The GROW Model of Coaching - Research Paper Example

?Running head: GROW The GROW Model of Coaching Coaching is essential to enhance performance, whether team or individual. The GROW model of coaching provides a systematic approach to coach individuals and teams to achieve specific goals. This model can be adopted by leaders/supervisors in all business-related settings and can help in achieving desired outcomes. This paper elaborates the GROW model and its applicability as well as use for individuals and leaders in business settings before concluding with key findings. Introduction Coaching team members is one of the critical aspects of managerial duties in order to derive high performance. Coaching in the business world refers to providing necessary support to the subordinates in order to uplift their capabilities, attitudes, skills and behaviors in a manner that will produce high and/or desired outcomes. Coaching is performed in many categories such as life, health, sports, relationships, conflicts, business or performance etc. Various approaches have been proposed in each of these categories. In this topic, business or performance coaching will be studied based on the GROW model, and an analysis will be done to understand how GROW model can help the managers and their subordinates, as well as its impact on the organization. Conclusions will be drawn based on findings from the study conducted. What is GROW? The GROW model school of coaching was first developed by Sir John Whitmore, an athlete by profession (Wilson, 2011). GROW is a short form of goal, reality, opportunity and the will to do. The GROW model provides very specific approach to coaching, unlike other models, which will help the coaches in any field as it provides a step-by-step approach to the process of coaching. The GROW model provides a wide range of options in every step for the coach to study, analyze and arrive at a solution. Goal: The goals stage usually precedes all as it involves discussion of the person’s objectives and aims in the short and long-term. The topic for discussion or the coaching session needs to be clarified before beginning any coaching-related activity. The coachee’s long-term aims need to be broken into short-term objectives that are realistic and achievable. This process will help in gaining the individual’s attention and commitment to the coaching process. Umicker asserts that coaching is the first activity that an employee experiences once he joins the organization, which is conducted in the form of orientation and training (McConnell, 2010). The expectations that are set during this period will help aligning the employees to the organizational goals, which is critical to the employees’ performance. Reality: The next step to coaching is to identify the real situation, or the reality. This would involve analyzing the current position or situation, and the obstacles that are hindering the coachee’s progress. The best way to undertake this process is to encourage self-assessment from the candidate and to avoid any sort of assumptions from either side. A very effective method for the supervisors or leaders to check reality is to be connected to their employees. An effective method that would assist this process is ‘management by wandering around,’ as explained by Peters and Austin (McConnell, 2010). Secondly, the coach needs to assess the significance and seriousness of the issue and the goal to the coachee; the coachee’s feelings associated with his/her current situation and the goal to be achieved; any other issues that the coachee might have. Opportunity: Once the reality is identified, the range of options available at hand need to be explored along with the coachee. This process will be most effective when the coachee is encouraged to provide suggestions and ideas along with the coach offering suggestions after a careful examination. A range of options will help in better choices to be made. However, it is also important to note that the choice of option must not be completely vested with the coachee, considering his/her knowledge and skills about the options. The coach or the supervisor must only play the role of a facilitator and must empower their employees to make risky short-term decisions, which can be closely observed and corrected, if required. Any mistake during this process must be regarded as learning experiences, and the coachee should be allowed to proceed. Will: The last stage of coaching involves eliciting commitment from the coachee by asking the action points to achieve the desired goals. At this stage, all possible obstacles to the achievement must be identified and addressed, if not the action plan needs to be changed. The supervisor has to also give complete assurance of support. Unlike the reluctant agreeing of managerial goals, the coachee at this stage must wilfully agree with the actions being planned; in another sense, the coach is trying to instil commitment to the goal by making him/her own the responsibility wilfully. This process should also involve setting timelines to the actions planned along with the coachee. Sir Whitmore (2009) suggests that it would be a good idea to ask the coachee to rate the degree of certainty that he/she would carry out the actions agreed on a scale of 1-10; and, to discuss the reasons that prevent a rating of 10 to the agreed action points once