Creates action plan through coaching

Creating a solid action plan is a cornerstone for turning objectives into concrete actions and achieving meaningful results. In the realm of leadership and teamwork coaching, the process of developing an action plan becomes critically important in directing team members toward achieving their goals.

The action plan, in essence, is a document that details the tasks necessary to complete a specific objective. It serves as a roadmap that breaks down the process into concrete steps, establishing a timeline and defining the assignments needed to move forward. A solid action plan provides a big picture view and helps the coach/leader guide the team efficiently through each stage of the process.

The usefulness of an action plan is broad, serving as much for individual performance improvement plans as it does for organizational leadership or project management.

An action plan:

• Provides direction: it charts a clear path to the desired goal, organizing related tasks according to their priority.

• Helps monitor progress: This keeps the project on schedule and, if necessary, within budget.

• Promotes collaboration with others: It is a reference to visualize who is doing what in each project, and identify who is responsible for each task, which helps to prevent non-compliance and solve problems.

But we must not lose sight of the fact that we are using coaching to create the action plan, and this means that the coachee's participation and compliance are fundamental to achieve the extraordinary results we are looking for. This is achieved through conversation and understanding.

To this end, there are two key elements that differentiate the process from traditional management. These are:

• Ensuring the coachee's collaboration: in a coaching meeting, it is useful to explore several possible options with the client in order to make them feel involved and to be able to generate actions. This reinforces the concept of collaboration and partnership between coach and client. After evaluating the options and filtering them, various alternatives are discussed in order to move forward. The session closes with summary questions to reinforce what was discussed and confirm what the client has committed to do.

• Ensuring the coachee's commitment: this is crucial for the execution of actions. This is achieved through specific, open-ended questions, where the client can express, for example, what interests him/her most about the proposal, how he/she would carry it out, where he/she would start or the time needed. The coach should observe both the coachee's verbal responses and body language to gauge his or her level of compliance and commitment. Establishing a sense of mutual accountability is essential to maintain motivation and steady progress.

While creating an action plan may seem challenging, the initial effort is well worth it, helping us to maintain focus in later stages. Once the actions to be taken and their details have been defined during the meeting, the next step is to formally record them. Using a simple format can provide clarity and