6 Powerful Questions for Effective Coaching Methods
As a Life Leadership Coach and Mindfulness Practitioner®, I’ve worked with numerous coaches and partnered with clients on their journey to bring a change. Professional and aspiring coaches need to ask one major question to themselves before beginning a session. What is the purpose of a coaching session? A client often comes to a coach in search of clarity. It is you, as a coach, who plays the role of a catalyst to use effective coaching methods and to map their agenda.
How does a coach steer a coaching session towards getting the client to work on themselves? Questions play an important role as an effective coaching technique. The art of questioning is about giving space to the client to view the problem or situation from different angles. In today’s fast-paced world, it is even more important to achieve the maximum in the minimum amount of time. Swift Coaching is something I’ve devised witnessing the rising demand for short coaching sessions that offer maximum value. As I’ve had multiple requests for my Swift Coaching sessions, I’d like every coach to follow this path for more success in their coaching journey.
Swift Coaching is one of the quickest ways to initiate a process of transformation in a client in almost 10 mins. This is suitable for professionals on-the-go, those hard pressed for time who cannot opt for longer coaching sessions or have completed a couple of regular sessions.
I’ve designed a list of effective coaching questions for every coach who can adopt the Swift Coaching methods to partner with many busy professionals. These are also ideal for professionals who require additional follow-ups after regular coaching sessions of a longer duration. It gives the chance for a coach to gauge the progress of the client through swift coaching sessions.
Best Coaching Methods: 6 Questions for Swift Coaching
What do you want?
What can you do to achieve the required goal?
Is this what you want or something else?
How will you feel once you achieve it?
How do you think you can achieve or progress with what you want now?
What are the key points and takeaways from this session?
1. What do you want?
A coach who uses this question sets the right tone to the coaching session. When you ask a client what is expected from the coaching session, the client is prompted to think about the expected result. A client moves away from the space of confusion or worry to gain a perspective that is not visible currently. A coach who asks a client what he/she wants ensures a client is focused on the goal. The goal may be to excel in professional life or to be disciplined. Here, the client realizes what is required rather than focusing on what is not required.
Ask your client to be as open and as honest as possible. The moment you gain the answers, you can work out on a plan that is designed to achieve the goal. This means you work with the things they want while achieving greater balance and focus. This is an effective coaching strategy indeed!
2. What can you do to achieve the required goal?
The next question will activate more thinking in the mind of the client. By using this effective coaching question, you are working with a client to focus on what can be done to achieve the answer to what he/she wants. This question makes clients understand that he/she may have spent too much time focusing on what was not going right. It brings attention to the power of now, making him/her focus on areas to pay attention to.
Swift Coaching is a must for busy people chasing deadlines and dreams.
A client may realize here that he/she must add to the skills to excel in the career. By partnering with a client in this way, you increase the chances to discover more answers that bring value using the most effective coaching methods.
3. Is this what you want or something else?
When you ask a client a question that challenges the ‘want’, you open up new doors of possibilities. You might wonder why I have included this question. I’ll elaborate on this. A client may often want a goal because his/her parents, spouse, partner, or a close friend may have suggested it. There is pressure to perform and increased expectations from self. This question makes a client explore his/her own space. It makes a client think over his/her own expectations, and goals. This gives a coach the chance to get into the innermost corners of a client’s mind and understand the deeply rooted problem-areas. In Swift Coaching sessions, the client is given a gentle nudge to think about the most important requirements.
This is an important step which makes a client think deeply on the problem. He/she gains a wider perspective to understand the self - one of the key elements of effective coaching.
4. How will you feel once you achieve it?
A coach who uses this effective coaching question is taking the coaching session another level higher. You make a client use the power of creative visualization. This ensures the coaching session is going on the right path with the client thinking about the ‘Future Goal’ or state. When you ask this question, a client is equally motivated to visualize the result of the required goal. If professional excellence is the key, a client will sense the euphoria of achieving his/her goal. By visualizing this experience, a client has improved clarity about the direction of life and has a stronger focus on the task being quite easy to perform. He/she also has a deeper understanding if the goal is aligned to the vision or if there is a need to diverge from the path.
Coaches who use this effective coaching question create a better space for clients as they now have a self-belief about reaching that goal.
5. How do you think you can achieve or progress with what you want now?
A coach is a sounding board to all clients. This question is meant to put on the thinking cap and question the self. A client here needs to explore the deeper spaces to view the situation in the now. This means a client naturally moves away from what has happened to what can be done with the current resources he/she has. A client struggling in his/her work area gets a deeper understanding to define the path ahead. A coach may work with the client to create small milestones useful to make a client progress ahead.
Coaches who use these effective coaching questions create a better space for clients.
A coach who works with a client in a step-by-step process is able to gauge the strengths and problem-areas of the client. The question puts the power back in the hands of the client to prepare for the action plan.
6. What are the key points and takeaways from this session?
By now, the client has a realization that things can be worked upon and new paths can be discovered. By asking this question, a coach is able to make clients think about their mindsets, how they have empowered themselves in the coaching sessions, and how to bring that change. For e.g.: A client realizes that he/she needs to add to the skills required to bring about the change in professional life.
In a digitally-connected world, clients may often press the panic button with work spilling over all throughout the day. Coaches who have the challenge of finding the best coaching methods with clients in a short span of time may always opt to use these 6 powerful questions for their Swift Coaching sessions. Swift Coaching is a must for busy people chasing deadlines and dreams while being inspired and transformed along the way.
You, as a coach, have the power to change lives. Write to [email protected] for more details on Swift Coaching. Join Dr. Paras on his journey to bring that change in people. Read about the certification programs to learn effective coaching methods and strategies.
