Coaching Skills for Managers
Managers often step in because it feels faster, safer, and more reliable than waiting for someone else to think it through. But when the same questions, errors, and follow-through issues keep coming back, quick fixes start creating more work.
This course helps managers and supervisors use coaching conversations to build stronger employee ownership, judgment, and follow-through. Participants learn when to coach, when to give direction, how to use the GROW model to guide thinking without taking over, and how to turn conversations into clear next steps, practicing each skill along the way.
With better coaching habits, employees become more confident in handling real work situations, while managers spend less time solving the same problems again.
- Decide when to coach, teach, give feedback, give direction, or step in.
- Prepare a focused coaching conversation by clarifying intent, focus, and moment.
- Use the GROW model to guide their thinking, listening and reflecting back before moving on.
- Turn coaching conversations into clear commitments with ownership and timelines.
- Follow up in a way that builds capability without taking the work back.
- Use AI responsibly to prepare questions and pressure-test thinking without replacing judgment or real dialogue.
Decide When and How to Coach
- Why solving problems for people can build dependence over time
- Choose between coaching, teaching, giving feedback, giving direction, or stepping in
- Prepare quickly: your intent (thinking, ownership, or judgment), one specific focus, and the right moment
Use the GROW Model to Guide Coaching Conversations
- Apply Goal, Reality, Options, and Way Forward to structure the conversation
- Ask questions that clarify outcomes, test assumptions, and expand thinking
- Listen, reflect back, and summarize before moving to the next stage
Follow Up and Build Accountability
- Follow up on progress and learning without chasing, reminding, or taking the work back
- Recognize when coaching has stopped working and change your approach
- Use AI to prepare and reflect, never during the conversation itself
This course is ideal for managers and supervisors who want their team to take more ownership and require less hands-on direction.
It is especially relevant for those who:
- Keep answering the same questions or solving problems their team could handle
- Have capable people who wait for direction instead of working things through
- See missed follow-through, repeated errors, or unclear ownership
There are no prerequisites for this course.
FAQ
Yes. Coaching Skills for Managers suits managers, supervisors, and team or project leads. It is an intermediate-level course, so it assumes you already handle day-to-day conversations with your team. No previous coaching training or experience is needed. If you’re looking for a broader course on managing people and getting work done through others, see The 3-Zone Manager.
Yes. The same coaching approach works whether your team is in person, virtual, or hybrid. Coaching Skills for Managers also covers what’s harder virtually, like reading cues and checking understanding. One of the practice scenarios involves a manager leading a hybrid team.
No. Coaching Skills for Managers is a practical coaching course for managers who want to use coaching to build their team’s capability. It does not lead to a professional coaching credential. Participants will receive a PMC certificate of completion showing the course hours, which may count toward professional development credits. Check eligibility with your professional association.
Yes. That’s the situation this course is designed for. If you keep answering questions your team could handle, or the same problems and missed commitments keep coming back, you learn how to hand the thinking back. You practice coaching so people own the decision and the next step, and following up without chasing or taking the work back.
You will work through realistic scenarios using the GROW coaching model and practice a full coaching conversation. Each activity also gives you space to apply it to a real situation from your own work. You don’t have to share your own situation unless you choose to.
Open to all members of the public.
$ 595 plus tax
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