Course Outcomes

This coaching skills course will:

  • Define coaching, and explain its impact on a business.
  • Discuss common coaching pitfalls.
  • Review communication skills for coaching.
  • Provide opportunities for practice.

Course Overview

This virtual classroom course comprises two 90-minute to 2-hour sessions. The program addresses the essentials of employee coaching and how leaders can leverage coaching to encourage engagement and develop their teams.

Session One: Coaching Fundamentals

This course segment defines coaching and explains how it differs from counseling. The session offers best practices for starting a coaching conversation and discusses communication and its role in the coaching process. During the segment, participants will practice open and closed questions, practice listening, and learn how to use the traditional-sandwich model, the open-sandwich model, praise, and behavior-change pinpointing.

Segment Modules
  • Knowing the Game Plan: Why Coach
  • Practices and Penalties: What Works and What Doesn’t
  • No Whistle Needed: Facilitating Conversations
  • Hall-of-Fame Performance: Four Models
  • Practice Makes Perfect: Your Turn
Homework
  • Implement one or two actions based on the content discussed in session one.

Session Two: Beyond the Basics

The second segment of this course opens with a discussion around what the participants have tried since the last session. Following that conversation, we will discuss the importance of consistency. We will also evaluate several examples of coaching and determine the extent to which their approaches are effective. Next, we’ll discuss best practices for preparing for conversations, the value of planning an opening, and how to avoid talking too much by using questions. We’ll then talk about skills for managing negative reactions to coaching and resistance. 

Segment Modules
  • Half Time: Review and Report
  • Rules in the Field: Starting Conversations
  • Handling Resistance: When Times Get Tough
  • Another Hall-of-Fame Performance: Bigger Challenges
  • Practice Makes Perfect: Solutions to Real-World Problems

By the conclusion of this interactive web-based training course, participants should have a good understanding of coaching and how to use it to encourage engagement and grow their teams.