Professional Documents
Culture Documents
HC Coaching Tool Kit
HC Coaching Tool Kit
Resources
Intervention styles 10
Intervention skills 11
Observing interventions 14
Feedback skills 15
Listening skills 16
Questioning skills 17
This framework can help coaches structure the early stages of getting to know
and building a relationship with their coachees.
This is a tool which is intended to be used with your coachee and not done to
them – the list of questions (over) are a guide – asking them all is likely to
make your coachee feel grilled!
1 2
6 3
5 4
Educational Personal
Experience Self
Future hopes
Where might you want to be in 5 years’ time?
To what extent are you on course for achieving this?
What do you identify as your personal strengths?
What might hinder your future plans?
Which forces will act positively on future plans?
Social Self
How do you spend your time when you are not working?
How would your best friend describe you?
What do you gain from your social interests and activities?
How do you keep time for your outside interests?
What do you look for in your relationships with friends?
Personal self
What sort of person would you describe yourself as being?
Tell me about the people who most influenced your formative years?
What events/circumstances do you find most stressful?
To whom do you turn for support?
To whom do you offer support?
Educational experience
What has been your most enjoyable education experience?
Why was it enjoyable?
Can you give me an example of a negative learning event?
What effect might this have had on you?
What is your preferred style of learning?
In what areas would you like to increase skills and knowledge?
Future plans
Describe three objectives for your professional development.
What are you learning needs in relation to these professional development
objectives?
What might be the obstacles to your professional development?
What do you see as our future working agenda?
Are there other areas of discussion you would like to develop, or return to?
• Appraisal
• Performance management
• Mentoring
• Counselling
High
• Open Dialogue Cl arit y • Task focussed
• Shared expectations • Debate rather than dialogue
• Openness to mutual benefits
• Sense of urgency/value
High Low
Rap port Rap por
t
Planning
Action
It is a particularly useful tool for the coachees who find it difficult to move from
talking/reflection to making decisions and focusing on action.
Identify options What are all the ways you could approach this?
List all your options
What might you do if you were to start with a clean
sheet?
Which most appeals to you?
John Heron (1986) defines six major forms of intervention that we can use to
increase out effectiveness in helping relationships: all of them have a role.
Their effectiveness lies in always being clear about the intention of the
intervention and in using it skilfully.
In the list, the interventions are described according to their intention rather
than content.
Authoritative
1. Prescriptive: A prescriptive intervention seeks to direct the behaviour of
the patient/colleague, usually behaviour that is outside of the
practitioner/patient relationship.
Facilitative
4. Cathartic: A cathartic intervention seeks to enable the other person to
discharge and express painful emotion, usually grief, anger or fear.
1. The person you are working with is in a difficult situation, and is in a panic,
not knowing what to do for the best and which way to turn.
Prescriptive
Catalytic
Supportive
2. The person you are working with has just made a terrible mistake, involving
disciplinary or legal proceedings, and setting in train a situation that will have
serious consequences.
Informative
Confronting
Cathartic
Prescriptive
Supportive
Cathartic
4. The person you are working with is in the aftermath of a very difficult
situation, is exhausted, nervous and irritable, and not really capable of
working effectively until they have put themselves back together.
Supportive
Confronting
Prescriptive
Informative
Catalytic
Confronting
When observing the coach in action try to notice examples of each of the six
categories of intervention which she/he makes.
Prescriptive
Informative
Confronting
Cathartic
Catalytic
Supportive
Giving Feedback
It should focus on
Receiving Feedback
If you are giving the feedback and you notice that the person you are giving
the feedback to continues to resist it, move into active listening instead – they
may not be ready to hear it.
Active Listening
Responding
Paraphrasing
Reflection
As well as paraphrasing the content of what the coachee has said, the coach
is also concerned to reflect back feelings to the coachee. This then leads to a
clarification of the emotional content of what is being communicated. In these
ways the coach communicates empathy and establishes rapport.
Helpful questions
Helps the coach check the Do you mean you would prefer
Clarifying meaning behind the words and to …
the coachee hear what the other
has heard
Catch/trick Attempts to trick the subject into What were you trying to
revealing something significant do? …Is that really your
through answering an apparently role?
different question.
You may have agreed at the start that the Coaching relationship was a finite
one, or you may both decide that the relationship has achieved its objectives
and agree a final session. At the final session it is important to make time to
review the process together. The final review involves looking back, looking
forward and sharing feedback.
Looking back
Start with returning to the initial purpose and objectives of the Coaching
relationship and review what has actually been achieved.
For example
Looking forward
Although this may be the end of this Coaching relationship it is important that
it is not seen as the end to personal/professional development. Therefore it is
important, as a result of the review to also look forward.
For example
Finally it is also important that you give each other feedback about how you
both found this process and the relationship which you have developed.
The ‘what not to do’ – some of which are rather easy to do, particularly
when feeling under pressure!
1. Start from the point of view that you – from your vast experience and
broader perspective – know better than the coachee what is in his or
her best interest.
3. Decide what you and the coachee will talk about and when; change
dates and themes frequently to prevent complacency sneaking in.
4. Do most of the talking; check frequently that they are paying attention.
5. Make sure that they understand how trivial their concerns are
compared to the weighty issues you have to deal with.
8. Never ask them what they should expect of you – how would they
know anyway?
11. Take them to task when they don’t follow your advice.
12. Never, ever admit this could be a learning experience for you.
For reflection
Use the list of core skills to identify your areas for development as a coach.
Listening actively
Giving feedback
_______________________ _____________________________
Coachee