Brainstorming and Chunking
One of the roles of a coach is in being a sounding board during brainstorming, where a client considers all the options available to them and begins to formulate an action plan. During a coaching session, the client often discovers incredible ideas, thoughts and possibilities that they hadn’t considered before.
It is important to state that the role of the coach in this environment is simply to listen, make notes if required and ask an occasional question that may help the process move forward. The difference between this and an environment such as at work, is that there is only one opinion in the equation and the client can freely explore the limits of their thoughts and imagination without interference.
Once the brainstorming process is completed, the next stage is to prioritise and select things to work on. The final stage for this post, is called chunking. This is simply breaking everything down into chunks or elements that can be put into an order to form an action plan.
For some people this is commonplace in their work, but most have never considered the value this can have in other areas of their lives. I’m always struck by the variety of styles that people will adopt in this process: Some are meticulous in their detail, some draw elaborate diagrams or mind-maps, while others are content to have 5 or 6 bits of paper with some words written on them. What I’ve come to realise is that each of us has the idea that ours is the best way… In fact we are all right.
The best way for us is the way that we say it is - something worth remembering the next time you feel inclined to offer advice.
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Filed under: Life Coaching, Personal Development, action planning, self-improvement, tips — Tags: Action Plan, Coaching, Goals, organise, Plan — Dan O'Neil @ 9:01 am
brainstorming is the fun part - anything goes @_@
@Mike Thanks for stopping by. Dan.
I agree with your depiction of the coach–I wrote an essay where I similarly said the role of the leader was to listen to the train of thought and facilitate it, not to be the one coming up with everything.
Dan O’Neil says… Great point - there is so little learning when things are done for you. People and teams learn to develop and grow when the leader allows them that space and time to do so.
As for me, brainstorming is the fun part, but it is also the overwhelming part. usually I come across so many ideas that it’s becomes overwhelming which ones to implement.
Dan O’Neil says… It’s great that you don’t have to pick them all!
To my mind, the stages mentioned are both essential, and the first one should always be connected with the second one. To organize your ideas in an accurate system you need to consider all the details with relation to their importance.
Dan O’Neil says… Thanks Betty.