In the lingo of education, I view the evaluation of coaching as a formative (rather than a summative) affair. In other words, when you start to explore outcomes from coaching you are likely to have an impact on the outcomes from coaching. I’m sure scientists have had plenty of opportunity to notice how the act of observing something has an impact on the thing being observed. Today I reflect on this as I respond to a query about evaluating coaching:

We are an organisation that has recently embarked on using coaching as a development tool for our senior managers. As you would imagine we would like to evaluate the effectiveness of the coaching and are looking for any resources that will help us do so. Your experience of what works will also be really useful.

I take a few minutes to share my thoughts and decide to share them here. Broadly speaking, I use three (sometimes four) complimentary processes:

• The first is the process whereby I contract with the commissioning client where there is one (i.e. the manager commissioning coaching for one of the people he or she manages) and the person seeking coaching (or coachee). At the outset, I facilitate a three-way meeting with the commissioning client, coachee and me to explore the manager’s reasons for commissioning coaching and any expectations the manager has of the employee. Depending on the length of the contract I will then facilitate three-way meetings on an interim basis and at the end of the process to review progress;
• The second is the process I use with the coachee. Even when there is a three-way process (above) I also explore with the coachee what he or she wants from coaching and seek to agree clear goals. These can be the same as the goals agreed with the commissioning manager but may be different, e.g. when a manager requires xyz changes from an employee which cause the employee to question whether or not s/he wants to continue in a job. For the manager making the changes may be the goal. First though, the employee may want to get clear on whether to sign up to the goal. I’m sure that many coaches will tell you they include ongoing processes of evaluation in their coaching – asking clients what they are taking from each session, for example, as well as holding review sessions. I typically hold two-way review sessions periodically and prior to three-way review sessions (above). I also include some evaluation of coaching as part of a final “completion” session at the end of a coaching contract;
• In addition, I also have a reciprocal arrangement with a number of trusted coaching colleagues who conduct an interview on my behalf. I started by using this at the end of coaching contracts and increasingly use it periodically with clients who choose to work with me over extended periods. Originally designed to support my learning and development as a coach, I have found the questionnaire I use for this immensely valuable to my clients who are able to reflect on the outcomes from coaching. Where we are still working together, it helps to re-focus – review goals and ways of working together to increase the effectiveness of our work together. Where the coachee is happy to share, I am always delighted to share this feedback with the commissioning manager;
• Finally, there is the question of how you evaluate coaching across a team, when the coaching might be seen as a “team” coaching project. I have worked on projects where we have included team discussion – contracting and review.

Whatever the situation, given my conviction that evaluating coaching has an impact on the outcomes from coaching, it’s my aim to design all review processes in ways which facilitate further progress.