The most famous of the models for coaching is the ‘GROW’ model. Used by coach’s, businesses and sports people worldwide

1. Effective Questions You Can Use With The
GROW Coaching Model
• The most famous of the models for coaching is the ‘GROW’ model. Used by
coach’s, businesses and sports people worldwide. It is the Chicken Tikka Masala
of the people development world; Popular, loved by most and you know exactly
what you are going to get.
www.makingbusinessmatter.co.uk
• To find out more
Googling the model
will provide many
choices, it’s just then
a case of choosing
who you like best.
We like
Mindtools.com for
their interpretation,
or this image below
from climategen is a
simple one to follow.

2. Effective Questions You Can Use With The
GROW Coaching Model
• The value we wish to add here is for those that have used
the GROW model before, effective questions can be the
difference between a good coaching session and a not so
good coaching session. This is because it is all about the right
questions to ask, not the knowledge that the coach has. As
Adrian Moorhouse, the gold medal winner of the 100m
breaststroke at the Seoul Olympics, said, “Brilliant coaches
aren’t necessarily successful at doing what they are coaching
you to do. My swimming coach couldn’t even swim!.”
• For each of the 4 stages of the GROW Coaching model we
have put together the most effective questions you can use
when coaching:
www.makingbusinessmatter.co.uk

3. ‘G’ of GROW is for ‘Goal Setting’
• What do you want to achieve in the long-term?
• What will it look like, feel like, sound like when you are there?
• How specific is that goal?
• How will you be able to measure its achievement?
• How realistic is it, given your current activities and workload?
• What time-scale are you going to set for its achievement?
• What might be one or two of the mini-goals/steps you could achieve along
the way to reaching this ideal outcome?
• In the time we have now, which of your mini-goals would you like to explore
to take you on your way?
• By the time your hand hits the door-handle at the end of the meeting, what
would you like to have achieved?
• What would you like to be different when you leave this session?
• What would you like to happen that is not happening now?…and/or what
would you like not to happen that is happening now?
• If I could grant you one wish for today’s discussion, what would it be?
www.makingbusinessmatter.co.uk

4. ‘R’ of GROW is for ‘Reality Checking’
• What is happening right now that makes you want to make this
change/makes this an issue for you?
• When/how often does it happen?
• Who is involved or affected – directly? indirectly?
• If things are not going well with regard to this issue, what happens to
you? How do you feel?
• Is the quality of any relationship affected – if so, how?
• What about others involved, what happens to them?
• What have you done about this issue/change so far? With what
results?
• If you have done nothing so far, what is stopping you?
• What do you have, within you or within the situation, that you are
not using?
• What is holding you back? Are their personal, or external,
constraints?
www.makingbusinessmatter.co.uk

5. ‘O’ of GROW is for ‘Option Generation’
• What options do you have for steps to resolve this issue? No matter how wild they are – any
options at all – think of as many as possible.
• What else might you try? Not necessarily what you will do, but what you could do.
• Who do you know who handles this sort of thing really well? What do they do that you
might try?
• If you could get advice from anyone, anywhere, from whom would you seek it?
• What if you had more time, what would you try?
• What if you had less time – what would that force you to try?
• What if you had more energy or confidence – what might you try then?
• What if you had total autonomy – what might you try then?
• What if you had a fresh start – what might you do differently this time?
• What if you had a magic wand to help you with this issue/change – what would you ask it to
do?
• If you could change one thing in this situation, what would it be?
• Let’s imagine that you really knew the best way forward, what would it be?
• Looking at your list of options, which ones could be made to work?
www.makingbusinessmatter.co.uk

6. ‘W’ of GROW is for ‘Action Willingness’
• What are you going to do?
• How will this address your goal or move you closer
to it?
• When are you going to do it?
• What could get in the way? How will you overcome
any obstacles?
• Who needs to know about your plan of action?
Who can support you?
• Rate on a scale of 1 – 10 your willingness to take
this action.
• Our coach’s are from your industry and can provide
coaching on any one of our products, from
Negotiation Skills to Category Management to Time
Management. Find out how we can help you be the
very best version of yourself with Executive
Coaching. Contact us.
• What is your favourite coaching question? Please
share your view by commenting below.
www.makingbusinessmatter.co.uk

7. What do we do?
A typical People Development programme with a supplier to the big
four UK supermarkets consists of a combination of the items that helps
suppliers to achieve their business objectives.
Try our popular
Category Management Academy

8. Where next?
• How can ‘Sticky Learning’® help your team?
• Click here to start ‘small’ with a Masterclass for up to 12
people – £750+vat.
• A summary of the 2015 CIPD summary for L&D
professionals.
• Making Business Matter,
Sticky Learning House
5 Cheshire Road
Thame,
OXFORDSHIRE,
OX9 3LQ
• Telephone: 0333 247 2012
• Email: helpme@makingbusinessmatter.co.uk
www.makingbusinessmatter.co.uk