Find Your Potential

Report on using Coaching G.R.O.W. model in youth

work

Association of Applied Art

and Articulation MODLA

Find Your PotentialReport on using Coaching G.R.O.W. method in youth work

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction .....................................................................................................1
What is Coaching? ...........................................................................................2
G.R.O.W. coaching model .................................................................................3
Participants impressions about the usefulness
of the Find Your Potential project ....................................................................7
After the Find Your Potential project ...............................................................8
Conclusion next steps ...................................................................................9
Project partner organisations ........................................................................11
Information about the Association of Applied Art
and Articulation MODLA ................................................................................12

The content of this Report does not reflect the official opinion of the
European Union. Responsibility for the information and views expressed in
the Report lies entirely with the author(s).
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.

Find Your Potential project was funded by the Erasmus + programme

and supported by the Agency for Mobility and EU programmes

Find Your Potential

Introduction
Find Your Potential (FYP) was an Erasmus + project focused on training a
group of 20 international youth workers to actively use coaching as a tool in
their work with youth from their local environments. The project particularly
focused on introducing the G.R.O.W. method as one of the most prominent
methods in coaching. FYP took place in Sljeme (Zagreb), Croatia during
intensive 5 day training sessions in the period from September 27th to
October 3rd, 2016. and it gathered youth workers from Croatia, Serbia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Slovenia.
Apart from providing youth workers with a solid ground for their future work
an important aspect of the training was an evaluation and reflection of future
application of the G.R.O.W. method in different communities. Also, the
training was an important platform for the exchange of ideas and practices
which created a rich community of practice currently active in each
participating organization/country.
The purpose of the report is
to communicate information about the
G.R.O.W. method, coaching and the
FYP project, which has been compiled
as a result of the training, research and
exchange of practices and ideas
among participants, and a small scale
youth needs analysis in the
participating communities.
This report will be transmitted to
various stakeholders and is an open
source tool which will be disseminated
across different countries.
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Report on using Coaching G.R.O.W. method in youth work

What is coaching?
The term coaching broadly and typically refers to a process of helping others
improve, develop, learn new skills, find personal success, and achieve aims
and to manage life change and personal challenges. The underlying
philosophy behind coaching is that humans have immeasurable potential
waiting to be set to motion and coaching is a process focused on helping the
individual to unlock their own potential.
Relating to youth, coaching is focused on helping youth to improve their own
performance through helping them learn, primarily about themselves.
Through this process the youth worker helps youth realize their own
potential.

Find Your Potential

G.R.O.W. coaching model

One of the most successful coaching models is the G.R.O.W. model as it leads
to a clearly defined end result through four phases. The power of the method
is that it helps youth identify problems and generate ideas for solutions.
Simply put, this method is a simple technique for goal setting and problem
solving, and is proven to be very successful in working with youth.
The G.R.O.W. model consists of four steps which are, actually, mentioned in
the name itself, i.e. G.R.O.W. is an acronym for Goal, Reality, Obstacles (and
Options), Way forward.

G.R.O.W.

Report on using Coaching G.R.O.W. method in youth work

Please find below a detailed tabluar explanation of the G.R.O.W. steps:

Goal

The Goal is the end point, where the young person wants
to be. The goal has to be defined in such a way that it is
very clear to the young person when they have achieved
it.

Reality

The Reality is where the young person is now. What are

the issues, the challenges, how far are they away from
their goal?

There will be Obstacles stopping the young person getting

from where they are now to where they want to go. It is
Obstacles
crucial that the young person clearly defines the obstacles
on their way towards the goal.

Options

Once Obstacles have been identified, the young person

needs to find ways of dealing with them if they are to
make progress. These are the Options, i.e. the different
paths they can take in order to achieve the goal.

Way
Forward

The Options then need to be converted into action steps

which will lead the young person to their goal. These are
the Way Forward.

Find Your Potential

When working with a young person, the participants at the FYP training have
identified useful questions which will help the youth worker guide the young
person through the G.R.O.W. process.
These are:
1. Establishing the Goal

Does this goal fit your overall objectives?

What's important to you when it comes to goal?
What will reaching the goal give you?
What do you want to achieve?
How will you know you've reached your goal?
How will you know the problem has been solved?

2. Examining the Reality

What is happening now (what, who, when, and how often)? What is the
effect or result of this?
Have you already taken any steps towards your goal?
Does this goal conflict with any other goals or objectives?
What are concrete examples of the problem?
What's been going wrong so far?
How do you manage to fail? Teach me how to do it.
What went well?
Is this always a problem or are there situations in which it isn't?
What are the defining factors? What can make the difference?
What have you done so far?

G.R.O.W.
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Report on using Coaching G.R.O.W. method in youth work

3. Exploring the Options/Obstacles

What else could you do?

What if this or that constraint were removed? Would that change
things?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of each option?
What factors or considerations will you use to weigh the options?
What do you need to stop doing in order to achieve this goal?
What obstacles stand in your way?
What would you do if these obstacles didn't stop you?
Imagine you already reached your goal. How did you do it?
What if this obstacle wasn't there anymore?
What else do you need to reach your goal? Where can you get it?
Which criteria will you use to evaluate this option?
What are the pros and cons of this option?

4. Establishing the Way Forward

So, what will you do now, and when? What else will you do?
What could stop you moving forward? How will you overcome this?
How can you keep yourself motivated?
When do you need to review progress? Daily, weekly, monthly?
What exactly will you do to reach your goal, and when?
Which of these options will you take?
What concrete step can you take NOW?
What steps come after?
Are all obstacles taken into account?
How will you overcome your obstacles?
How motivated are you, on a scale from 1 to 10, to go for this option?
What do you need to have a 10? Where can you get it?
How can your surroundings support you?
Will this plan get you to your goal?
Will it solve the underlying problem, too?

