Write coaching questions to help someone on my team solve their own problem
Open, non-leading coaching questions organized by stage, so you help a team member think instead of handing them the answer.
The prompt
Write coaching questions I can use with someone who has brought me a problem, so they work out their own solution.
The situation they're facing: [WHAT THEY TOLD ME - paste notes or describe]
Their role and experience level: [e.g. "new team lead, 3 months in"]
What I want them to get from this: [e.g. a decision, more confidence, a plan, ownership]
My temptation: [what I'd normally just tell them to do - optional]
Time we have: [e.g. 20 minutes in our 1:1]
Organize the questions using the GROW stages:
1. Goal - what they want from this conversation and from the situation (2-3 questions).
2. Reality - what's actually happening, what they've tried, what's in their control (4-5 questions).
3. Options - widening their thinking before narrowing (4-5 questions, including one that removes a constraint, e.g. "If budget weren't an issue...").
4. Will / Way forward - commitment, first step, obstacles, support needed (3-4 questions).
Then add:
- 3 follow-up prompts for when they say "I don't know" or go quiet.
- 2 questions that would gently surface a blind spot, based on the situation.
- When it's right to stop coaching and give direct advice (e.g. safety, legal, or a hard deadline).
Rules: questions must be open, short, and non-leading - no "Have you thought about doing X?" disguised as a question. One question at a time; no stacked questions. Keep the wording natural enough to say out loud.
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore Leadership & Management prompts
What to fill in
- WHAT THEY TOLD ME - paste notes or describe
- e.g. "new team lead, 3 months in"
- e.g. a decision, more confidence, a plan, ownership
- what I'd normally just tell them to do - optional
- e.g. 20 minutes in our 1:1
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the Few-Shot structure (Few-shot prompting). A few-shot prompt includes one or more worked examples of the input and the output you want, so the model can copy the pattern instead of guessing it.
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