Grow performance with the GROW model

GROW works because it fits inside a normal week. You do not need an away day or a new platform. You need ten purposeful minutes in a one to one where a person sets a clear goal, faces what is true, chooses a sensible option and makes a promise they can keep. Do that often and quality rises without micromanaging, because people own outcomes and you remove friction early.

Pair GROW with your weekly rhythm. One clear goal per person on Monday. A small mid-week proof touch. A clean close on Friday.

What GROW is, in work language

GROW is four moves in a line. Goal is the outcome for the next block of work, stated in one sentence that includes the evidence. Reality is the situation as it stands today, including any constraint you cannot wish away. Options are the two or three ways forward that make sense in that reality. Will is the decision and the next step, with an owner and a date you both can see.

Kept this tight, GROW is not a cosy chat or a status readout. It is a short coaching moment where the person does the thinking, and you keep them honest about evidence and trade-offs. Adults talking about work.

How to run GROW in ten minutes

Open your one to one with Goal. Ask for the one thing they aim to land this week. If the answer is vague, write it together in one line and include how you will both know it happened. By Wednesday, Priya will publish the onboarding draft, evidenced by the live link in the shared space. Short, specific and visible.

Move to Reality. Ask what is true right now. Time available. Skills and confidence. Dependencies and risks. Invite one piece of proof. A calendar view, a draft, a dashboard. This keeps the conversation grounded and stops wishful thinking.

Shift to Options. Ask for two or three routes that respect the reality just named. What could you try this week. Which option would move this fastest. Who can unblock one step in twenty minutes. If they only bring one option, ask for a second so the choice is real.

Finish with Will. What will you do, by when, and where will I see it. Capture the owner and date in the same place you track weekly goals so the promise does not drift. That line becomes your mid-week show-me and your Friday close.

You will be tempted to advise at every turn. Hold back long enough for them to think. If they get stuck, offer two options and ask which fits their world. They should leave with a clear step they own.

What good sounds like

Good GROW conversations sound calm and specific. You will hear a manager say, let us write the outcome in one line so we both know what good looks like. You will hear a person say, the blocker is the supplier review on Tuesday so I will book the legal slot now and send the draft with two options this afternoon. You will see a note that reads, by Friday, Dan will cut tickets older than seven days to under ten, evidenced by the dashboard. On Wednesday he will post a screenshot at midday.

Across roles the shape stays the same. In operations the focus might be ageing orders and handovers. In sales it might be renewal terms and decision makers. In engineering it might be a bug fix with a flaky test and a partner team dependency. In HR it might be one to ones completed with notes in the shared space. Each uses the same line, the same proof and the same short decision at the end.

Why managers avoid coaching, and what fixes it

Managers usually avoid coaching for two reasons. They think it takes too long, and they fear awkwardness. Time first. Ten minutes is enough when you keep to one outcome and one next step. Awkwardness next. You do not need to be a therapist. You need to ask clean questions, listen, and bring the talk back to outcomes and evidence. If it drifts, ask, what will you show me on Wednesday so we both know it is on track. That one question resets tone and pace.

Make GROW part of the week, not a special event

GROW works best when it sits inside a simple weekly cycle. On Monday the one-line goals go up where everyone can see them. Mid-week each person posts a tiny proof. A screenshot, a draft, a note in the decision log. On Friday you close each goal as landed or not, and if it slips you name the blocker and the new date in the same place. Your GROW conversation feeds each of these moments, so nothing feels extra.

In meetings, open with the decision you need today, state the options that are genuinely on the table, say which way you lean and why, invite a better idea, then capture owner and date. That habit prevents the “next Tuesday” loop and backs the Will step with a visible record.

Keep it fair, keep it visible

Consistency builds confidence. Use the same one-line format for goals. Write decisions where people already look. Keep one shared space for proof so no one is hunting through threads. Give every manager the same small tools. A one-page GROW aide-mémoire. A printable one to one card. A lightweight decision log. Put them behind a tile in your LMS so managers open what they need at the point of use. If you want to move quickly, Lead-Ology courses match these moments and drop straight into your system as SCORM. If you want to avoid seat spreadsheets and access queues, your Company licence vs per-seat piece explains the case for open access.

Common traps and the easy way out

Vague goals are the quiet killer. If you hear support or review or help, you probably have activity rather than an outcome. Rewrite it together until a reasonable person could tell whether it happened. Another trap is turning GROW into an interrogation. Keep your tone even and your questions short. Invite context and then focus on the next visible step. The last trap is forgetting the Will. A conversation that ends without an owner and a date will not survive the afternoon.

Signs it is working

You will notice cleaner one to ones, shorter updates and fewer surprises. People bring options instead of problems. Decisions land in the room because the choice is already shaped. You see more right first time on the outputs that matter in your world. If you want a quick read on progress without a new dashboard, look for four small signals over a month. How many one to ones used the GROW shape. How many weekly goals were written as one sentence with evidence. How often did you see a mid-week proof. What changed in right first time on two repeating outputs that count. Share a tiny view with one artefact each week so the story looks like work rather than marketing.

Remote, hybrid and on the floor

The moves do not change with location. Ask the same questions, write the same one-line outcomes, capture the same decisions. Cameras on for the first minute can help intent land, then let people work. For shift teams, tie the mid-week proof to handover so it is natural and quick.

Getting started on Monday

Pick one person and run a GROW conversation this week. Write the goal together in one line with the evidence inside it. Name what is true. Choose a practical option. Record the step, the owner and the date where you both can see it. Ask for a small show-me on Wednesday. Close it out on Friday and write the next line. Repeat with the team. The change is steady rather than dramatic, and it sticks because it sits inside the work.

If you want the course, the printable one-pager and the decision log in one place, start a free 7 day trial to preview a selection of full modules. If you prefer a short walk-through, contact us and we will show you how it works in under fifteen minutes.