Coaching Scenario Examples for Managers (Scripts)

Manager: “I want to talk about your case turnaround over the last quarter. Three of the last six reviews were late, and two had to be rewritten. I’m not opening this to tell you off. I want us to find what is getting in the way, and agree what will be different by the 30th.”

Sam: “The queue has been worse than usual. I’ve also been covering Priya.”

Manager: “Covering Priya is real, and it does not explain the two rewrites. Walk me through last Thursday’s Johnson file. Where did it slip?”

Sam: “...I started it the morning it was due. I thought I could get it through.”

Manager: “That is useful. So the issue is starting late, not just volume. What would make you open the next Johnson-type file two days earlier — and how will I see that without chasing?”

Manager: “Your numbers are green. That is not why I booked this. In the last two quarters you have not picked up a cross-team piece, and you declined the pricing review. I need a senior on this team who still takes the ugly work, not only the work they can finish by Thursday.”

Jordan: “So I’m being punished for being reliable?”

Manager: “No. I am naming a different standard. Reliability is the floor for this role. The next level is the work that has no playbook. I want you on the pricing review. Tell me what would make that a yes, or tell me if you do not want that standard — because that is a career conversation, not a vibe.”

Manager: “I am going to be direct, and I am not asking you to become a different person. The last two steering updates arrived after the pack deadline, and neither had the conversion numbers Finance asked for. That is now a problem for the team, not a style preference.”

Pat: “I’ve been doing this longer than most of the people in that room have been employed.”

Manager: “I know. That is why I am talking to you rather than rewriting it myself. Experience is not the issue. The pack is. What would it take for Friday’s update to be on time and include the two numbers — and do you want my help getting the extract, or do you want to own it?”

Manager: “Tuesday’s client call was missed. I want to understand what happened, and I want a plan so it does not happen on Thursday’s call.”

Mei: “I was covering the outage. This feels like you’re looking for something.”

Manager: “The outage is relevant. It does not close the point. I am not attacking you. I am staying with one missed call. Walk me through how you decided the client could wait — then we will decide what you do differently when two things land at once.”

You: “I need two minutes on the last-minute asks. In the last month, three of them landed after 4pm and each one pulled a person off a committed delivery. I can keep absorbing that, or we can pick: either the Friday pack includes a ‘possible extras’ list, or I will say no in the room when it blows a committed date. Which do you want me to do?”

Helen: “I need flexibility.”

You: “You can have flexibility if we name it. What I cannot do is pretend a 4pm extra is free. If you want the extra, tell me which committed piece moves. I will do that live, so you are not surprised later.”

Manager: “You said the same thing on the 3rd and the 17th. The docs are still on the old template. I am not asking whether you agree. I am asking what you will finish by Friday at 3, and how I will see it without asking you.”

Alex: “I’ll sort it. I know what good looks like.”

Manager: “Good. Then say the artefact. Which three pages, in which folder, by 3pm. If something will stop that, say it now — not on Friday afternoon.”

Manager: “I corrected the number in the room because the room was about to take a decision on it. That was the right call for the decision. It was clumsy for you. I should have asked you to walk the number first. I want two things from here: you bring a shaky number to me before the review, and I will not ambush you if I can take it offline. Deal?”

Chris: “I didn’t want to slow the meeting.”

Manager: “Slowing the meeting is cheaper than a wrong decision. Next Tuesday, if you are not sure, you say ‘I need to confirm this’ — even if I look impatient. I will back that.”

Manager: “You are not being put forward this cycle. I am going to say that first. The gap is not effort. It is that the next role has to hold a stakeholder conflict without escalating it to me, and in the March pricing row I still had to come in. I want to coach you on that — specifically, two live conflicts this quarter where you lead and I stay out unless you call me.”

Priya: “So what was the point of this year?”

Manager: “This year got you into the conversation. It did not close the gap I just named. If you want the role next cycle, that is the work. If you do not want that work, we should talk about what you do want, because I will not keep you on a promise I cannot keep.”

Manager: “This is a performance improvement plan. I am saying the words because I will not dress it up. It is a real chance with measures and dates, not a decision already made. The gaps are the same two I named on the 4th and the 18th: complete case notes on time, and no client complaint caused by a missed callback. We will review weekly. If the measures are met, the plan closes. If they are not, we move to the next step in the process. I will not pretend this is informal coaching.”

Employee: “So you’ve already decided.”

Manager: “I have decided the informal route has not worked. I have not decided the outcome of this plan. Tell me what support you need to hit those two measures — and tell me if you believe they are the wrong measures. I will hear that today. I will not relitigate it every Friday.”

Manager: “I am going to be plain, and I am doing this in private because I respect you. Colleagues have noticed body odour, and it is affecting how people work with you. I am not asking who you are as a person. I am asking that we find a practical fix this week — and I will not run a trial about who said it.”

Employee: “Who said that? This is humiliating.”

Manager: “It is uncomfortable. I will not give you names, because that turns a practical issue into a hunt. If something medical or personal is in the way, you do not owe me the story. You can speak to HR or your GP. What I need from you is that we agree a next step today, and that I will check in next week — not in the open office.”

Manager: “I want this 1-1 to be useful, not a status dump. The Friday pack has been late twice. I need it in by noon without me chasing. What got in the way last week?”

Sam: “You’re new — I didn’t want to dump it on you.”

Manager: “Dumping it is the job. We will look at next Friday together. If noon will slip, you tell me on Thursday, not in the exec review.”

Manager: “I am your manager now, and I still like working with you. The tracking schema missed again, and it landed on my review. I need an earlier flag — Thursday, not Friday night.”

Jordan: “So the promotion made you corporate.”

Manager: “The role made the handoff my problem. The friendship is not a reason to miss it. Can we check in Thursday before I lock the pack?”

Manager: “The QBR is still yours. I will sit with you for thirty minutes on the three numbers that usually get challenged. I will not take the deck home.”

Priya: “It will be better if you do it. You know what they ask.”

Manager: “Then I will tell you what they ask, and you will answer it in the room. We will review the draft tomorrow at ten. If a slide is wrong, we fix the slide. We do not move the owner.”