Coaching Session Plan: How To Structure A 12-Week Program

Have you enrolled a new client in a 3-month coaching package, but you're not sure how to craft a transformational coaching session plan that will have them coming back for more?

We've got you!

In this video, we're breaking down a 12-week coaching session structure, step by step, to deliver a transformational coaching experience that will keep your clients re-enrolling for longer coaching packages.

Before defining your coaching session plan, it's important to identify what type of coaching agreement you establish with your client to ensure you craft the right structure that will meet your client's needs and wants.

Defining The Coaching Agreement

There are 2 types of coaching agreements:

1. Outcome-Based Coaching Agreement

An outcome-based coaching agreement is when a client has a specific goal or outcome they want to achieve from the coaching relationship. 95% of all coaching agreements are mostly outcome-based where the coaching session plan is designed to make progress towards that goal. In the next section, we share a coaching plan template for this type of coaching agreement.

2. Progress-Based Coaching Agreement 

This coaching agreement is established when a client doesn't have a specific outcome they want to get to but want to continue the coaching relationship for continuous support and growth. It mostly happens when a coach and client have already spent several months (or even years!) building trust and rapport, and create a customized coaching package based on the client's new needs. Because this coaching package doesn't have a goal, there is no fixed coaching session plan to follow. Instead, there are 4 pillars we recommend following in every coaching session which we reveal in the video above.

Crafting A Coaching Session Plan

The following is a coaching session plan example broken down in 5 main parts which can (and should!) be adjusted to every client and their needs. 

Coaching Session #1: Discovery

This is the time to focus on understanding the client's desires and bringing clarity into what they want to achieve out of the coaching relationship. It's important to not only have a clear goal, but identifying the value of reaching that goal and why it's so important for the client. 

Coaching Session #2: The Gap
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After identifying the goal, it's crucial to understand why the client hasn't reached their goal yet. This is the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Get curious to understand their challenges, pain points, how they see their world, what are their beliefs and systems, etc.

CoachingCoaching Sessions #3-8: Mindset & Identity Shifts

In session #2 you would have identified the main mindset or behavioral challenges that are in the way of the client's goal. These sessions are all about using the right coaching tools, questions, and methodologies to create the mindset and identity shifts the client needs to overcome those challenges and start creating solutions instead. This is the core of any coaching plan, where your coaching skills are at full play, and transformation happens.

Coaching Sessions #9-10: Habit & Behavior Building

By now, the client has had many insights, has started creating their new reality, and are ready to take action towards their goal. In sessions 9 and 10, it's all about coaching your client to identify new habits and behaviors they need to adopt and nurture, that will help them achieve their goals. 

Coaching Sessions #11-12: Structures For Growth

The last sessions should be focused on following-up with the new habits and putting structure in place that will support the client for long-term growth, whether they re-enroll for a longer coaching package with you or not. As their coach, you want to make sure the client is equipped to continue the journey they have started with you. And in the last session, remember to celebrate their wins and reflect with them on how much they've grown in the process.

Although we highly recommend following the same overall structure, the number of sessions needed for each step might vary depending on the client and their progress.

Which is why it's important to prepare your coaching session plan before the first coaching session for direction, but also keep revisiting it before each following coaching session to review where the client is at, what they need next, and tweak the plan as needed. 

Watch the full video above to go more in-depth into each coaching session structure or you can also watch it on YouTube.

Craft your own coaching plan with the Coaching Session Planner, our proven formula for delivering a transformative coaching session every time, for every client.