What is it?

This is a 2-hour workshop that teaches managers the seven essential coaching questions from Michael Bungay Stanier's "The Coaching Habit" and gives them hands-on practice using the questions in realistic scenarios. Participants learn why asking questions beats giving advice, explore all seven questions, select the ones most relevant to their context, and practise using them in paired coaching conversations. The workshop builds the muscle memory needed to make coaching a daily habit rather than a formal event.

Why is it useful?

Most managers default to giving advice. It feels helpful, it's faster, and it plays to their expertise. But advice-giving creates dependency, solves the wrong problems, and exhausts the manager. This workshop breaks that pattern by giving managers a practical toolkit of questions that unlock better conversations in less time. Participants leave with specific questions they can use immediately, experience of what good coaching feels like from both sides, and a plan for building coaching into their regular interactions. The result is more capable team members, less firefighting, and managers who lead through questions rather than answers.

Target Audience

• Managers wanting to develop their team members more effectively
• Leaders who find themselves constantly solving problems for others
• Managers new to coaching who need practical tools
• Experienced managers looking to refresh their coaching approach
• Anyone who gives too much advice and wants to ask better questions
• HR and L&D professionals supporting manager development

Workshop Objectives

• Understand why coaching through questions outperforms advice-giving
• Learn the seven essential coaching questions and when to use each
• Practise using selected questions in realistic manager-team member scenarios
• Identify personal advice-giving triggers and strategies to overcome them
• Create a personal plan for building coaching into daily management

Summary

Duration: 120 mins
Group Size: 8-16 people
Format: In-person, highly interactive

Materials Needed

• Flip chart paper and markers
• Sticky notes (two colours, 10 per person)
• A4 paper for each participant
• Pens for each participant
• Timer visible to participants
• Printed handout: Seven Questions Reference Card (one per person)
• Printed handout: Coaching Practice Scenarios (one per person)
• Printed handout: Personal Coaching Plan (one per person)
• Bell or chime for timing practice rounds
• Blu-tack or tape for posting materials

Process

Step 1: The Advice Monster (10 mins)

Goal: Help participants recognise their default advice-giving habit and understand why it's a problem.

Activity:

1. Welcome the group and ask: "When someone comes to you with a problem, what's your instinct?" Allow a few responses. Most will admit they jump to solving.
2. Introduce the concept of the "Advice Monster": that voice in your head that's desperate to give advice. It tells you that you're not adding value unless you're providing answers. It's wrong.
3. Ask participants to think of a recent conversation where someone came to them with a problem. On paper, write down: What advice did you give? How quickly did you give it? Did they actually need it?
4. In pairs, share one example of your Advice Monster taking over. What happened? Allow 3 minutes.
5. Bring the group back. Ask: "What's the cost of always giving advice?" Capture responses on flip chart. Typical answers: creates dependency, solves wrong problem, exhausting, team doesn't grow.

Debrief Questions:

• When does your Advice Monster show up most?
• What triggers you to jump into advice mode?
• What do you think you're risking if you don't give advice?
• How do your team members respond when you always have the answer?

Step 2: The Power of Questions (10 mins)

Goal: Build the case for asking questions instead of giving answers and introduce the core principle of the coaching habit.

Activity:

1. Explain the core insight from "The Coaching Habit": You can build a coaching habit by asking just a few key questions. Not complex coaching models. Just questions that work.
2. Share three reasons why questions beat advice:
   • Questions help you understand the real problem (not the first problem presented)
   • Questions help the other person think (instead of waiting for your answer)
   • Questions create ownership (they solve it, they own it)
3. Introduce the "stay curious a little longer" principle. The goal is to slow down the rush to advice. Not forever. Just a little longer than feels comfortable.
4. Ask participants: "Think about the best coach or mentor you've had. What did they do?" Allow a few responses. Note how often the answer involves asking good questions and listening.
5. Set up the rest of the workshop: You're going to learn seven questions that work. Then you'll pick the ones that matter most to you and practise using them.

Debrief Questions:

• What happens when someone asks you a good question instead of giving you advice?
• When have you seen a question unlock a conversation?
• What makes it hard to stay curious when you think you know the answer?
• What would change if your team expected questions from you instead of answers?

Step 3: The Seven Questions (20 mins)

Goal: Introduce all seven coaching questions from the book, explaining what each does and when to use it.

