GROW model
Clarify a goal, examine the current reality, explore options, and let the person choose an action and a way to follow up.
Use GROW for a coaching conversation about a challenge or development goal. Goal, Reality, Options, and Will provide prompts for thinking together. Return to an earlier stage when new information changes the discussion; the diagram is a record, not a rigid script.
The person’s desired outcome, current evidence and constraints, available support, and possible actions.
A goal, a view of the current situation, several options, and a next action chosen by the person, with timing and follow-up.
How to use it
- Goal: ask what the person wants to achieve and how they would recognize progress.
- Reality: explore current observations, previous attempts, resources, and constraints without turning assumptions into facts.
- Options: explore different actions and their tradeoffs before choosing; use questions rather than prescribe one answer.
- Will: let the person choose the next step, timing, and support. Mark unconfirmed commitments as unconfirmed and agree how to review progress.
Keep its limits in mind
Ask open questions rather than decide on the person’s behalf. Will is also described as Way forward. A suggested action is not a commitment unless the person confirms it, and a commitment does not mean the action is completed.
Choose a first practice step for customer demonstrations
Fictional example: Lin at Yunqiao wants to improve customer demonstrations. Lin can explain features but asks few questions about customer needs; a manager holds a coaching conversation. A customer demonstration next week could be co-hosted.
On a small screen, scroll across the diagram to read it.
Goal and alternatives: The four-week goal is distinct from the current gaps in questions and time control. Co-hosting next week is one available option; the case does not say Lin chose or completed it.
Choice and follow-up: Lin chooses the Wednesday ten-minute recording and Friday peer feedback. Those actions can be checked this week, but no recording, feedback, or improved demonstration result is supplied. The manager should confirm support and possible obstacles.
Next step: Confirm support and obstacles with Lin, then revisit the recording and peer feedback at the next conversation and adjust the practice focus using what actually happened.
Three conditions for an honest coaching conversation
Use GROW when the person has room to explore a development challenge and choose a next action. Agree what this conversation is for and which constraints are fixed. A manager may have legitimate requirements, but should state them directly. Presenting a mandatory instruction as an open choice makes the record misleading.
Pause if the goal belongs only to the manager and the person has not agreed to work on it. Clarify the requirement and the person’s own goal before recording a commitment. Pause if Reality contains an invented diagnosis such as “lacks motivation” without supporting observations. Pause if a suggested action depends on another person’s time or permission that has not been confirmed. The person can choose to request help; that does not mean help is already available.
Let the conversation move back when new information changes the picture. A capacity limit discovered during Options may require a smaller Goal. Keep alternatives visible after a choice so later review can ask whether another approach is now more useful. Do not turn the worksheet into a compliance test that rewards saying yes to every suggestion.
Choose a conversation, a goal or a team review
GROW helps preserve the person’s thinking and choice. It can connect to other methods, but those methods do not supply evidence of commitment either. Pick the next output that is actually needed.
| Method | Useful when | Boundary |
|---|---|---|
| GROW | A person needs to explore goal, reality and options | The chosen action must be theirs |
| SMART | An accepted direction lacks a measure or deadline | A precise target is not proven feasible |
| KPT | Several participants are reviewing shared work | A team suggestion still needs an accepted owner |
| RACI | A chosen action creates cross-role deliverables | Role letters do not confirm capacity or permission |
Worked continuation: preserve who chose what
Continue the fictional Lin case above. Lin wants to give a customer-problem-led demonstration independently within four weeks. The supplied observations concern opening questions and time control, not a measured failure rate or a diagnosis. A co-hosting opportunity next week is available as an option. Lin instead chooses a ten-minute recording on Wednesday and an invitation for peer feedback on Friday. No completed recording or feedback is supplied.
The following short dialogue is an invented teaching reconstruction consistent with those inputs, not a real transcript. Manager: “What would make the next practice useful to you?” Lin: “I want to hear whether my opening starts with the customer’s problem.” Manager: “Which options would let you examine that?” Lin: “I could observe, record, co-host or ask a peer. I choose a recording on Wednesday and will invite feedback on Friday.” The option list is not a set of accepted tasks.
Now turn the discussion into an action record without adding a peer’s acceptance. Ten minutes is the intended recording length, not a measured performance. Wednesday and Friday are the supplied relative days; the actual calendar dates and next-conversation time should be confirmed in real use. The four-week development goal remains separate from this week’s practice step.
| Stage | Material retained | Status / next question |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Independent customer-problem-led demonstration within four weeks | Desired outcome; agree what would count as progress |
| Reality | Feature knowledge; gaps in opening questions and time control | Supplied observations, with no measured result |
| Options | Observe, record, co-host, seek peer feedback | Alternatives; co-hosting not selected |
| Will / Way forward | Wednesday ten-minute recording; invite feedback Friday | Chosen future actions, not completed work |
| Support | Peer response and practical recording arrangements | Not confirmed; request and record actual replies |
Review evidence without taking ownership away
Before closing the conversation, ask what could prevent the recording, which support Lin wants to request and how the next discussion will use the material. Keep the answer in Lin’s words. If the manager proposes a co-hosted demonstration again, record it as a new suggestion until Lin chooses it or a clear work requirement is separately stated. Do not overwrite the original choice.
At follow-up, ask what actually happened. If a recording exists, examine its opening, intended customer problem, questions and actual duration using the agreed criteria. If feedback was requested but no peer replied, record the request and missing response separately. If nothing was recorded, explore the obstacle rather than inventing a practice result. Preserve different attempts as different records so later notes do not erase the first experience.
Conclude with what the evidence supports and let Lin choose the next focus. One completed practice recording does not establish that an independent customer demonstration improved. A useful review can reveal a narrower practice need or an unavailable support arrangement. Record any revised goal, chosen action, timing and unresolved support, with actual agreement distinct from suggestion and completion.
Check your work
- The goal and chosen action belong to the person being coached.
- Reality records evidence and constraints rather than an invented diagnosis.
- Options remain alternatives until a choice is made.
- An action agreement preserves its timing and support; it is separate from completed work and achieved results.
Framework references
References explain the framework and its scope; they do not validate the fictional example's results.
Put the framework to work
Copy the outline and add your question, evidence, and open questions.
Read a practical guide →Practice with an example
Choose a preparation route for progress, a resource or decision request, or a period review. Use one service case to inspect openings, review checks and focused guides, and keep a preparation note.
Prepare a work update: start with the purpose →