Sometimes a classroom course is not the right answer. You might have a specific project to get back on track, a communication plan to finalise, or a new role in which you need targeted support quickly. Our coaching for NGO staff gives you focused time with an experienced trainer, individually or in a small group, to work on the challenges that matter most to you right now.
As our original in-house offer puts it: if you need a more consultative approach, our trainers can coach course participants individually or in small groups for a few hours or a few days. Coaching sessions take place online or in Brussels.
Why choose coaching for NGO staff?
Coaching complements training. A workshop introduces you to tools and gives you the chance to practise them; coaching helps you apply them to your own work, at your own pace, with someone who can ask the right questions and share practical experience.
- Completely focused on you. Every minute is spent on your projects, your audiences and your questions.
- Immediately practical. You work on real deliverables, such as a project plan, risk register, PR plan or campaign brief, rather than on case studies.
- Flexible. Sessions can be scheduled around your workload and delivered online or in Brussels.
- Confidential. You can discuss sensitive issues openly, from difficult stakeholders to projects in trouble.
What coaching can help with
Coaching covers the same areas as our courses. Typical topics include:
- Project management: defining objectives and scope, building or reviewing a project plan, estimating and scheduling, Critical Path Analysis, tracking progress, handling change requests and managing risk
- Public relations: mapping stakeholders, preparing a PR plan, refining key messages, preparing for media contact or reviewing written materials
- Marketing: clarifying positioning, segmenting audiences, planning a campaign, improving fundraising communications or setting up simple ways to measure results
Coaching is also a powerful follow-up to our workshops. Many participants find it helpful to take a course such as Project Management Fundamentals or Mastering Public Relations and then book coaching hours to apply the tools to a live piece of work.
Formats
1:1 coaching
The 1:1 Coaching Package gives you three hours with a trainer, online or in Brussels. You can use the time in a single working session, for example to build a project plan from scratch, or spread it across shorter sessions over a few weeks to review progress as you go.
Small-group coaching
Small-group coaching suits a project team or communication team working on a shared challenge. The trainer facilitates the group’s work, introduces tools where needed and helps the team reach practical decisions. Group coaching can be organised for a few hours or a few days, often alongside in-house training.
How it works
- Book or enquire. Book the 1:1 Coaching Package online, or contact us to discuss small-group coaching.
- Share your goals. Before the first session, tell us what you want to achieve and send any relevant documents, such as a draft plan or a campaign brief.
- Work together. In the sessions, your coach helps you analyse the situation, apply the right tools and develop concrete outputs.
- Leave with next steps. Each session ends with clear actions so you know exactly what to do next.
Getting the most from coaching: come with a specific goal. “Produce a realistic schedule for our new programme” or “prepare for our first press briefing” will lead to more useful sessions than a general wish to improve.
Who coaching is for
Coaching suits NGO staff at any level: project officers in their first management role, experienced programme managers facing an unusually complex project, communication officers preparing a high-profile launch, and directors who want a sounding board while building capacity in their teams.
Example uses of a coaching package
Because coaching is shaped entirely around your needs, no two packages look the same. To give you an idea, here are some of the ways three hours of coaching might be used:
- Getting a new project off to a strong start. Work through objectives, scope, governance and a first risk list for a newly funded project, so that you can present a clear plan to your team and partners.
- Rescuing a project that is slipping. Review the current schedule and budget, identify the critical path and agree on realistic corrective actions and how to communicate them to your donor.
- Preparing for a media moment. Refine key messages for a report launch, anticipate difficult questions and plan how to approach the journalists most relevant to your issue.
- Sharpening a campaign. Clarify the target audience, call to action and channels for an upcoming appeal or advocacy campaign, and decide how you will measure success.
- Embedding training. After a workshop, work through how to apply the tools to your organisation’s own templates and processes.
Coaching is confidential. What you discuss with your coach stays between you, which makes it easier to talk openly about the real obstacles you face.
Book your coaching
The 1:1 Coaching Package costs €360 for three hours, excluding VAT. Book through our shop, and we will contact you by email to schedule your sessions. For small-group coaching or longer programmes, call us on +32 2 403 49 83 or email [email protected].
