Coach Bo Usage Guide for Leaders
Updated
by
Amy Thomas
Use Coach Bo to prepare for 1:1s, interpret TEAMscan and Weekly Check-in insights, and translate team data into one clear experiment your team can practice on a repeatable cadence.
Effective Bo Interactions
You can always start a confidential Coach Bo Chat by clicking the Bo icon in the bottom-right corner. For the best results, launch Bo from the page tied to the decision you’re making.
For team improvement: TEAMscan
Coach Bo can assist you with interpreting the results and creating an action plan. Use Bo to help you through the full process from preparing the discussion to choosing one experiment, then planning the review. Ask Bo:
“What are our team’s key strengths and challenges based on the latest TEAMscan?”
“How can we use our highest-scoring areas more regularly? What’s a simple experiment we can try?”
“What specific experiments could we run this week to improve our lowest-scoring areas?”
“Help me build an action plan based on these results.”
Bo is ideal as a guide for:
- Designing experiments you and your team can work on.
- Suggesting activities and discussion prompts. Ask Bo to provide 3 experiment options ranked by effort and expected impact.
- Keeping practice requirements lightweight and easy to embed in your existing meetings.
* Use what you discussed in one next conversation.
* Practice one new behavior.
For team improvement: Team Personality Report
Coach Bo can assist you with understanding team dynamics and role allocation, as well as recognizing blind spots. Ask Bo:
“What strengths does [Name] bring to this team for [Project]?”
“How can I best use [Name]’s strengths to set them (and the team) up for success?”
“What’s something specific I can do to better engage the team this week given our team personality?”
For managing individuals
Launch Coach Bo from within your team member's Manager Report (in their profile). Ask Bo:
“How can I best prepare for my 1:1 with [Name] today?”
“What’s the best way to motivate [Name]?”
“Help me give constructive feedback about [topic] in a way that fits their style.”
After your 1:1, ask Bo:
“What could I improve for my next 1:1 with [Name]?”
For ongoing pulse + risk management
Coach Bo can help you review and understand your Weekly Manager Check-ins reports. Ask Bo:
“What are the 1–2 root causes behind these recurring themes?”
“What should I address today vs this week?”
Provide Bo with context on your team's situation: team goals, constraints, what you’ve tried, where the friction shows up.
Ask Bo to generate language to use for recognition and for difficult conversations.
“Here’s what we heard, here’s what we’re trying, here’s when we’ll revisit.”
For broader development
The Skills Library can assist you with everyday work challenges and developing your team members' skills.
Encourage your team to use Coach Bo for their own guidance.
Reassure them that any conversations they launch from the Coach Bo Chats icon in the bottom left corner of their Develop account are private. Only insights from the Weekly Manager Check-ins will be shared with you and senior leaders.
Common challenges
Your team doesn’t trust the process or fears that it is evaluative.
Re-anchor the purpose of using Develop and consulting Coach Bo for assistance: development, teamwork, small experiments will compound into measurable results.
There are too many focus areas; no single experiment to focus on.
Enforce constraints: one dimension, one skill, one meeting, one timeframe. The goal is not to fix everything at once, but to be consistent and grow steadily.
Weekly Check-ins create “report fatigue”.
Use the Weekly Check-ins “Focus rules” to identify key areas to focus on: act on IMMEDIATE/TODAY, recurring themes, major changes.
Bo outputs feel generic.
Ask Bo to ask clarifying questions first. With context, Bo's responses will be more targeted and specific. Ask Bo to produce 2 - 3 options with tradeoffs.
Next Steps
✅ Pick one place to operationalize Bo this week:
- 5 minutes before 1:1s
- TEAMscan action plan
- Monday check-ins review
✅ Build momentum by making Bo part of your cadence:
- pre‑1:1 Bo chat
- monthly team/department review with Bo
- quarterly TEAMscan cycle
✅ Share wins with your team to drive adoption.
✅ You and your team will be ready to move from “ad hoc Bo use” to a scalable system when:
- Your team has completed at least one full loop: TEAMscan → discussion → experiment → check-in → repeat.
- Weekly Check-ins (if enabled) are stable and being used to improve 1:1s and remove blockers.
- You can identify a repeatable leadership habit (e.g., “Bo before every 1:1” + “one team experiment per cycle”).
