Coaching

This case study explores how to get the most out of a paired support relationship from the perspectives of both coach/mentor and client, and as such can be facilitated with either coaches/mentors or clients. Allow just over an hour for completion.

Participants can learn from the case study in two ways. First, it will help them to reflect on their own feedback skills as coaches, and second, it will help them to explore ways of coaching others in giving feedback. The key learning points on giving feedback are also of relevance to mentoring, so the case study could also be used in a workshop for mentors. Allow just over an hour for completion.

Harry's Achilles’ heel is his people management approach. This case study examines how a coach can help an individual to work on developing their leadership/interpersonal skills. Allow around one hour for completion.

This case study is ideal for exploring the link between preferred learning styles and coaching. The key learning points apply equally to mentoring, so the exercise is suitable for either coaches or mentors. Allow 1 hour 15 minutes for completion.

A handy checklist for coaches/mentors to use when planning, conducting and reviewing sessions.

A simple guide to some of the key points that coaches/mentors and their clients may wish to include in their contract at the start of their relationship.

Mentors/coaches and their clients can use this simple checklist as a framework for discussing the progress of their relationship at regular intervals.

This skill assessment diagnostic, suitable for both coaches and mentors, can be used in various ways: as a 360° feedback tool, a training needs analysis or simply as a self-diagnostic. Allow 45 minutes for completion.

This diagnostic is designed to encourage participants to consider their responsibilities in relation to either coaching or mentoring. It helps to highlight coaching/mentoring as an equal partnership, and can be facilitated with either coaches/mentors or clients. Allow 35-45 minutes for completion.

When someone is performing below expectations there are a number of coaching approaches that might be appropriate. This diagnostic is designed to help you identify whether you need to provide a coachee with more initial direction or use a more facilitative approach to help them identify their own way forward.

Use this diagnostic to assess how effective you are as a coach/ mentor, and identify any areas for development.

In this exercise, participants review their beliefs, values and attitudes in order to create a positive mindset for successful coaching/mentoring. It can be used by either coaches/mentors or clients. Allow 40 minutes for completion.

This paired exercise, suitable for those with coaching/mentoring experience, encourages participants to analyse their questioning skills and put them into practice by questioning their partner on an activity in which they would like to be coached/mentored. Allow up to two hours for completion.

Participants use the SMART criteria to practise goal/objective setting, a key coaching skill. Allow 45 minutes for completion.

Participants use Whitmore’s GROW Model to structure a mock coaching session. Allow up to 1 hour 30 minutes for completion.

This 30-minute introductory exercise, suitable for using with either clients or coaches/mentors, encourages participants to consider the benefits of coaching/mentoring from various perspectives.

Before selecting an appropriate coaching style, a coach must first establish their coachee’s level of skill and will. This exercise will help coaches develop their ability to accurately determine the coaching style best suited to a coachee’s needs. Allow up to an hour for completion.

In this exercise, which can be facilitated both with coaches and clients, participants consider the factors involved in choosing an appropriate coach. It could equally be used in a mentoring workshop. Allow 20 minutes for completion.

This 30-minute group exercise would be ideal as an introduction to questioning techniques on a coaching/mentoring skills workshop for managers. Allow 30 minutes for completion.

In this collaborative learning exercise, participants work in trios to practise their coaching/mentoring skills using role-plays based on real life scenarios. It allows experienced coaches/mentors to learn from each other and encourages knowledge sharing among peers.

The purpose of this template is twofold: for evaluating the success of a session and for helping you with your continuous personal development as a coach/mentor.