The GROW Technique

We have discussed how coaching can help remove interference and help people work to their potential. The GROW technique is the strongest tool available to help you do this with your team.  It is a guide to how you manage a coaching session, which together with the Use of Questions, will start you down the road to becoming a good Business Coach. 

Remember that good coaching is non-directive to match the "Motivational Management" management style.  This coaching session is not a forum in which you tell your team member what to do, you have to ask a series of questions in order to help the team member become aware of the problem, recognise the impact on the business, and decide on the best option to improve performance. 

GROW is, as you may have guessed, an acronym and stands for:

G.  is for Goal.  Imagine that you are holding a coaching session with a team member who is under performing in one area.  In this case the goal or objective will be to improve performance in that area.  You will guide the team member to analyse their own performance and identify why they performed badly (identify their interference).

R.  This is for reality or realistic.  In this stage of the conversation you must help the team member become totally aware of the interference, and the impact it has on the business. By the end of this section the team member will have the clearest understanding of the area of poor performance.

O.  This is for options.  You ask the team member to identify the options they have available to improve performance, this may take a series of questions to ensure that they identify all the available options.  You must help them make the decision as to which is the best option. (You do not tell them!)

W.  This is for when or wrap-up.  This final stage is for allowing the team member to set themselves an action plan for achieving the option, and seeing if they need any further coaching support during the process.

Until you actually partake in a coaching session either as a coach, or as a coachee, it is difficult to imagine the strength of such a conversation, and what can be achieved by the coach being totally non-directive.  Think of it in another way.  Very few people are capable of clear logical thought, let alone the ability to focus entirely on one thing, excluding all other thoughts (interference) from their minds.  If you as a coach can assist your team member to achieve these two things, then imagine how much help that could be - that is the strength of coaching.

To introduce Coaching into your business look at the Coaching to Success Workshop: Business Coaching - You too can become a coach.

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