I was lucky to stumble upon the GROW coaching framework and daily reflection journals guided by my tutor during my Masters’ years. Here, I’d like to share what I’ve learned about the G.R.O.W framework. You might find it useful when it comes to solving the dilemma or while being stuck in the middle of a situation or confused and lost on what to do next. We all have those miserable moments at some point in our career or life. Knowing these coaching principles can help someone get out of the maze and give him/her a clearer idea.
In this framework, there are two roles: the coach and the client. The coach does not need to be expert in the client’s specific situation since this is a general framework to elicit goals, options, and most importantly coach does not force in any particular direction. It’s all about the client and his own decision. The coach is a facilitator for the client to demystify his own puzzle.
GROW is composed of 4 steps and stands for:
- G — Goal
- R — Reality
- O — Options
- W — What’s Next?/Way Forward
For each step, there are given example questions, and it’s not limited to these questions. As a coach, you can come out with your own suitable questions depending on the stage in the process.
Step 1: Defining Goal
Defining what’s the end state together with the client — this is the foundation step to guide the coaching trajectory. Either having a dilemma or problem, the point is to derive a crystallised actionable end state.
The goal needs to be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound.
Example Goal:
At the end of this year, I want to have a clear idea if I want to continue my career in Software Development or change to Project Management.
Some example questions that may help in defining goal:
- What do you want to achieve [theme]?
- What’s important to you when it comes to [theme]?
- How will you know you’ve reached your goal?
- When do you want to achieve?
- How achieving this goal will help you?
Step 2: Reflect and examine the current situation/reality
Every problem/situation has a context. In this stage of actualisation, the coach should show encouragement to the client and make them feel comfortable to honestly share his/her current state and identify the constraints/ obstacles that he/she is currently facing. In doing so, the coach also needs to be aware of not getting off track from the goal. Summarising the scenarios and repeating what the client says is a good way to connect with your client and confirm your understanding of the situation.
Example questions:
- What is happening to you now?
- Why is [theme] a problem?
- Is this always a problem?
- What’s been going wrong so far?
- What have you done so far?
- What’s the result if this goal couldn’t be achieved?
Step 3: Exploring Options
At this stage, the coach is somewhat aware of the client’s situation with some background information and what the client wants to achieve. It’s time to explore the options/solutions to get to the goal that you have defined earlier. This is a form of brainstorming process without any censure or conditionality. As a coach, you can also offer some suggestions, but be sure not to dominate the client's thought process while giving a suggestion.
Example questions:
- What can you do at the moment?
- What else could you do?
- What would you do if [obstacle] didn’t stop you?
- What’s stopping you to do this?
- What is motivating you to do this?
- What are the pros and cons of this option?
- What would you need to do for this option? Where can you get what you need?
- Which criteria will you use to evaluate this option?
- Imagine you have reached your goal? How did you do it?
Step 4: What’s next?
The coach has heard the client’s goal, obstacles, and options. This is the time to guide the client to derive a concrete plan of action.
Once they have a clearer idea of which option to go with, work together with the client to develop a CHECKLIST, this can help them as a guide.
Examples of questions:
- What will you do next?
- How is this option aligned with achieving your goal?
- Which option will you proceed with?
- How motivated are you, on a scale from 1 to 10 to go for this option?
- How will you keep track of implementing this option?
- Will this plan get to your goal?