Course Highlights
This in-person coaching skills training course will:
- Define coaching clearly and distinguish it from counseling, mentoring, consulting, and training.
- Clarify the difference between developmental coaching and corrective coaching, including when each fits best.
- Connect coaching to engagement and retention by showing how regular coaching shapes growth, confidence, and follow-through.
- Surface common manager roadblocks to coaching and provide practical fixes that make coaching easier to start and easier to sustain.
- Introduce multiple coaching conversation models and show how to select the right one for the situation.
- Strengthen core communication behaviors effective coaches rely on, with emphasis on questioning and listening.
- Build competence in both formal and informal coaching through scenario work and role-play practice.
- Send managers back to work with a practical coaching plan for each direct report.
Course Overview
Coaching is one of the fastest ways managers improve performance, build capability, and strengthen retention without adding layers of process. This program is designed for managers who need a practical, repeatable approach for coaching that holds up in real work—busy weeks, mixed performance, and employees who respond differently to feedback. Attendees leave with a clearer way to coach day to day, stronger conversation habits, and a plan they can keep using after the session.
The course begins by defining coaching and separating developmental coaching from corrective coaching so managers match the approach to the situation. From there, the program addresses the roadblocks that keep coaching from happening consistently and provides tactics that make coaching easier to start and easier to sustain. Managers then work with multiple coaching conversation models—ACHIEVE, CLEAR, COIN, FUEL, GROW, OSKAR, SBI, SOLVE, and STAR—so they can select a structure that fits the moment rather than defaulting to improvisation. The second half strengthens questioning and listening behaviors that make any model work, then shifts into vignette critique and role-play practice. The session closes with coaching planning so each manager leaves with a practical coaching approach for each direct report.
The following outline highlights some of the course’s key learning points. As part of your training program, we will modify content as needed to meet your business objectives. Upon request, we will provide you with a copy of the participant materials prior to the session(s).
Program Objectives
At this program’s conclusion, participants should be able to:
- Define coaching and differentiate developmental coaching from corrective coaching.
- Explain coaching’s impact on employee engagement and retention.
- Identify roadblocks related to coaching and apply tactics for overcoming them.
- Describe several coaching models.
- Demonstrate strong listening skills and questioning techniques.
- Select appropriate coaching questions.
- Evaluate coaching vignettes.
- Conduct both formal and informal coaching sessions.
- Create a coaching plan for each direct report.
Workshop Modules
What Coaching Is and Isn’t: Defining Coaching
This course opens by establishing a shared definition of coaching and separating it from approaches that sound similar but function differently at work. Attendees will clarify what coaching looks like in practice, then compare developmental coaching and corrective coaching so they can match tone, structure, and expectations to the situation.
Recognizing Roadblocks: Why Managers Fail to Coach
This next discussion addresses why coaching often drops off even when managers say they value it. Learners will identify common roadblocks (time pressure, discomfort with feedback, fear of conflict, crisis mode, results-only thinking) and choose practical fixes that make coaching easier to do consistently.
Coaching Models: Choosing a Framework
From there, the session moves into coaching conversation structures managers can rely on under pressure. Managers will review a set of coaching models and practice choosing the best fit for real workplace scenarios, including both developmental and corrective situations. Models covered include ACHIEVE, CLEAR, COIN, FUEL, GROW, OSKAR, SBI, SOLVE, and STAR.
Universal Basics: Communication Skills
This module focuses on the communication behaviors that make coaching work, regardless of model. The group will strengthen questioning choices and listening discipline, then practice building questions that promote ownership, reduce defensiveness, and move a conversation toward concrete next steps.
Film Critics: Pull Out the Popcorn
Next, the program shifts into evaluation skill, because good coaching requires the ability to notice what is working and what is undermining the conversation. Participants will critique coaching clips, identify what the coach did well, and name what to change to make the coaching more direct, more respectful, and more effective.
Pull Out Your Whistle: Coaching Practice
The course then moves into structured coaching practice. Attendees will select a scenario, choose a coaching model that fits, plan the conversation, and role-play both formal and informal coaching. Practice focuses on clarity, question quality, listening behaviors, and closing with an actionable agreement.
Coaching Plans: Building a Practical Approach for Direct Reports
The session closes by translating the day’s tools into a realistic plan managers can carry forward. Each attendee will identify the type of coaching each direct report needs, select an approach for developmental and corrective situations, and outline how to create repeatable coaching touchpoints without overcomplicating the work.
Target Audience
This workshop is designed for groups that want to:
- Strengthen coaching skills as a daily management practice.
- Improve questioning and listening behaviors that drive better performance conversations.
- Build confidence in both developmental and corrective coaching.
- Create practical coaching plans that support growth and accountability across a team.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should this course be taken before MGT-306, Coaching for Leaders?
Yes. MGT-045 is the better starting point. It builds the foundation: what coaching is, how it differs from other manager conversations, how developmental and corrective coaching differ, and how managers can use basic models, questions, and listening skills. MGT-306 is the next step for leaders who are ready for harder coaching situations involving diagnosis, ownership, resistance, accountability, and judgment.
Does this course focus on coaching basics or advanced coaching situations?
This course focuses on the core coaching skills managers need before moving into advanced work. Participants learn definitions, common roadblocks, coaching models, questioning, listening, informal coaching, formal coaching, and basic planning for direct reports.
Why does the course cover so many coaching models?
Managers often struggle because they use the same conversation pattern for every situation. The course introduces several models so participants can see the range of options and choose a structure that fits the moment instead of improvising or defaulting to advice.
How does this course separate coaching from counseling, mentoring, consulting, and training?
The course helps participants sort out what each conversation is meant to do. Coaching builds thinking, ownership, and performance. Training teaches a skill. Mentoring shares experience. Consulting gives advice or expertise. Counseling addresses performance or behavior that requires correction.
Does the course cover both developmental and corrective coaching?
Yes. Participants learn how developmental coaching supports growth and future capability, while corrective coaching addresses a performance or behavior gap. The course helps managers match tone, structure, and expectations to the situation.
How does this course help managers who say they do not have time to coach?
The course addresses common coaching roadblocks, including time pressure, discomfort, fear of conflict, crisis mode, and results-only thinking. Participants look for practical ways to make coaching shorter, more natural, and more consistent during regular work.
Will participants practice actual coaching conversations?
Yes. The program includes vignette critique, scenario work, and role-play practice. Participants choose a coaching model, plan the conversation, practice questioning and listening, and close with a clear next step.
Does the course teach questioning and listening separately from the models?
Yes. The models help structure the conversation, but questioning and listening make the conversation work. Participants practice choosing questions that build ownership and listening in ways that reduce misunderstanding and defensiveness.
What is the purpose of the coaching plan at the end?
The plan helps managers take the course back to work. Participants identify what kind of coaching each direct report may need and outline how they will make coaching a regular part of supervision instead of a rare formal event.
When should an organization choose MGT-045 instead of MGT-306?
Choose MGT-045 when managers need a practical introduction to coaching or when the group has uneven coaching experience. Choose MGT-306 when participants already know coaching basics and need stronger skill with performance gaps, resistance, accountability, ownership, and judgment.