Guidance is something that all humans need. We need guidance when we are lost. We need it when we are trying to figure out what our life goals are. Also when we are trying to find a partner, or even when we want to choose the best ice cream flavor. Guidance is an important part of life and it helps us get on track and stay on track with our personal and professional lives.
Similarly, getting the right guidance is very important for any individual to grow and succeed. At the workplace, this responsibility of guidance goes into the hands of managers. Therefore, it is important for managers to have a strong guidance ability. This blog post will take managers on the right path of effectively developing the ability to guide. But before that, it is important to understand what does guidance ability means. So, let’s cover that first.
Table of ContentsThe guidance refers to advise or information provided by a person of experience to solve a problem or improve something. It also refers to the process of assisting individuals in discovering and developing their potential. To put it in other words, it is a process of personal assistance given by someone to assist a person in determining where he want to go, what he wants to do, and how he can best achieve his mission. It assists him in solving problems that arise in his life.
Guidance ability is the ability to guide a person or a group in a certain direction which may lead them towards their goals. It is a part of leadership skills refers to the ability of a person to guide his or her group towards achieving their goals whether this involves motivating the individuals in your organization or steering the entire team into reaching its desired results. This is done by providing the right direction, motivation, and support.
At the workplace, it refers to the way managers guide their employees, team members, or subordinates by providing and counseling them in the right direction. This ability is in the form of a set of behaviors that allow managers to give guidance instead of simply expecting their employees to act in a certain intended direction.
Being a role model for the team is an essential part of guiding a team as a manager. To effectively guide the team into certain behaviors and practices, managers will have to be role models themselves while showcasing the same behaviors and practices. This means showing and demonstrating what your desired employee conducts are at the workplace.
A manager who is a role model effectively directs employees on what is expected of them at the workplace. They set the right examples of company values. They are looked upon by the team as an expert who can help them when they are stuck. Being a role model means that managers “demand” the right behaviors, skills, and performance by demonstrating it themselves. In nutshell, show and not tell.
A manager’s ability to effectively collaborate with employees and make them collaborate within themselves at the workplace is an essential aspect of developing a sound guidance ability. This enables them in sharing their ideas, experiences, and knowledge effectively. Hence, it is likely to lead managers to further the growth of the organization. How does it help? It simply makes the team more self-reliant. It prevents the manager from becoming the decision-making and execution bottleneck.
Formulating a strong, nurturing work environment is regarded as an essential aspect of developing and improving the guidance ability of managers. Nurturance helps managers to guide employees by forming relationships with them along with providing support in their development. Furthermore, it also helps them in keeping employees motivated in times of challenges at the workplace. As a result, the team knows that there is someone supporting them at each step and that builds trust.
Some nurturance acts suitable for managers include:
After meeting the above-mentioned essential aspects of developing and improving a manager’s guidance ability, they need to understand how to offer constructive feedback. For managers, feedback is the key to guiding their employees and helping them grow. Moreover, it helps them in encouraging improvement and development among their employees as well as identifying areas for growth more effectively. Giving feedback is the opportunity to recognize the good things that the team member is doing. It is also an opportunity to work with them to identify improvement areas.
Giving constructive feedback includes: