Coa­ching is a form of goal- and re­source-ori­ented coun­selling in which coa­chees are clients, as op­posed to pa­tients in therapy and clients in (client-centred) coun­selling. There is sel­ective or process-ori­ented support for change or sta­bi­li­sation. This fo­cuses on op­ti­mising the current si­tuation or con­tri­butes to the rea­li­sation of goals.

There are many overlaps with other coun­selling formats, par­ti­cu­larly su­per­vision. The term "coach" was first used in 1556, meaning "car­riage". Even today, coa­ching can still be de­scribed with this image as a service that makes it easier for people to achieve their goals.

INA's eva­luation concept is based on the stan­dards of the German Eva­luation So­ciety and is cha­rac­te­rised by the three-step for­mative (process-ac­com­panying) evaluation:

a. Re­co­g­nising and eva­luating the quality achieved in a field of practice/​project pro­gress with the aim of quality assurance

b. Re­co­g­nising and con­s­truc­tively-cri­ti­cally eva­luating the need for change along sci­en­ti­fi­cally-based quality cri­teria with the aim of quality development

c. Tailored re­com­men­da­tions for change op­tions, taking into ac­count the spe­cific framework con­di­tions of a field of practice/​project with the aim of or­ga­ni­sa­tional development.

INA de­velops and im­ple­ments me­thods and in­stru­ments for in­ternal and ex­ternal eva­lua­tions and ad­vises or­ga­ni­sa­tions on the de­ve­lo­pment of their own eva­luation concepts.

In­no­vative de­ve­lo­p­ments in prac­tical fields of edu­cation, psy­chology and eco­nomics can be­nefit from ex­ternal ex­pertise from people who are willing and able to put their know­ledge and ex­pe­rience at the service of people and or­ga­ni­sa­tions. INA gGmbH's coun­selling con­cepts are cha­rac­te­rised by the fact that they in­volve a dis­cursive process with those who re­quest coun­selling to find out what the spe­cific need for coun­selling is, what goals are to be achieved in the coun­selling process and what steps can be taken to achieve the goals with the help of INA consultants.

INA gGmbH offers a wide range of further edu­cation and training courses, work­shops and de­ve­lo­pment work­shops, cha­rac­te­rised by the ori­en­tation of its in­di­vidual institutes.

In in­ter­vision, members of a peer group support and ac­company each other with the help of peer coun­selling. In­ter­vision helps pro­fes­sionals, groups and teams to in­crease self-re­flection and im­prove their pro­fes­sional behaviour.

Me­diation is a me­diation process between two or more parties. Me­diators are called in as an im­partial third party. The aim is to create a con­s­tructive win-win si­tuation with a sus­tainable con­flict resolution.

Es­sential basic prin­ciples are the in­clusion of all parties to the con­flict, con­fi­den­tiality, openness of outcome and the me­diands' per­sonal re­spon­si­bility. Open-en­dedness in the process re­quires the me­diator to be in­de­pendent of in­s­truc­tions. As a rule, the me­diation process is based on vol­untary participation.

The parties to the con­flict are and remain the ex­perts for their con­flict and its re­so­lution. Me­diators are re­spon­sible for the process. They support and ac­company the process.

In men­toring, a new­comer re­ceives support in the first few years of his or her career by having an ex­pe­ri­enced spe­cialist on hand to provide advice and assistance.

Fa­ci­li­tation fo­cuses on the or­ga­ni­sation and structure of a dis­cussion process, event or other setting. The aim is usually to discuss and dis­tribute tasks and func­tions or to bring them into a common framework or context.

The tran­si­tions to other formats of pro­fes­sional com­mu­ni­cation are fluid, and me­thods and working me­thods overlap to some extent. It is im­portant that there is a clear working al­liance at the start of the (col­la­bo­rative) work.

In­no­vative de­ve­lo­p­ments in prac­tical fields of edu­cation, psy­chology and eco­nomics re­quire ac­cep­tance and support from those in po­si­tions of re­spon­si­bility in par­lia­ments at local, re­gional, na­tional and in­ter­na­tional level. INA gGmbH con­tri­butes its ex­pertise to par­lia­mentary dis­course and plays an active role in shaping po­li­tical opinion and de­ve­loping po­li­tical po­si­tions. It par­ti­ci­pates in net­works that cam­paign for the rea­li­sation of human rights and in­itiates pro­jects that support mar­gi­na­lised children, young people and adults at local and re­gional level in in­de­pendently re­pre­senting their rights.

Su­per­vision is ge­ne­rally in­tended as pro­fes­sional coun­selling for spe­cia­lists, groups and teams to in­crease self-re­flection and im­prove pro­fes­sional action.

The training fo­cusses on the (further) de­ve­lo­pment of action com­pe­tence (skills and know­ledge) – whether in a one-to-one setting or in a group.