Activity:

1. Distribute the Seven Questions Reference Card. Explain that these questions come from thousands of coaching conversations. They work because they're simple and they focus on what matters.
2. Walk through each question, spending about 2 minutes on each:
   • The Kickstart Question: "What's on your mind?" Opens any conversation. Gets to what matters fast. Better than small talk or "How's the project going?"
   • The AWE Question: "And what else?" The best coaching question in the world. Generates more options. Stops you from jumping on the first thing said. Use it at least three times.
   • The Focus Question: "What's the real challenge here for you?" Slows down the rush to solve. Gets past the surface problem to the real problem. The "for you" makes it personal.
   • The Foundation Question: "What do you want?" Clarifies what success looks like. Often people don't know until you ask. Creates focus.
   • The Lazy Question: "How can I help?" Stops you from assuming what they need. Forces them to make a direct request. Keeps you from overcommitting.
   • The Strategic Question: "If you're saying yes to this, what are you saying no to?" Surfaces the trade-offs. Makes commitment real. Stops overload.
   • The Learning Question: "What was most useful for you?" Closes the conversation. Creates reflection. Tells you what landed. Makes learning stick.
3. After all seven, ask participants to circle the 2-3 questions on their card that would be most useful in their current situation.
4. Quick show of hands: "Who circled AWE?" "Who circled the Focus Question?" Get a sense of what resonates.

Debrief Questions:

• Which question surprised you as being useful?
• Which question would be hardest for you to ask?
• Which question would have helped in a recent conversation?
• Do you notice any patterns in what the group selected?

Step 4: Question Selection (10 mins)

Goal: Have participants select the questions they will focus on practising and explore why those questions matter to them.

Activity:

1. Post seven flip chart sheets around the room, one for each question. Write the question name at the top of each.
2. Give each participant 2 sticky notes. Ask them to place their notes on the 2 questions they most want to practise. They can put both on the same question if they feel strongly.
3. Once voting is complete, count the votes. Identify the top 3-4 questions that received the most votes.
4. For each top question, ask the group: "Why do you think this one matters? What situation would it help with?"
5. Announce that the practice rounds will focus on these 3-4 questions. Everyone will get to use them in realistic scenarios.

Debrief Questions:

• What do our choices say about our common challenges as managers?
• Were there any questions that surprised you by getting few votes?
• How might different teams choose differently?
• Which question are you most nervous about using?

Step 5: Coaching Practice Round 1 (20 mins)

Goal: Give participants their first hands-on experience using the selected questions in a realistic scenario.

Activity:

1. Distribute the Coaching Practice Scenarios handout. Explain that these are common situations managers face.
2. Divide into pairs. Assign roles: Person A is the manager (coach), Person B is the team member (coachee).
3. Person B selects a scenario from the handout or uses a real situation they're comfortable sharing. They will play the team member coming to their manager.
4. Person A's job is to use only the selected questions (posted on the wall). No advice. Just questions. The goal is to help Person B think through their situation.
5. The conversation runs for 6 minutes. Start the timer.
6. After 6 minutes, ring the bell. Pairs debrief for 2 minutes: What worked? What was hard? How did it feel from each side?
7. Bring the full group back. Quick share: "What did you notice?" Capture 3-4 observations.

Debrief Questions:

• What was it like to only ask questions?
• When were you most tempted to give advice?
• Coachees: how did it feel to be asked questions instead of told answers?
• Which question was most useful in your conversation?

Step 6: Coaching Practice Round 2 (20 mins)

Goal: Deepen practice by switching roles and focusing on staying curious longer.

Activity:

1. Switch roles. Person B is now the manager (coach), Person A is the team member (coachee).
2. Person A selects a different scenario or uses a real situation.
3. Before starting, add a challenge: "This time, use 'And what else?' at least three times before moving to any other question. See what happens when you stay curious longer."
4. The conversation runs for 6 minutes. Start the timer.
5. After 6 minutes, ring the bell. Pairs debrief for 2 minutes: How did "And what else?" change the conversation? What came up that wouldn't have emerged otherwise?
6. Bring the full group back. Ask: "What happened when you asked 'And what else?' multiple times?" Capture insights.

Debrief Questions:

• What did you discover by asking "And what else?" repeatedly?
• Did the conversation go somewhere unexpected?
• When did you feel the urge to stop asking and start solving?
• How did the coachee feel when given space to explore?

