GROW Feedback & Coaching Model

When it comes to coaching, there's a model that can help both the coach and the coachee work together to achieve the coachee's goals.

It's called the GROW model, which stands for Goals, Reality, Options, and Will.

As a coach, you'll help your coachee assess, explore and define each of these areas over the course of a constructive conversation.

First, you'll help your coachee think about how they'd like things to be in the future and identify their desired goal. This stage may involve some exploration and refinement to help the coachee gain clarity over what they really want to achieve.

Once someone has developed a clear picture of where they wish to be, it's time to help them gain a clear view of their current state. This stage involves exploratory and rounded thinking and questioning.

The first two stages of the GROW Coaching Model help individuals understand both where they want to be and where they currently are. As a result, they also understand the gap that they need to bridge to reach their goals.

The third stage of the GROW model helps coachees think about exactly how they can bridge the gap between their current state and their desired future state. As a coach, your role in this stage is to help your coachee think creatively, comprehensively and positively about the many different things they could do to achieve their goals.

The final stage of the GROW Coaching Model is designed to help a coachee identify a specific set of actions, and to commit to them. As a coach your role is to help your coachee obtain real clarity over what their specific future steps will be and to help them commit to these actions. With the GROW model, you can help your coachee achieve their goals and succeed.

GROW Model Summary

G: Goal (identify a goal or outcome for the coaching session)

R: Reality (explore the topic/goal, why, what's getting in the way etc.)

O: Options (brainstorm ideas i.e. what they could do to move forwards)

W: Will (choose the actions they will do to move forwards)

Questions You Can Ask At Each Stage

10 GROW Coaching Questions to Establish the Session G—Goal

1. "What is your goal for today's session?"

2. "What's most important for you to focus in on today?"

3. "What would you be disappointed not to have worked on with me today?"

4. "What could we achieve in this session that would make you jump for joy?"

5. "What would you love to have happen by the end of this session?"

6. "What specifically would you like to get out of the next 30/45/60 minutes?"

7. "What outcome are you looking for from our session today?"

8. "What would be the most helpful thing you could take away from this session?"

9. "How will you know you've achieved what you wanted from today's session?"

10. "What would a super-successful coaching session look like today?"

10 GROW Coaching Questions for Exploring Your Clients' R—Reality

1. "Describe a day in your life—as it relates to this issue or goal."

2. "Where are you now in relation to your goal?"

3. "How do you feel about your current situation?"

4. "What have you been avoiding?"

5. "What is your intuition telling you?"

6. "What habits are getting in the way?"

7. "What are you telling yourself, that's getting in the way?"

8. "What do you like about this situation?"

9. "What has stopped you from doing more/moving towards your goal?"

10. "In a nutshell, who or what's got in the way?"
    

10 GROW Coaching Questions for Establishing O—Options

1. "If you had a choice, what could you do?"

2. "Let's imagine it's a year from now and you've accomplished your goal. What steps did you take to achieve it?"

3. "Suppose, just for a moment, you live in a world where fear does not exist. What would you do now?"

4. "What have you tried that hasn't worked—yet?"

5. "What if you had all the information you needed, what would be the next step/s?"

6. "If you were at your best, what would you do right now?"

7. "What could you do if you knew you couldn't fail?"

8. "What could you do if you didn't care what other people thought?"

9. "Imagine you have all the time you need. What would you do?"

10. "Imagine you're fully confident in your abilities, what could you do?"
    

10 GROW Coaching Questions for What Your Coaching Clients W—Will Do

1. "So, re-play your key options to me…"

2. "What could you do as the very first step towards meeting your goal?"

3. "What actions need to be taken?"

4. "And what actions do you want to take?"

5. "Which actions will you do?"

6. "What 3 things could you do to support yourself and make sure this gets done?"

7. "How would you be able to show this action is completed?"

8. "What could get in the way of you completing that action?"

9. "If you were going to sabotage yourself, how would you do it?"

10. "Tell me exactly how these actions move you towards your goal."

So, there you have lots of GROW Coaching Questions to help you use the GROW Model in your coaching sessions!

Do you have any GROW Model Questions you'd like to share?

If so, we'd love for you to add them in the comments below.