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Coaching conversation role-play scenarios

Two coaching conversation scenarios you can run in your next session. Each has a situation, a private brief for the employee and a short scoring guide. Judge the answers by your own method.

A manager listening as a team member thinks a problem through

What is a coaching conversation role-play?

A coaching conversation role-play is a practice conversation between a manager and an employee. One person plays an employee with a hidden brief. The manager has to help them think the problem through and own the next step, without giving the answer.

Where it fits in a programme

Run these once managers know how you want them to coach, and before they try it with their own teams. The pull to fix things is strong in the real room, so it helps to feel it first in a safe one.

What good looks like

  • Asks open questions and leaves room for the answer.
  • Holds back advice, even when the employee asks for it.
  • Ends with a next step the employee chose and will own.

Scenario 1

Coaching someone who wants the answer

  • 10 minutes
  • Starter

The situation

The learner manages a team leader who has just been promoted. One of her team members keeps arriving late. She has asked for ten minutes of the learner’s time.

The learner’s goal

Help her decide what to do about the lateness, and what she will do first.

Private brief for the employee

Jess, a new team leader who was a peer of her team a month ago.

  • You are keen and a little anxious. You want a clear answer so you can get on with it.
  • You already have an idea. You think you should speak to him in private. You have not said so, because you were his peer until a month ago and you fear he will dislike you for it.
  • You open up if the manager asks open questions and waits for you to answer. If the manager gives you advice, agree at once and take no ownership of it.

The employee’s opening line

"Just tell me what you’d do. I don’t have time to go round the houses."

What to look for

  1. 1 Declines to answer "what would you do" without shutting her down.
  2. 2 Asks what she has already thought about, and waits.
  3. 3 Names the fear of being disliked, or helps her name it.

Debrief questions

  • What did you do when Jess asked you to just tell her?
  • At what point did she say something that was her own idea?

Make it harder

Have Jess push back twice more with "I really do need you to just say it". The learner has to hold back advice under pressure.

Scenario 2

Coaching an expert who is stuck

  • 10 minutes
  • Intermediate

The situation

The learner manages a senior engineer who leads a project. The project is two weeks behind plan. The engineer says it is fine.

The learner’s goal

Help him see what is holding the project back and choose his own next step.

Private brief for the employee

Rob, a senior engineer who leads a project.

  • You are calm on the surface and tired underneath. You are proud of your work and you do not want to look as if you cannot cope.
  • You will not hand work over. Last time you did, it came back wrong and you redid it at the weekend. You have told no one.
  • You open up if the manager asks what you would need in order to trust a hand-over. If the manager tells you to delegate, shut down and say you have it in hand.

The employee’s opening line

"It’s fine. I’ve got it in hand."

What to look for

  1. 1 Asks about the work itself after Rob says it is fine.
  2. 2 Asks what Rob would need in order to trust a hand-over.
  3. 3 Leaves with a step that Rob chose, and a time he will do it.

Debrief questions

  • What did you do when Rob said it was fine?
  • Where did you feel pulled to tell him what to do, and how did you handle it?

Make it harder

Have Rob answer every open question in one short sentence for the first four minutes, so the learner has to find another way in.

Common questions

How do you run a coaching conversation role-play?
Give the employee a problem and a private brief with their own idea in it. Tell the manager only the situation. Ask an observer to count each time the manager gives advice. Debrief on whose idea the next step was.
How long should a coaching role-play last?
Ten minutes is enough for most pairs. A coaching conversation needs silence and follow-up, so a shorter slot makes managers rush to answers.
What should you score in a coaching role-play?
Count how often the manager gives advice, and check whether the employee states the next step in their own words. Tell the manager both before the start.

Build these scenarios on your method

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