Use a workshop for shared capability gaps
When several managers need clearer delegation, feedback or team briefings, a facilitated programme can establish a common language. Participants can compare scenarios and practise together. This is useful when the organisation wants consistent behaviours, provided the programme is matched to responsibility level and the managers have opportunities to apply it afterwards.
Consider coaching for an individual leadership challenge
A leader may need to examine their approach to a difficult relationship, a broader role or a recurring decision pattern. Coaching can support reflection and practical action around that situation. The objective should be agreed rather than left as a vague wish to become a better leader. Coaching is not a substitute for a formal process where one is required.
Agree roles and confidentiality expectations
Clarify who is commissioning the engagement, what progress will be discussed and how confidentiality will work. The leader, sponsor and coach should understand their roles. Avoid assumptions that private conversations will be reported in full or that coaching guarantees a particular promotion, performance result or resolution. Set a useful objective and realistic review arrangements.
Combine approaches where the needs are connected
A workshop may introduce a shared delegation method; coaching may then explore why one manager struggles to use it. Conversely, coaching can identify a broader learning need that a workshop addresses efficiently. Choose the combination around the development problem and available support rather than treating one format as automatically more senior or effective.
Worked example: A common skill and a personal barrier
A group of managers attends training on feedback. One manager understands the structure but continues avoiding a specific conversation because of assumptions about the relationship. Coaching can help examine those assumptions and prepare a responsible next step. The workshop supplies shared practice; coaching addresses the individual context without duplicating the whole programme.
Put it into practice
- Identify whether the need is shared or individual.
- Agree the development objective.
- Clarify confidentiality and sponsor expectations.
- Review practical application, not attendance alone.