Jobs to Be Done Coaching: A Guided Path to Learning and Applying JTBD

Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) has become a vital approach for organizations seeking clarity about customer needs and strategic direction. At the same time, many teams discover that JTBD is not a beginner-level tool. It requires practice, guidance, and repeated application to fully understand how the method works and how it differs from other innovation frameworks.

For this reason, many organizations start with JTBD coaching as the first step in a broader capability-building effort. Coaching helps individuals become familiar with the method in a structured and supportive environment before engaging in a larger program that may include training, workshops, consulting, or full innovation projects.

This article builds on the stages and tools highlighted in the Jobs to Be Done workshop series guide, and offers an overview of how coaching can support deeper learning.

Why JTBD Requires a Deeper Learning Experience

JTBD goes far beyond traditional needs assessments or customer research. It shifts the focus from the product to the underlying progress a customer is trying to make. This requires:

• Understanding nuanced functional, emotional, and social jobs 
• Mapping job steps accurately 
• Discovering desired outcomes that are not always obvious 
• Distinguishing between jobs and solutions 
• Learning how JTBD insights guide opportunity exploration 

Because these skills take time to learn, coaching allows teams to build mastery in manageable stages.

JTBD as an advanced innovation method

Experienced innovation teams sometimes assume JTBD is simply another customer empathy tool or a variation of design thinking. While complementary, JTBD introduces a more rigorous structure for defining problems and identifying opportunities. The precision and discipline required often surprise learners initially.

Coaching provides time to internalize these differences. Participants learn not only what JTBD is, but also how to use it in a way that produces new insights and strategic clarity.

How JTBD Coaching Fits Into a Larger Program

Organizations that successfully adopt JTBD typically follow a pathway that includes several components. Coaching works well as one or more of the early steps in this progression.

1. Initial coaching to learn the fundamentals

Coaching introduces teams to the method and helps them practice core tools with real examples. This reduces confusion later when more advanced work begins.

2. Structured training workshops

Once participants are familiar with the basics, a training workshop allows the whole team to learn shared language, review stages of the JTBD approach, and work together on exercises.

3. Project-based application

After training, organizations often move into project work where they apply JTBD to a real innovation challenge. Coaching continues during this phase to help teams stay aligned and avoid common mistakes.

4. Consulting or advisory support

For complex initiatives, external JTBD experts may join in to review findings, validate insights, or guide opportunity selection.

5. Building internal capability

Over time, organizations develop internal champions capable of facilitating JTBD sessions and supporting others.

Coaching plays an important role across these stages because it supports ongoing learning instead of a one-time knowledge transfer.

Stages of the JTBD Method (Based on Agile Innovation Advisors’ Approach)

In the earlier article on Agile Innovation Advisors, we outlined an approach that includes several major components of the JTBD method. These stages offer a helpful structure for coaching:

1. Identify the Job to Be Done

Teams learn how to shift from thinking about customer personas to articulating the real job customers are trying to accomplish. This stage requires careful wording and interpretation.

2. Break the job into job steps

The job map helps teams understand sequential activities and identify where friction occurs. Coaching ensures that participants keep the map focused on the job instead of slipping into solution mode.

3. Capture desired outcomes

Desired outcomes are measurable statements that express how customers evaluate success. They are central to JTBD and also the most challenging part for beginners. The coaching process emphasizes clarity, measurability, and precision.

4. Uncover unmet needs

With guidance, teams learn how to evaluate outcome statements, identify gaps, and determine which needs represent opportunities.

5. Generate innovation opportunities

Instead of brainstorming randomly, JTBD guides teams to produce opportunities grounded in unmet outcomes and job steps.

6. Explore solutions

Coaching supports teams as they move from insights to potential solutions, ensuring alignment with the job instead of drifting toward assumptions.

Each stage requires practice and feedback. Coaching helps participants avoid typical pitfalls, such as mixing jobs with tasks or describing outcomes that are too broad.

What JTBD Coaching Looks Like in Practice

A JTBD coaching engagement typically includes:

• Sessions focused on developing and refining job statements 
• Guided practice with job maps and outcome statements 
• Review and critique of participants’ drafts 
• Observation or preparation for customer interviews 
• Structured reflection on how JTBD insights guide strategic decisions 
• Tailored assignments between sessions to reinforce learning 

Coaching is not theoretical. Teams work on their own challenge, receive feedback quickly, and adjust their models accordingly.

Why Coaching Accelerates JTBD Mastery

Participants often describe three key benefits:

1. A clearer understanding of the method

JTBD concepts are deceptively simple on the surface, but mastery requires nuanced thinking. Coaching ensures learners fully understand the differences between JTBD and other approaches.

2. Confidence applying JTBD tools to real work

Many teams feel unsure about their first job maps or outcome statements. Coaching builds confidence through iteration.

3. A stronger foundation before scaling JTBD

Organizations that skip foundational learning often struggle to use JTBD in large projects. Coaching creates alignment before moving into training, workshops, or consulting.

Is JTBD Coaching Right for Your Team?

Coaching is helpful for:

• Teams new to JTBD who want a structured way to learn 
• Innovation groups preparing for a larger program or project 
• Leaders seeking clarity on how JTBD fits into their strategy 
• Organizations integrating JTBD with design thinking or other methods 
• Teams working on challenges that require deeper customer insight 

A coaching-first model supports better learning, stronger adoption, and more reliable outcomes when moving into more advanced JTBD work.

Start With Coaching, Grow Into the Full Program

If your organization wants to build capability with Jobs to Be Done, coaching provides an effective starting point. It helps teams understand the method deeply, prepare for more advanced stages of learning, and apply JTBD thinking to real challenges.

We can help you design a coaching-led JTBD experience or integrate it into a broader innovation program that includes training, workshops, and consulting. Contact us to explore what the right approach might look like for your organization.