Coaching vs telling on the job: Identifying when to instruct directly and when to coach for capability and capacity improvement. 

Duration: 4m40s

One of the biggest mistakes trainers can make is using the same approach for every learner and every task. 

Sometimes you need to tell. Sometimes you need to coach. 

If you get that balance right, you help build skill, judgement and confidence. 

If you get it wrong, people may stay dependent on you or make avoidable mistakes. 

Telling is direct instruction. You explain what to do, how to do it and what standard to meet. 

Coaching is different. With coaching, you guide the learner with questions, prompts and feedback, helping them to think about and decide on the best actions to improve their practice. 

Both are important. But the skill is knowing which one the learner needs at any given time. 

Telling supports control and clarity. Coaching supports capability and judgement. 

There are times when telling is the right call. 

Use direct instruction when the task is new, high-risk, time-critical, or non-negotiable. 

That includes safety steps, compliance requirements, equipment setup, and any task where getting it wrong could cause harm, damage or serious delay. 

In those moments, clarity matters more than exploration. 

If the learner doesn't yet have the base knowledge, coaching questions on their own can create confusion. 

Coaching works best when the learner already has a foundation and needs to build judgement, consistency or independence. 

That's when you move from telling every step to helping them think through the task. 

For instance, you might ask: 

What are you checking first? 

Why did you choose that? 

What could go wrong here? 

What would you do if the conditions changed? 

This helps the learner understand the work better and do more than just follow instructions. 

If you tell too much, for too long, learners can become dependent. 

They wait for the next instruction. They copy steps without understanding them. And when conditions change, they may not know what to do. 

That's a problem in mining and automotive contexts, where real work is dynamic. It often involves variation, changing conditions and reassessing the best ways forward. 

Telling builds compliance with a process. Coaching helps build capacity beyond the process. 

But coaching too early has its own risks. 

If the learner is new or the task is safety-critical, open questions may not be useful. They may just expose gaps that the learner isn't yet ready to manage. 

That's why good trainers make the 'right tool for the right job' selection. 

You earn the right to coach by first making sure that the learner has enough knowledge, structure and support to be successful. 

A simple way to determine that is to ask three questions. First, how risky is the task? 

If the risk is high, start with direct instruction. 

Second, how experienced is the learner with this exact task? 

If it is new to them, tell them first. 

Third, what is the goal right now? 

If you need safe, correct action, tell. If you want to build judgement and independence, coach. 

In many sessions, you'll use both. You might tell at the start, then coach during practice, then tell again if standards drop or risk increases. 

This is not an either-or choice. It is a trainer's judgment call. 

Take a pre-start check. If the learner is new, you show the process, explain the sequence and tell them the critical points. That's telling. 

Once they can complete the process safely, you shift to coaching: 

What are you looking for here? 

Why does this check matter? 

What would you do if you found a fault? 

That's how you move from basic performance to real capability. 

Effective trainers know that both telling and coaching have a place. 

They tell when the learner needs clarity, structure and support, and 

coach when the learner is ready to think, decide and grow. 

Use the right approach at the right time, and you'll build both competence and capacity on the job. 

END.