8. Making plans, setting assignments and evaluating results

A good way to get the coachee moving after a coaching session is to ask the following questions:

• What assignment will you set yourself after this conversation?
• When and where are you going to do this?
• When shall we talk about how it went?

As a coach, you can also set assignments for the coachee yourself. These can be relatively easy assignments, such as reading a book, keeping a diary, watching a video, changing a small habit or observing someone else. They can also be assignments that are generally found more difficult, such as displaying particular behaviour in a given situation or exaggerating behaviour.

Once you have set the assignment and you meet again for a following session, there are three possible outcomes:

a) The coachee has not carried out the assignment. In this case, ask what exactly happened, because everyone knows why they did not do something. Ask the coachee whether he or she is willing to carry out the assignment next time and offer support if necessary. If the challenge is too great for the coachee, decide together which assignment would be suitable. Always try to negotiate, however, and avoid making things too easy for the coachee.

b) The coachee has carried out the assignment, but the result is not as desired. Ask what exactly happened, what caused the result to be less than optimal and what he or she learned from the assignment. Redesign the assignment or give the coachee a new assignment that pursues the same goal as the first one.

c) The coachee has carried out the assignment and the result was satisfactory. Ask what exactly happened, what made the result satisfactory and what he or she learned from the assignment. Congratulate the coachee on the desired result and give enough attention to the learning points before continuing with the rest of the coaching session.

Exercise 8.1

Breaking habits. As a coach, you continually encourage the coachee to analyse and break through habits and patterns, in order to bring new experiences and possibilities to light. Although habits give our lives more structure, they can also be limiting because we always do things the same way. Start by breaking the following ten habits yourself:

• Take a different route to work;
• Change the order of your morning routine;
• Do something different in the evening from what you normally do;
• Change your appearance (clothing style, hair) for at least one day;
• Change your preferred brand at the supermarket;
• Take up a new hobby;
• Take yourself out for the day and do something you have never done before but have always wanted to do;
• Swap your knife and fork between hands for five days and eat your meals that way;
• Sleep on the other side of the bed;
• Borrow music you don't know from a colleague or friend and listen to it for a week.

Exercise 8.2

Devise two assignments for two different people with whom you have practised coaching techniques earlier in this course.

Exercise 8.3

Write a summary of all the learning points and learning moments you experienced during this course.

Exercise 8.4

Set yourself an assignment once you have completed this coaching course, and carry it out.