Chapter 7 – Developer
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The Skills Behind Coaching
Broadly speaking, both formal and informal coaching aims to enhance the performance
and learning ability of others. It involves providing non-evaluative feedback, but it also
uses other techniques such as motivation, effective questioning, (and listening) and
consciously matching your style to the participant’s readiness to undertake a particular
task. It is based on helping the coachee through an active dialogue. It is never a one-
way conversation of telling and instructing. Examples of effective questions to ask your
pupil are included in Table 2.
TABLE 2: Example Coaching Questions
How...- did you
think/feel/act? - did that come
about? - have you coped in
the past?
• does that fit in?
What...- happened?
- makes you think
that? - might you do
differently next
time? - was important
about that?
• did you learn from
that?
When...- did it start?
- did that first occur?
- did you realise?
- did you decide?
• will that happen?
Where...- does it happen?
- can we start to
make a change? - did it go all wrong?
- will that get you?
• do you see yourself
in ...?
Why.. .*- did you do that?
- do you think that
happened? - do you think they
responded that
way?
• is this
happening?
Note. *‘Why’ questioning can sometimes sound interrogatory so use these types of questions cautiously.
They may lead to defensiveness from the coachee (Zeus & Skiffington, 2000) and create argument
between the parties.