Step 7: Breaking the Advice Habit (15 mins)

Goal: Help participants identify their specific advice-giving triggers and develop strategies to stay in question mode.

Activity:

1. Explain that knowing the questions is not the same as using them. The Advice Monster is strong. You need strategies to stay in coaching mode.
2. On their paper, ask participants to write:
   • Three situations where I'm most likely to give advice (e.g., time pressure, certain people, certain topics)
   • What I tell myself to justify giving advice (e.g., "It's faster," "They need my expertise," "I've seen this before")
3. Give 4 minutes for individual reflection.
4. In new pairs (different from practice rounds), share your triggers and justifications. Help each other identify patterns. Allow 5 minutes.
5. As a full group, brainstorm strategies for staying curious when the Advice Monster shows up. Capture on flip chart. Examples:
   • Take a breath before responding
   • Keep the question card visible in meetings
   • Notice your body (leaning forward often means advice is coming)
   • Ask "Can I ask you a question?" to buy time
   • Write down your advice instead of saying it

Debrief Questions:

• What patterns did you notice in your triggers?
• Which justification for advice-giving resonates most?
• What strategy do you think will work for you?
• How will you remember to use questions instead of advice in the moment?

Step 8: Personal Coaching Plan (10 mins)

Goal: Translate workshop learning into specific commitments for building a coaching habit.

Activity:

1. Distribute the Personal Coaching Plan handout. Walk through the sections:
   • The 2-3 questions I will focus on
   • One specific conversation this week where I will use them
   • My main advice-giving trigger
   • My strategy for staying curious
   • Who will hold me accountable
2. Give participants 5 minutes to complete their plan.
3. In pairs, share your plan briefly. Partners should ask: "When exactly will you try this?" Push for specificity.
4. Partners exchange contact details if needed and agree on a check-in time within the next week.

Debrief Questions:

• What's your first opportunity to use these questions?
• What will be hardest about sticking to your plan?
• How can your partner help you stay accountable?
• What will you do if you slip back into advice mode?

Step 9: Closing Circle (5 mins)

Goal: Close with commitment and shared energy.

Activity:

1. Stand in a circle. Go around the room. Each person completes the sentence: "The question I'm taking away is _____________, and I'll use it this week when _____________."
2. Keep it moving. One sentence per person.
3. Close by reminding the group: Coaching is not a meeting you schedule. It's a way of being in every conversation. Stay curious a little longer than feels comfortable. That's where the magic happens.
4. Thank participants and remind them to follow up with their accountability partner.

Debrief Questions:

• How do you feel about your ability to coach through questions now?
• What's one thing you'll remember from today?
• How might your team respond when you start asking more questions?
• What support do you need to build this habit?

Secret Sauce

• Model the behaviour: Throughout the workshop, ask questions instead of giving explanations when possible. Let participants notice that you're using the same approach you're teaching.
• Normalise the awkwardness: The practice rounds will feel stilted. Say so upfront: "This will feel unnatural at first. That's normal. You're building a new muscle." This stops people from giving up when it feels weird.
• AWE is the secret weapon: If participants remember only one question, it should be "And what else?" Push them to use it three times before moving on. Most people give up after one.
• Watch for the question-as-disguised-advice trap: Some participants will ask leading questions that are really advice in disguise ("Have you thought about talking to Sarah?" = "You should talk to Sarah"). Call this out gently when you hear it.
• The Focus Question is often the breakthrough: "What's the real challenge here for you?" frequently unlocks conversations. Highlight this if participants are struggling to choose what to practise.
• Real scenarios beat hypotheticals: During practice, encourage participants to use real situations they're facing if they're comfortable. The practice is more valuable when the stakes feel real.
• Silence is golden: After asking a question, participants need to wait. Silence feels uncomfortable but it's where thinking happens. Coach pairs to count to five in their head after asking.
• The Advice Monster will win sometimes: Tell participants that slipping up is part of the process. The goal is to give advice less, not never. Self-compassion beats self-criticism for habit change.
• Follow up matters: The accountability check-in is crucial. Consider sending a reminder email 3 days after the workshop prompting people to schedule their check-in if they haven't.
• Keep the reference card visible: Encourage participants to keep the Seven Questions card on their desk or in their notebook. Visual cues help habit formation.