Yes, "be a good manager" (basically what "coach people" means) is kind of hand wavy. As is any statement of "be good at your job".
But if you want specifics: A good manager doesn't need to drop a nuke on the situation: They've paid enough attention to be continuously evaluating their operations and, in the case of meetings or any thing else, asking themselves and their employees, "what are we doing here? what is the value of this activity?" and pruning things as they go. So, again: Maybe the nuclear option is needed in some situations, but if so, it means things have been poorly handled to get there.
"Cancel all recurring meetings" shouldn't be passed around as some trite startup productivity "hack" like the cliche "have all meetings standing up", like something everyone should thoughtfully consider as an insight into modern business culture norms. It should be spoken of in whispers to organizations so mired in their own incompetence that, in recognizing a problem, they can't even think of a good solution except to drop a nuke on themselves.
> So, again: Maybe the nuclear option is needed in some situations, but if so, it means things have been poorly handled to get there.
When we've done this, everyone on the team was on-onboard and bought in. It's not like people walked in one day and all the meetings were gone - that would break trust.
The fact that everyone agreed it was the only way forward doesn't mean something didn't go very wrong to get you there in the first place.
I'm not saying don't take this sort of action. And certainly, if you have to, the way you went about it is probably sensible. I'm saying that well-run operations don't have to do it at all.
In which case, maybe the labor of getting everybody onboard and bought in would be better put to getting everybody to learn to not create the problem in the first place.
I in fact have. It's not handwavey at all; coaching people on particular skills is something managers, mentors, and coaches do on a daily basis.
It can be very effective at solving the actual problem. If that actual problem is people not having a skill. Like good time management. Or judiciously using the time of colleagues.
Have you done this in a managerial capacity before? Is what you're saying borne out of experience?
I'm skeptical because while "just coach people" is a nice sentiment - it is extremely hand wavy and ineffective at solving the actual problem.