How does coaching work at greenfields?

At greenfields we feel it’s important that you experience how Michelle works before you embark on a career or life coaching programme. We therefore offer a “chemistry” session without charge or obligation – so that you can “try before you buy”. This also means that if Michelle believes there are other professionals better placed to help you she can provide you with an appropriate referral.

Once you are sure that personal coaching with greenfields is right for you, Michelle will agree with you your objectives for the coaching and outline the “ground rules” for working together. For example your right to expect to work in a confidential environment and Michelle’s expectation that you will take personal responsibility for making change.

Coaching is a dialogue based helping intervention which through careful questioning (and listening!) helps you to discover what you didn’t know you knew ! And where there are gaps in your understanding Michelle will support you to develop a strategy for plugging them. Most coaching sessions last between and hour to 90 minutes.

In theory a typical career or life coaching relationship would go through the stages outlined below – however, in Michelle’s experience the reality is much more random! It’s sometimes difficult to know what your goals are until you’ve clarified facts and assumptions, at other times having explored some possibilities you need to return to the planning stage ! Anyway – here’s what the text books say happen ….

Stage 1 : Assessment and trust building i.e. Getting to know each other and deciding to work together

Stage 2 : Planning i.e. The practicalities of how often to meet and for how long including what happens if one party can’t make it

Stage 3 : Formalising process and scope : i.e. Agreeing what’s “in” and what’s “out” for the coaching agenda and clarifying what coaching “is” and what its “not”

Stage 4 : Defining purpose and goals : i.e. What do you want to be different at the end of the coaching programme

Stage 5 : Clarifying facts and assumptions i.e. Making sense of all the “stuff” that’s going on in your head to determine what is fact and what might be fiction

Stage 6 : Exploring possibilities i.e. Providing a sounding board or perhaps brainstorming avenues that you might not have considered independently

Stage 7 : Gaining commitment to actions i.e. What are you going to do and by when ?

Stage 8 : Offering support and accountability i.e. Determining what support you might need when coaching has finished and identifying how you will secure it

Depending on the issue at hand – you may go through all of these stages in one session or it may take longer. At greenfields we are keen not to create dependency and so we will only agree to coaching programmes of 10 sessions or less.