# 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.

- Topic: Leadership & Management
- Framework: Few-Shot
- Level: Standard
- Tags: Write, Plan, Fill-in Template, Interactive
- Source: https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/prompts/write-coaching-questions-to-help-someone-on-my-team-solve-their-own

## Prompt

```text
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.
```

## 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

Free to copy and use. From ThinkWithPrompt (https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/), a library of 2,663 curated AI prompts.