CHAPTER
11

Development Planning

DEVELOPMENT PLANNING REPRESENTS A MILESTONE IN THE COACHING PROCESS BECAUSE:

It begins the formal transition from discovery to implementation.

It bridges the private and public elements of coaching.

It links today’s developmental actions with future aspirations.

Development planning embodies key principles of adult learning. It is anchored in client self-insight, so it is designed to fit the individual in the context of that person’s work challenges. It extrapolates from awareness to clear, positive development goals, supported by specific behavioral action ideas. Lastly, development action planning assumes that growth is iterative; actions are followed by reflection, feedback, adjustment, and more action to yield progress. All of these points reflect ways in which adults learn best.

Ideally, development plans are the natural outgrowth of the earlier stages of coaching. Goal evolution, discussed in Chapter 8, describes an important aspect of that process. Clients value and feel ownership of development plans that have incorporated their self-discovery and situational reality. Needs that were felt but only vaguely expressed now have clear articulation; new paths forward have been identified. These steps help to optimize client commitment and motivation toward change.

Development planning begins with the negotiated goals that you and your client have articulated. Through the feedback steps in your coaching process, designed objectives will emerge, constituting the headlines on the client’s development plan. On-the-job implementation ideas, based on discussion and brainstorming with your client, are natural next steps in helping the client make progress toward objectives. Those ideas for action in development plans are identified in the spirit of the expression: A plan is a basis for change. The actions tied to designed objectives are subject to revision as the client tries out new approaches and works with you to evaluate results. Even as actions may be changed, discarded, or added, designed objectives remain, anchoring the overall developmental effort

Once the designed objectives are clear to you and your client, and action ideas are emerging, it is time to begin creating a written plan. This process can happen during and between coaching conversations and via e-mails aimed at drafting this tangible work product of coaching. Who begins the process of drafting development plans, whether you or the client, is a decision that may reflect your approach to coaching or practical considerations about moving the process along. Also, development plans are written with the expectation that they will be shared with sponsors, so they need to be clear to those who have not been part of the process of creating them. Help your client step into the sponsor’s shoes and make the objectives and actions as clear as possible.

Formats for development plans can vary based on the client’s specific situation. Typical sections, however, include a brief statement about the process that has yielded the plan, client strengths, and each designed objective, followed by the action ideas to make progress toward that objective. There are many variations on these standard sections, including implementation details; resources, obstacles, and time frames for action; situational factors that may help or hinder progress; and examples of what to do and what to avoid doing as change takes hold. The particular structure of development plans that you help to create is an opportunity for your creativity to be responsive to the needs of specific clients and their organizational settings. (In the supplementary material at the end of this book, Exhibit 7, Exhibit 8, and Exhibit 9 provide sample development plans using different formats.)

Here are some questions to help you make sure the plan is robust:

To what extent does the plan provide a balanced picture of the client, showing strengths as well as developmental areas?

How well do the designed objectives capture the client’s aspirations for being a more effective manager and leader?

What is the conceptual overlap between the original felt needs and the designed objectives in the plan?

To what extent are the objectives broader than the action ideas so that they will remain valid even if some actions are discarded?

How manageable is the plan in the short term given your client’s workload and other constraints?

If there are ambitious and longer-range aspects of the objectives, how might they be implemented in stages?

Once development plans are drafted, sharing them with sponsors usually occurs during three- or four-way meetings devoted to achieving consensus on objectives and actions. At a development planning meeting, your client can present the plan for reactions and suggestions. Not every coach feels the need to be present at all development planning meetings, and this choice may be an aspect of your Personal Model.

Your participation can be very useful, however, because it provides you with information about the client’s relationship with her manager and that manager’s support for the client’s development. (Note: The Human Resource sponsor may or may not be present during development planning meetings, depending on the organization’s culture and structure, although the plan would generally be shared with that person, present or not.) Your presence also is a clear reminder to the manager that this plan reflects the work of the coaching process. Furthermore, it is simply easier for you to hear reactions and suggestions directly, instead of having them conveyed to you via your client. Finally, as a participant in the discussion, you can ask questions that would be difficult for your client to ask, such as, “In what ways will you support this development plan?” and “What might get in the way of implementing these changes, and how can we prevent that from happening?”

If you do participate in a development planning meeting, your role is that of facilitator. It is your client’s meeting and your objective is to encourage direct dialogue between client and manager. You can provide perspective about the coaching process and prompt issues that need to be discussed. It is the client’s responsibility to present the plan and foster reactions to it. This is particularly important for the client’s ownership of the plan and its implementation after coaching is concluded.

A typical development planning meeting might flow as follows:

1. The coach states the goal of the meeting and provides an overview of the process that has led to this draft development plan.

2. The client presents the plan to the manager (and HR sponsor, if present), going section by section to ensure understanding and encouraging questions and suggestions about development actions.

