Online and face to face training, coaching and events across the UK and Europe
Thrive Training Lab

Manager to Coach

Make more room for your people to think, solve problems and take ownership — with coaching skills you can use in everyday management.

Leadership asks you to make decisions, support people and deliver results — sometimes all in the same conversation. You may be the person everyone looks to while still working out your own next step. Having developed hundreds of leaders across the UK, US and EMEA, we understand those competing demands. The Lab is space to think clearly, practise honestly and grow the confidence to lead in your own way.

Talk about your team Explore the course
Managers collaborating in a leadership workshop
Thrive Training Lab

Explore. Practise. Make it yours.

Duration

Half day · 3.5 hours per half day

Group size

6–8 delegates

Format

Online or face to face

Price — Face to face

From £1,250

+ VAT

Price — Online

From £999

+ VAT

where understanding becomes useful —

Why this course matters

Sometimes your most useful answer is a question that helps someone find their own.

What you’ll explore in the Lab

When someone brings you a problem, it is tempting to jump straight to the answer. This focused half-day workshop helps managers recognise when a coaching conversation would be more useful and when clear direction is needed.

Explore active listening, purposeful questions and a simple GROW structure, then practise on realistic management situations. The aim is not to turn every conversation into a formal coaching session: it is to help your people think more clearly, build confidence and agree their own next steps while you keep expectations and accountability clear.

a real challenge. a purposeful response.

The challenges this addresses

  • Solving problems that others could own
  • One-to-ones that produce dependence rather than development
  • Coaching questions replaced by advice before the problem is understood
  • Unclear boundaries between situations needing coaching and direct instruction

What this can change at work

A well-chosen question can move a conversation further than another ready-made answer. Managers practise listening, purposeful questions and the GROW structure to help people work through problems and choose their next steps. Used where coaching fits, these habits can build individual judgement and team ownership, while helping the organisation develop capability without losing the clear direction and accountability some situations require.

Questions before answers

In one-to-ones, managers ask open questions and listen to the response before deciding whether advice or direction is needed.

Thinking owned by others

Colleagues explore their options in a short structured conversation rather than leaving every problem with their manager to solve.

Actions with ownership

Conversations end with the individual naming their next steps and agreeing how progress will be reviewed with their manager.

Inside the workshop

Delivered live online or face to face for 6–8 delegates. Short demonstrations lead into paired and small-group coaching practice, with feedback on listening, questions and follow-through. Managers rehearse a conversation they could use in a one-to-one or an everyday problem-solving moment. This is a focused introduction; Coaching Skills for Leaders offers a separate full-day option for more extensive practice.

Make Manager to Coach relevant to your business

Tell us where you want to make progress with when to coach and when to give direction. We can discuss suitable workplace examples, priorities and access needs before agreeing the scope. Choose live online or face-to-face training for your UK or European team, with delivery arrangements agreed before booking.

Discuss this course

What the training covers

The scope below sets out the subjects covered. Workplace examples and practice are shaped around your team within the booked format.

  • When to coach and when to give direction
  • Listening without preparing your answer
  • Open questions that help people think
  • A simple GROW conversation structure
  • Agreeing ownership, actions and follow-up
  • Live coaching practice and feedback

What’s included in your booking

Your booked time and format
Half day · Live online or face to face, agreed before booking · 6–8 delegates.
Included in every course
  • Interactive, facilitator-led learningLive, hands-on sessions built around practice and participation.
  • Group discussionsShared conversations about real situations, so people learn from each other as well as the facilitator.
  • Breakout exercisesSmall-group practice, role-play and problem-solving, online or in the room.
  • Take-away materialsCourse materials, tools and templates to use back at work.
Facilitated learning and practical application
The subject coverage, exercises and facilitator feedback described above, with space to connect the learning to relevant workplace situations. The workshop description sets out the specific plans, prompts or tools developed in this course.

Follow-up coaching, refresher sessions and additional delivery days are not automatic inclusions; any additions are agreed in your proposal. Travel, venue arrangements and any software licences are confirmed separately where relevant. Prices exclude VAT.

Outcomes

The capabilities delegates work towards through the training and practice:

  • Choose when coaching fits the situation
  • Use open questions and active listening
  • Run a short structured coaching conversation
  • Agree clear actions without taking ownership away

the next conversation is where it counts —

Take it back to work.

Choose a real situation where you want to apply the learning. Use it to turn an outcome into a manageable first step, then reflect on what changes.

Choose

Start with one priority: Choose when coaching fits the situation.

Apply

Try the approach in a relevant task or conversation. Note what felt useful and what you would adapt.

Review

Reflect on what happened, seek feedback where appropriate and choose your next step. Follow-up support can be discussed separately.

Bring this topic to your next event

We can discuss adapting Manager to Coach into a keynote or large-group session, focusing on the themes most relevant to your audience. Depth, activities, timings and any follow-up depend on the format and package you choose; an event session is not a substitute for the full course.

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Your people. Your priorities.Ready to Thrive? Build your Lab.A programme shaped around your people — and the progress you want to make.

your next step starts here —

Ready to step into the lab?

Your business. Our training. Together, we thrive.

Bring the challenge your people want to work on. We'll shape a practical training workshop or coaching experience around it — with room to explore, practise and take a useful next step.

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