The Discussion
Preparing for coaching discussions
Making choices is about more than just thinking about them and discussing them with your coach. You need outside input to help you make decisions about your choices. This means that you will need to actively gather that input, for example by:
• Talking to lecturers, your academic advisor or fellow students
• Visiting companies
• Studying advertisements
• Studying subject information
• Completing an exercise to find out what you want from your studies and afterwards
In the session with your coach you can discuss how you can use this input to make a choice, and discuss any things you can't decide on and obstacles you have come up against. This will enable you to get more out of the coaching sessions. We have developed one or more exercises for each phase of the decision process. These are available to study coaches as well as students. You should put the completed exercises in your e-file.
The ‘what’ and ‘how’
There is also another side to preparing for discussions. That is to ensure that the things that matter to you right now are dealt with in the discussion. Preparing how to hold a discussion is just as important as what to discuss. If you find the ‘how’ aspect difficult, you can train yourself in discussion techniques.
Documenting
You will derive the most benefit from a coaching discussion if you build on what was discussed in previous sessions. That is why you should write a report of the discussion, noting the most important points and agreements. We advice you to add this to your e-file promptly. Depending on what you agree with your coach, the report of a discussion and the preparation for a subsequent discussion can be combined in the same document.
e-File
Every student has an e-file. Both you and your coach have writing and reading rights for the coaching section of the e-file. You can also grant reading rights to your e-file to others who have a TU/e-account, by adding them as a guest. Your coach cannot do this. Your assessment forms for Professional Skills will also be included in the e-file. You and your coach only have reading rights for this section.