G.R.O.W.

Find Your Potential

Participants impressions about the usefulness

of the Find Your Potential project
The benefit and success of FYP is best
visible through the fact that the
participants have soon after the end
of the project implemented their
newly acquired skills and knowledge
about coaching and the G.R.O.W.
model.
Nikola Raki (Association PREVENT, Serbia) has said that the project has been
an invaluable experience which has broadened his horizons and that he will
share his knowledge further. Marina Juri (Association MODLA, Croatia) is
very satisfied with the outcome of the project for her personal development
since it has encouraged her creativity, active listening skills and encouraged
her to work on her communication skills.

Report on using Coaching G.R.O.W. method in youth work

After the Find Your Potential project

Partner organizations (Association PREVENT from Serbia, Association PRONO
from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Youth Center Zagorje ob Savi from Slovenia)
have already implemented follow up activities and projects with youth in
their local communities, using learned coaching methods, particularly
G.R.O.W. model.
Here are a few examples of finished follow up activities:
Organisation

FYP
participant

Short description

School for art,

design, graphics
and textile
ZABOK, Croatia

Barbara
Hanjilec

Workshop on non-verbal communication

with high school students.

Associatioin
PREVENT, Serbia

Jelena
Pei

Workshop on active listening, non-verbal

communication for youth with the topic
about nonviolent communication

Faculty of
Political Science,
Zagreb, Croatia

Marina
Juri

Youth center
Zagorje ob Savi;
Mc Zos, Slovenia

Brina
Menart

Workshop on integrative coaching for

students with the focus on helping them
define study topics for the New Media
course
Workshop Photo story for youth

Erasmus Student
Network, Bosnia
and Herzegovina

Lana
Beiragi

Workshop on active listening, non-verbal

communication for youth with the topic
about nonviolent communication
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Find Your Potential

Conclusion next steps

Not all countries have a formal definition of youth work and amongst those
that do, there is a variety of definitions. Based on FYP and participants'
definitions of youth work, we have idfentified that the following
characteristics are frequently cited when describing youth work:

Youth work offers young people meaningful activities based on their

needs and interests
Youth work aims at young persons personal and professional
development
Youth work ultimately leads to the empowerment and emancipation of
young people

The underlying idea is that youth work invests in the lives of young people
and ultimately has the ability to improve both social well-being and
employability. The transversal skills that are increasingly needed for personal,
civic and professional routes from youth to adulthood can be achieved
through youth work. The key feature of youth work is the focus on young
people as a distinct population, with needs and aspirations different to those
of children or adults. Young people are in transition from childhood to
adulthood and in current global economic crises young people are a
vulnerable group that has to be dealt with great profesionalism, structure
and care.

Report on using Coaching G.R.O.W. method in youth work

Although youth work is currently in-between different areas and has many
commonalities with other fields such as education, social work, sports or
culture, and is not formally recognised by FYP participating countries, the
importance of active work with youth is immeasurable.
FYP focused on coaching as a model for empowering youth workers. FYP
participants have already implemented various projects utilising the coaching
skills they learned. Next steps include more projects, training opportunities
and networking events. However, if we are to expect a bigger impact on
young people, we need to formalise the profession of youth workers as an
indispensible means of youth empowerement and emancipation. In order to
do so, Member States' national policies have to be in line with EU policies,
this is why we have writen this report in the hope that our national bodies
will consider taking the next step for the future of our youth.

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Find Your Potential

Project partner organisations

Association PREVENT (Serbia) works on improving the quality of life of

people, especially young people at risk of social exclusion and
marginalisation.
www.prevent.org.rs

Association PRONI Center for Youth Development (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

works on the development of a democratic society through the protection
and promotion of human rights, youth work in the community, social
education, peace-building, intersector cooperation, support youth initiatives,
promoting EU integration.
www.pronibrcko.ba

Youth Center ZAGORJE OB SAVI (Slovenia) is a local public institution,

established to perform extracurricular activities for youth. The centre allows
organisational, spatial, technical and counselling support to the young people
of Zagorje, in means of executing their projects and helping them include
into local and international projects.
www.mczos.si
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Report on using Coaching G.R.O.W. method in youth work

Association of Applied Art and Articulation MODLA

Association MODLA (Croatia) is a non-profit organisation with
the mission to work on human capital development by helping
children and youth achieve their full potential through personal
development and learning activites. We at MODLA strongly
believe that empowering individuals to fully realise their
potential will ultimately result in bringing positive changes to the
community as a whole. In our work we primarily use non-formal
learning methods such as coaching tools, creative learning and
art.
CONTACT us at: udrugamodla@gmail.com, we would be happy to further
cooperate on coaching for learning projects.
MODLA FYP trainers:
Ivana Perin is a trainer and a certified coach with
experience and competences in field of business
coaching, personal coaching, coaching methods in
general, coaching for leaders, coaching about
overpassing obstacles in business and personal life,
development and crisis, and group coaching. In
coaching she uses methods in her work with youth to
guide them to achieve their full potential, define and
reach their goals.
Dina Bali works as sales manager and facilitator, and
is a certified coach. Her biggest drive is working with
individuals and smaller groups on the subjects of
discovering human potential through coaching
methods, aiming toward rising personal awareness
and creating new opportunities. Body language and
non-verbal communication occupies most of her
interest, just as communication in general.
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The Find Your Potential project was funded by

the Erasmus + programme and supported by the
Agency for Mobility and EU programmes.
Thank you for your support!