Coaching Model: Action Planning

A Coaching Model Created by Prakash Nedungadi
(Business Coach, INDIA)

1.0 Background

1.1 During my coaching programme at ICA, I adopted the G-R-O-W model as my coaching framework.

As I started my coaching sessions, I realised the power of the model in all its facets. However, where I found my clients (and me!) getting stuck was in the ”W” or the “Way forward” or the “Action Planning”. After each session/ s, I found that while clients left feeling really powerful, the action taken by the next session was much less than what they had planned, and in some cases, none at all. I then read a blogger who said that over 88% of goals set don’t result in adequate action to achieve full results, and of the 12% that do, only 3 % achieve it happily! (Arinia Nikitina- Goal Setting Guide) I am not sure of the basis for this, but it seemed to me that this could well be true, looking at my own case and the case of my clients. (In fact, the same is true in Organizations as well, resulting in a huge focus recently in Companies on ‘Execution” rather than “Goal-setting “or “Strategy”) Hence I felt that the area of Way-forward or Action-Planning would be really beneficial for me to focus on for my model.

1.2 Why do the best action plans set with the best intentions not materialize?

In good coaching we ensure that the client has made the action plan so that he/ she owns it, but even then results may not be maximized. Some of the reasons are as follows: – the goals based on which the action plans are done don’t really reflect the deepest desires of the client. The true priority therefore that is given to these is more lip-service or from the mind rather than from the heart – the action plans don’t take into account that sometimes, some things have to be “unlearnt” before the new action can happen. Some existing “baggage” in the clients’ mind/ heart interfere with the ability to take on the new learning and we, in the rush to develop a way-forward, don’t help the client reflect on whether this is so:

we don’t help the client to FULLY take into account or often discount factors that affect action and learning like time-pressure, procrastination, stress, lack of confidence, etc
we don’t clearly or adequately help the client identify ENOUGH scaffolding or support they need to make the action happen. This could include reflection, creating enough

POSITIVE pressure, rewards/ sanctions (“ Pleasure/ Pain” principle!) and especially celebration – the client does not use her/ his preferred/ natural learning style to learn from the action e.g. often, the client says “I will keep a journal” to record her actions,. But keeping a journal may not be the way she learns best- it may only be the way this was done when she was in school or college, or a practical, but ineffective way!