3. The client highlights the process of arriving at designed objectives and links them to the original felt needs.

4. The coach can foster the manager’s participation, if necessary, by asking for reactions and additional ideas about goals and actions.

5. After the entire plan has been discussed and suggestions made, the coach can raise broader questions about ongoing support and feedback.

6. The parties thank one another, and the coach confirms the next steps in the coaching process, noting that subsequent contacts will use the plan as a basis for discussion.

7. Coach and client debrief the meeting.

If the plan has been revised, the client can provide the revised plan to the manager within a short time after the meeting.

Figure 11-1. Benefits of Development Planning Meetings

While the payoffs of Development Planning Meetings can be high (see Figure 11-1), there are also risks. These include:

1. The client’s manager may demonstrate an evident lack of interest, negativity, or shift in the needs originally stated.

2. The client’s performance in presenting the plan may be poor (e.g., talking too much, appearing overtly anxious or disorganized).

3. The manager or the HR sponsor may raise negative feedback about the client that had not been offered earlier in the process.

4. Issues may surface that were not previously raised by any of the parties, including new political realities, job changes, or other organizational events that can impact the execution of the client’s plan.

It is important for you, as coach, to be mindful of these risks and be clear about the alignment between the client and the client’s manager before proceeding with this meeting. Coaches often make preparation for the development planning meeting a topic for the session preceding it. You or the client under your guidance can share an agenda and the development plan document in advance with the sponsors and answer any questions they may have about the meeting.

If significant time has passed between the manager’s input and the meeting, it may be advisable for you to reach out to the sponsors and ask for feedback about the client’s progress and any new issues that have emerged. It is better to delay the meeting and address concerns rather than be blindsided by negative feedback during the meeting. After the meeting, it is also helpful to debrief with your client. Congratulations are in order, and it is natural for the client to ask you for feedback. In addition, you can prompt reflection by asking: “How did it go?” What messages should be taken away? What adjustments to the plan are necessary? You or the client can also follow up with the sponsors to ask for feedback about the meeting itself and any other thoughts they have about the client’s plan.

The development planning phase of the engagement focuses on your responsibility to link the initial work of coaching (relationship building, identifying negotiated goals, gathering data, and giving feedback) with more public and formal aspects of development. The private elements of coaching—everything you have learned in your coaching conversations—meet the public aspects of what the organization expects the client to do in furthering his development. The art of coaching shows in your ability both to partner with the client privately at the same time that you are guided by input from coaching sponsors and other stakeholders.

The development planning phase also represents an opportunity for direct collaboration among the client, the sponsors, and you. During the coaching engagement, sponsors—and the client’s manager in particular—can be very helpful in supporting change. While the development plan is never finished in any absolute sense and needs to remain amenable to adjustment, it provides a guide that gets everyone on the same page in supporting the client’s development.

Having a development plan also makes for a smoother handoff of the client’s development back to the sponsors at the conclusion of coaching. Although a development planning meeting may occur as early as the first quarter in a six-month coaching timeline, it actually anticipates the conclusion of coaching when the client’s manager will again be in the foreground of the client’s development. You can consider reconvening for a program review meeting near the close of coaching and use the development plan to acknowledge progress and note areas needing more developmental attention after coaching concludes.

Supervisor’s Observations

As an experienced coach, Brian understood the importance of this development planning phase of coaching. His client’s insight that leadership is a performance art parallels his own understanding of the performance aspects to coaching. Creating a rich process that culminates in a well-founded, resonant development plan demonstrates to client and sponsors that development is possible.

In addition, the duet of coaching became a trio during the development planning meeting; this was only possible because of solid preparation. Brian orchestrated the preliminary steps and the meeting itself so that Joy and her manager could really focus on her development and his role in supporting it. As a result, new information on a pending business acquisition emerged in a safe setting, which allowed Brian and Joy to incorporate this information into her development plan. In fact, based on what happened during the meeting, Joy might choose to take more risks with John. This would become more likely because Brian was a witness to their interaction and his support for her changes. Brian also realized that this action was aligned with other steps for strengthening Joy’s leadership presence. Applying it to John offered another opportunity for her growth, but it also expanded the possibilities in their ongoing work relationship.

Takeaways

Moving into the development planning phase of coaching is a milestone in the process and is the juncture between the private and public aspects of coaching.

A written draft of a development plan containing both designed objectives and actions reflects a productive collaboration between you and the client.

Designed objectives on the development plan look forward to the client’s aspirations while the action ideas ground those goals in the here and now.

The spirit behind the development planning process is that application, reflection, and adjustment will keep actions focused on the objectives.

Development plans are often shared with the client’s manager and possibly the HR sponsor during meetings devoted to achieving consensus and involving them in the client’s development.