Effective Coaching Programme Design:
What To Include In Your Coaching Programme

Effective coaching programme design starts once you have established what your coachee’s needs and wants are and by this I mean what to include in your coaching programme, how it will be structured and over what period of time.

Some coaches run a set programme of say 12 sessions, over 6 months that cover pre-planned topics for example: understanding values, exploring beliefs, defining a personal purpose, goal setting etc. which logically guide the coachee through a personal journey of development. Other coaches (myself included) tend to take a more flexible approach. I usually estimate the number of sessions I think someone will need but also stress that this might change depending on their progress and the goals of the next session will generally only be determined either at the end of the previous session or even at the start of the session itself.

Solo Build It!

In my own coaching sessions we do spend time at the outset exploring what overall outcomes the client wants from coaching and then more specifically what goals they want to be achieving along the way. I do place an emphasis on values, helping clients understand what is important to them so usually my programmes of coaching do include fairly early on a values elicitation and some exploration of underlying beliefs so clients have a really firm foundation for making decisions and taking action. However, sometimes this awareness may be achieved naturally without any particular need for a dedicated session.

One thing I do ensure happens during a coaching programme is that time is taken out to stand back and review progress with my coachees and check whether any outcomes identified at the beginning of the programme are being met. If not then we will explore why, and they are no longer relevant to the coachee we will adjust these goals.

For me it is important to ensure I help my client meet their needs rather than my own and this requires a really flexible approach responding as appropriate. Some weeks for example a client having struggled to achieve a particular goal may just want to spend time understanding more about themselves and their motivations, raising their own personal awareness rather than focus on taking specific action.

So in summary effective coaching programme design is not about having a hard and fast ‘one solution fits all’ approach instead is about really understanding what a client wants at a particular point in time and adapting your approach to help them achieve it. This should determine what to include in your coaching programme. 

See Also:-

Pre Coaching Conversation
 Pre Coaching Questionnaire
 First Coaching Session
 Intake Session Checklist
 Reasons To End Your Coaching Relationship
 Ending Your Coaching Relationship
 Post Coaching Relationship
 Post Coaching Relationship

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