again. Challenges to coaching: Challenges to effective coaching usually include the time factor, coachee’s attitude, and the coach’s skills. Considering that coaching is an ongoing process in organizations where supervisors lead teams, time available for coaching becomes scarce. It may not be possible for all supervisors to conduct formal coaching sessions with all individuals at all times. Conducting periodic one-to-one sessions will be of great help, which will not only provide time but also the opportunity to conduct a formal coaching session with written documentation of the goals, action points, and timelines. If the coachee is not open for coaching from his/her supervisor for any reason, then the coaching activity might be ineffective. This usually happens when the leader/supervisor does not possess effective leadership skills required such as effective communication, process knowledge, and good interpersonal relationship with the team members (Ryan, 2012). Thirdly, if the supervisor is not equipped with coaching skills or knowledge of the GROW model, then coaching activity will be ineffective. Hence, the most important factors for effective use of the GROW model of coaching include relationship with the supervisor, trust, attitude, time, knowledge and skills. Scope and impact of GROW: The GROW model of coaching is more specifically applicable and useful for people in the sports and business fields; precisely, the GROW model requires specific definable goals, which are usually undertaken in these two fields along with other generalist life situations (Ryan, 2012). If the GROW model of coaching is adopted in the right manner with appropriate skills and time, coaching sessions will prove highly fruitful for the supervisors, the team members and the organization. The team members will be able to achieve their desired goals in a focused manner, and can avoid wandering around in confusion about their careers, goals and aims. The supervisors or managers will get to know better about staff and their expectations as well as needs. This will help in guiding the team members towards their goals, thereby, increasing the latter’s commitment to work and the organization. Coaching them in a phased manner will reinforce their awareness about themselves and also increase their sense of responsibility. It helps the candidates to identify all obstacles and tackle them and move on. The supervisor of a team can implement GROW with each candidate and for the entire team as a whole. For the team, GROW can be implemented to improve the team members’ performance. Firstly, clear goals need to be established, or goals need to be clarified. Further, the skills of team members must be assessed. As the team members will be hired based on the assessments during the selection process, it can be assumed that most of them would possess all required skills. To enhance their knowledge and skills further, training and coaching sessions need to be conducted, for which the GROW model will be useful (Parsloe & Wray, 2000). These sessions will also highlight knowledge and skill issues and address the same. Finally, a reiteration of the goals and objectives need to be performed before they start their core job. For individual team members, GROW can be implemented after certain time period based on individuals’ performance. Every non performing individual would require further coaching. The GROW model can also be implemented to coach team members that wish to take up different roles within the organization, or that wish to grow to the next level. Conclusions To sum up, the GROW model of coaching provides a systematic approach to coach individuals to achieve specific goals. The steps in GROW comprise of goal setting, reality assessment, opportunity exploration and making choice, and finally gaining commitment from the individual. The GROW model will be successful only with involvement and participation from the coachee rather than sheer direction from the coach; this not only helps in gaining commitment but also aids in exploring the hidden weaknesses and potential of the coachee. Moreover, the coach can make the individual feel comfortable by inviting participation. For the supervisor of a team, the GROW model can be implemented at team and individual levels. For the team, this model will help in achieving team’s goals. To enhance team’s performance, the GROW model needs to be employed at individual level by identifying individual weaknesses and helping them overcome the same. This model is also very useful to groom individuals to take up different other roles within the organization. References McConnnell, C. 2010. Umiker's Management Skills for the New Health Care Supervisor. (Ed 5; Ch.14). Ontario, Canada: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Parsloe, E and Wray, M.J. 2000. Coaching: Theory and Practice. In Coaching & Mentoring: Practical Methods to Improve Learning. London: Kogan Page. Ryan, R 2012. The Leader as a Coach. In Leadership Development: A Guide for HR and Training Professionals. Massachusetts: Elsevier. Wilson, C. 2011. Best Practice in Performance Coaching: A Handbook for Leaders, Coaches, HR Professionals and Organizations. Philadelphia: Kogan Page Ltd. Whitmore, J. 2009. Coaching for Performance: Growing Human Potential and Purpose. (Ed 4; Ch.10). Boston, MA: Nicholas Brealey Publishing. Read More