducing an employee coaching cadence can unleash the full potential of your team. We look at how you can set one up and share an example.

What is a coaching cadence?

A coaching cadence (or coaching rhythm) refers to the structured frequency of coaching interactions between a coach and the person being coached.

You can think of it as a pattern of regular coaching sessions, check-ins, huddles and other touchpoints that provide an opportunity to reflect on and track progress towards goals. These interactions provide ongoing support, feedback and accountability.

When these interactions are conducted regularly and consistently – think daily, weekly or even fortnightly – it creates an environment focused on sustainable growth.

What are the benefits of a coaching cadence?

Coaches play a pivotal role in a learning environment by providing guidance and support to employees. They are a key part of any healthy learning and development strategy helping employees to achieve both organisational and career goals.

A regular cadence helps coaches and their employees get the most out of an employee coaching program, fostering a supportive and structured environment. It provides a framework for both leaders (the coach) and their teams ensuring that there are no surprises.

In this environment, managers can ensure capability growth is maintained while employees can make meaningful progress to develop new skills, enhance their performance and make steps towards their career aspirations.

How do I create a coaching cadence for a sales team?

Let’s look at how you’d create a coaching rhythm for a sales team in 4 steps.

Step 1 – Set goals

Your first step is to assess the current state of the team’s performance and identify areas for improvement. You can do this firstly by looking at team outcomes and other company metrics but it’s crucial to get each team member involved in identifying where they think they need to grow.

When setting goals make sure they’re SMART (i.e., specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound) and align with the overall objectives of your organisation.

As part of your capability assessment, you might identify skills that require formal training – ensure that you set expectations around these and provide appropriate training and support.

YakTrak top tip: identify the behaviours that lead to the outputs you want to see and only focus on one or two goals to coach for at a time!

Step 2 – Set a schedule

Determine the frequency, format and duration of coaching sessions and meetings. This might look like:

• daily 2-minute coaching check-ins
• weekly 30-minute one-on-one coaching sessions
• monthly 60-minute team meetings focused on outputs and outcomes
• quarterly performance reviews with individual reps.

Your structure should provide room for regular feedback, skill/behaviour development and goal tracking.

Step 3 – Use tools

Software can be a game changer in setting and maintaining an operating rhythm and helping to run successful coaching sessions. A solution like YakTrak helps to embed a cadence while providing visibility over development conversations and goal setting. It’s also fun for both managers and sales teams to use.

Ensure that you look for something that can be scaled up and used across an organisation too! This will make it a lot easier to implement and evaluate the impact coaching is having.

Step 4 – Implement, evaluate and adjust

Roll it out and monitor its implementation. Track progress towards goals and outputs and get feedback. Where needed, adjust to drive continued progress towards achieving sales targets.

Example for team members in a contact centre

In a contact centre for a telecommunications company, a coaching operating rhythm might look like the following:

Weekly one-on-one coaching session

Each week reps meet with their team leader for a personalised coaching session focused on one key behavioural goal; for example, introducing a new product earlier in a conversation or using a customer’s name a specific number of times during a call.

In these meetings, progress is tracked and where goals are achieved, they are celebrated.

Daily check-ins

The team leader meets informally with the reps in their team to check in on how they are going practising the specific behaviour. Micro-coaching can be a powerful way to maintain momentum!

Fortnightly side by sides and observation

Allowing time to sit with your team member provides a great way to see if the desired behaviours are being used effectively and a great opportunity to provide in-the-moment feedback. This element is often missed. It’s also a great way to gather data for the next coaching session.

Monthly performance review

At the end of each month, reps meet with their team leaders to look at metrics like conversion rates, customer satisfaction and average handling time (AHT).

These outputs help set expectations and drive the behavioural goals for the coming month.

Weekly team huddles

Quick stand-up meetings and huddles provide a forum to discuss operational issues and for reps to hear from peers sharing knowledge and insights into what’s working for them.

In this way, contact reps can receive targeted ongoing support and guidance to drive skills development and achieve high sales performance.

Drive business growth with YakTrak

Get your business on track with the Yak. YakTrak:

• helps to embed coaching – daily, weekly or fortnightly
• provides visibility over goals and tracks progress towards them
• helps you understand the impact coaching is having
• gets employees involved in their learning and development
• provides a central location for documenting employee behaviour and coaching activity.

Get in touch with us to find out how YakTrak can make daily learning a habit in your organisation.

Image by Annie Spratt via Unsplash