The GROW Coaching Model: What It Is and How To Use It

Managers are many things - leaders, mentors, strategists, administrators and of course coaches. As coaches, they provide guidance to their teams and encourage employees to step out of their comfort zone, learn new skills and reach the next level in their careers.

However, every employee has different needs and their own career path, so there is no one-size-fits-all solution for coaching. The GROW model takes the guesswork out of coaching and breaks it down into four easy-to-follow steps.

In this article, we explain what the GROW coaching model is and how you can use this framework to have effective coaching conversations with your employees. We'll also provide you with examples and best practices to help your teams achieve their short- and long-term goals.

What is the GROW coaching model?

Developed in the 1980s by Sir John Whitmore, an executive coaching thought leader, the GROW model is a coaching framework for solving problems, setting goals and improving individual performance. The acronym GROW stands for:

• Goal, or what a person wants to achieve
• Reality, or the facts of the current situation
• Options/obstacles, d. H. the different ways you can approach the situation
• Will/path forward, or how you will choose to act

When managers follow these steps one at a time, they better understand what their employees hope to achieve and how to get them there. GROW serves as a roadmap for employee growth. It gives managers the opportunity to specifically coach their employees so that they achieve personal and professional success.

The four phases of the GROW model

Are you ready to apply the GROW coaching model? Below is a closer look at each step, sample questions to ask your employees, and an example of how you can use this model to achieve better coaching and employee outcomes.

Objective (G)
The first step is for managers to understand what their employees want or what their goals are for the future. Consider using the SMART goal-setting framework to set effective, clear goals for employees to work toward. SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.

Now let's provide an example of a conversation you might have with a direct report.

During a development meeting, your employee shares that she wants to be promoted in the next appraisal cycle, which is still a few months away. As her manager, you're excited that she's ready to take the next step in her career, but you know she'll have to work hard over the next few months to make that promotion happen. Now that you know her goal, you can better support and support your employee in the coming months.

Questions to ask in the target phase:

1. What do you want to achieve?
2. What does short-term success look like for you? Long term?
3. What would you like to do more or less of?
4. What would you say is your biggest priority right now?

Reality (R)
Before you begin developing an action plan, you should know as much as possible about the employee's current situation. Use open-ended questions to ask your direct report about their experiences, what they have done so far, and how they feel about their situation.

For example, if a person on your team wants to plan an event, have they spoken to your events team? Have you already found a venue and sent out invitations? Or is this idea still very new? Once you understand the situation better, you can give your employee sound recommendations and advice.

Going back to the promotion example, let's say you're a new manager who's unfamiliar with this person's contributions. You can ask them to reflect on their achievements over the last year and identify their key achievements and areas for improvement. This will give you an idea of where she stands within your current competency framework, where she is exceeding expectations for her current role, and where she still has room for growth.

You should also find out what obstacles are preventing your employee from achieving her goal. In this case, you might discover three potential obstacles:

• Managers do not have a clear understanding of their employee's contributions
• Your employee would be able to better quantify the business impact of her work
• Your employee needs to improve some hard skills according to your internal competency models.

This information will help you with the next two steps of the GROW coaching model.

Questions to ask in the reality phase:

• How is the current situation?
• What actions have you taken so far, if any?
• Is there anything that could prevent you from achieving your goal?

Options/Obstacles (O)
Now is the time to think about it and explore the options available. At this stage you should point out all possible solutions and discuss their advantages and disadvantages. Weigh all possible courses of action so you can choose the best solution that will move your employee closer to their goal.

If this is our aspiring promotion candidate, you should work with the employee to consider how you can increase the internal visibility of their work, quantify the value of their contributions, and improve their skills based on the information gathered in the reality phase. The list of possible solutions might look something like this:

• Completion of an online certification course
• Attending a conference
• Sending email summaries of recent projects and their deliverables
• Speak up more in team meetings
• Schedule meetings with higher level managers to engage with leadership.
• Volunteer for upcoming high-profile projects
• Work with the data team to create a metrics dashboard to quantify your contributions.
• Discuss which of these ideas are practical, feasible and most likely to support the employee's success. Once you've weighed the pros and cons of each option, it's time to move on to the final phase of the GROW model.

Questions to ask at the Options/Obstacles stage:

• What options do you have?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of each of these possible solutions?
• Is there anything else we haven't thought of yet?

Will/way forward (W)
Finally, you should focus on engagement, i.e. on how your employee will act. Now that you have outlined all the possible options and discussed their strengths and weaknesses, you can choose the most logical path and determine the next steps together with your employee.

For our eager young talent, their final action plan with relevant milestones might look like this:

• Presentation of current projects and results at the monthly meeting of the department
• Attending a conference in the second quarter
• Participate in an online course and receive a certificate of competency in Q3
• Sending monthly emails to the department on the latest project metrics and achievements
Taken together, these points address their current situation, identify the obstacles that are preventing them from achieving their goal, and define a clear path forward. Your employee now has a clear idea of what she needs to do to be successful in her role. As her manager, you know what she needs to do to grow into her next role, so you can support and coach her along the way.

Questions to ask in the Will/Way Forward phase:

• What actions have you decided to take?
• How can we break this solution down into manageable steps?
• What is a realistic time frame for success?
• When should we get back in touch to discuss progress?

Application of GROW in coaching conversations

Before diving into the GROW coaching model, here are some tips and best practices for effective coaching conversations with your employees:

Practice active listening: Even though it's your job as a manager to lead the conversation, let your employees do the majority of the talking. Alternate asking open-ended, probing, and reflective questions to encourage your team to share their goals and experiences at your company. Give them the floor to share their perspective and motivations.
Set realistic goals: Encourage employees to use the SMART framework when setting their goals. Goals that are too unclear or vague can leave employees feeling frustrated and discouraged.
Tackle one goal at a time: Even if some of your employees want to do everything at once, ask them to prioritize their goals and focus on realistic and achievable goals. This allows them to focus their time and efforts on the goals that will have the greatest impact on their job satisfaction.
Follow up regularly: The GROW model only works if your employees are motivated to achieve their goal and actually stick to the agreed action plan. To hold the individual accountable, you should monitor progress regularly in 1-on-1 meetings or ongoing development conversations. This keeps employee growth top of mind and allows you to provide continuous coaching.

Grow into coaching with IceHrm

Some managers may find coaching intimidating at first because every employee needs a unique touch. If you’re one of those managers, just channel GROW model coaching and remember how empowering it can be to break down large goals into tangible, actionable steps.

That same strategy of breaking down challenging concepts into digestible knowledge is what powers IceHrm’s Skills Coach. Skills Coach delivers engaging micro-content directly through Slack, Microsoft Teams, or email to your managers, allowing even the busiest of people leaders the time to learn and grow.