Most coaching conversations benefit from a light structure that keeps the work moving without imposing a script. The best-known framework is the GROW model, which sets out four phases: Goal, the specific outcome or target the coachee wants to achieve; Reality, an honest assessment of the current situation including challenges, resources, and prior attempts; Options, an open brainstorm of possible strategies without premature filtering; and Will (sometimes called Way Forward), the specific actions the coachee commits to taking, including timelines and accountability. Each phase has a distinct purpose: goals should be clear, meaningful, and ideally measurable; reality should be surfaced without sugar-coating; options should be generated in volume before being evaluated; and the Will phase converts possibility into commitment.
Several variants adapt GROW to different settings. T-GROW adds a Topic or Theme stage at the beginning so the coach and client agree a broad area of focus before narrowing into a specific goal. The CLEAR model — Contract, Listen, Explore, Action, Review — is widely used in performance coaching where the engagement's formal terms are just as important as the session itself. The OSKAR model — Outcome, Scaling, Know-how, Affirm and Action, Review — borrows scaling from solution-focused practice and makes affirmation of the client an explicit step. Coaches often blend phases from several models rather than following any one rigidly, since the underlying logic — clarify the destination, face the current reality, generate moves, commit to action, and review — is what matters more than the acronym.
These structured models are containers, not straitjackets. Goal specificity matters less because of compliance with a framework and more because vague goals make vague conversations: insight feels real but does not lead to action. Outcome goals (such as "get promoted") are useful as targets, but coaching often converts them into process goals (such as "have a career conversation with my manager every month") that describe a practice the client actually performs. Tools like the act-drop-commit decision help the client choose next actions: act when there is a clear next step, drop when the item no longer matters, and commit when a decision must precede action.