101 Tips Template 4

This is the template for the invitation letter for the e-mail game 101 Tips.

Use this template to write the e-mail invitation for your potential players. Replace marked words and phrases with material suited to your subject area and your players.

Subject: Coaching--101 Tips E-Mail Game. Round 1.

COME PLAY WITH US! This is an e-mail game called "Coaching: 101 Tips". Our goal is to generate 101 practical tips that can increase the effectiveness of coaching activities.

WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU? Five things:

1. You participate in a fun game.

2. You learn practical tips to improve your coaching skills.

3. You can adapt this e-mail game for your own use.

4. You share some practical tips with an eager audience.

5. You achieve fame: You get points and, if you are one of the five top scorers, get your name placed in the Hall of Fame.

HOW TO PLAY. Send us some practical tips on how to coach your employees, team members, coworkers, managers, or any one else in your workplace. Keep your tips brief (three or four sentences and not more than 50 words). Review the samples below. Send us at least one tip and not more than five tips before the deadline.

HOW TO WIN. Any new tip (which is different from the sample tips listed below) earns you 10 points. In addition, our panel of judges will select the top three tips at the end of each round. The best tip receives a bonus score of 70 points, the second-best 30 points, and the third-best 10 points. If you are among the top five scorers, your name is added to our Hall of Fame. This list is updated at the end of each round.

HOW TO CHEAT. Reflect on your own experience as a coach and as a coachee (someone who is being coached) and derive important tips. We also encourage you to borrow ideas from your friends and coworkers. You can read books, attend workshops, interview experts, and surf the internet to collect coaching tips and rewrite them in your own words. Obviously, we don't want you to violate copyright laws and we do want you to give credit where it is due.

HOW TO SEND YOUR TIPS. Remember the limit of five tips for each round. Send your tips directly to us at thiagi@thiagi.com . Include your name or your play name (if you wish to remain anonymous) in your e-mail note. Please do NOT use the REPLY function if you received this note through a listserv, a mail list, or a forum.

THE DEADLINE FOR THE FIRST ROUND is 11:59 PM Wednesday September 22, 1999.

WHAT NEXT? We will continue this game until we accumulate 101 tips or October 17, 1999, whichever comes first. Every round, we will update the list of coaching tips and place them in our web site www.thiagi.com/email-coach101-tips.html . Review this list frequently and continue sending additional tips that do not duplicate the tips already on the list.

MORE FAME. When the game ends, we will select the grand champion with the highest score. We will also vote for the five best tips. We will honor the person who sent the most tips. And we will figure out other categories of winners....

CATEGORIES OF TIPS. For ease of reference, we suggest the following categories for your tips: Framing the Coaching Process, Initial Activities, Goal Setting, Collecting Data, Identifying and Analyzing Areas for Coaching, Giving Feedback, Coaching Conversations, Dealing with Resistance, Reluctance and Defensiveness, and Completing a Coaching Project

HOW TO CATEGORIZE YOUR TIPS. You can send your tip without specifying any category. Or you may suggest a suitable category. You may even suggest a brand-new category. Some tips may fit into more than one category.

HELP STAMP OUT SPAM. We are sending you this note because you indicated an interest in e-mail game. If we are mistaken, we apologize. Please, please send us a note with "Unsubscribe" on the subject line and we will take you off the list.

THANK YOU for participating.

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SAMPLE LIST OF COACHING TIPS

(Each tip is preceded by a category label.)

1. FRAMING THE COACHING PROCESS. `Coaching' is an inappropriate term because it is frequently associated with dysfunctional behaviors of autocratic sports coaches. Use some other positive term such as 'co-creation' or 'problem-solving partnership'.

2. INITIAL ACTIVITIES. Before entering into a coaching relationship, honestly examine the role you want to play. Do you want to be a nag, a bully, a friend, a critic, a mentor, a leader, a teacher, a manager, a counselor, a disciplinarian, or a role-model? Are you trying to play multiple roles? If so, why are you doing that and what should be your primary role?

3. GIVING FEEDBACK. The coachee is likely to be her or his worst critic. So begin your feedback session by asking, 'What did you do that makes you feel positive and proud?'

4. COACHING CONVERSATIONS. Once you have a topic, a problem, or an opportunity, ask the coachee for ideas. Listen actively and attentively. When the coachee says that he or she has run out of ideas, ask for some more. Offer you ideas only after the coachee has completed his or her list. Even then, offer your ideas tentatively as things to be improved.

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