Evaluation
High Growth Enterprise Coaches evaluate the impact of their activities and interventions
High Growth Enterprise Coaches:
- Define planned outcomes and results on commencement of activities
- Review progress and performance with clients at agreed intervals
- Encourage clients to communicate areas of concern or underperformance
- Identify areas of concern or underperformance
- Investigate areas of concern or underperformance
- Implement corrective action to address areas of concern or underperformance
- Monitor corrective actions to confirm their effectiveness
- Evaluate the effectiveness of coaching processes
- Evaluate the impact of coaching against planned outcomes and results
- Identify changes to processes and activities to implement with other clients
The evaluation process involves asking questions about the High Growth Enterprise Coaching Process, the client’s experience, the impact of the programme and the extent to which the client’s goals agreed at the beginning of the coaching process have been achieved.
Evaluation is not a single activity: it is a process comprising lots of activities. Evaluation should begin during the planning stage of a High Growth Enterprise Coaching Programme. Effective evaluation is inextricably linked to goals and outcomes. When evaluation is implemented effectively, the process adds value, keeps coaching programmes on track and ensures customer satisfaction. It allows for the identification of weaknesses and underperformance; it encourages communication between clients and coaches; it enables problems to be pinpointed at an early stage enabling modifications to be made; and it supports the review process, enabling clients and coaches to identify and appreciate progress thereby supporting increased confidence and maintaining momentum.
When it is undertaken poorly, it is a burden and a cost and reveals unpleasant surprises and problems when it is too late to address them. The Cheshire Puss in Alice in Wonderland is a great metaphor and illustrates the problem of not having an evaluation plan.
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where –” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
“–so long as I get SOMEWHERE,” Alice added as an explanation.
“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough”
Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
The start of any High Growth Enterprise Coaching Programme is to know and understand the destination or the planned goals, objectives and outcomes that the client wants to attain. As with any plan, there needs to be clearly defined goals and strategies to achieve them with regular progress reviews to ensure the desired results are being achieved.
High Growth Enterprise Coaches need to evaluate not only the results of a coaching programme; they need to evaluate the coaching process, the client’s experience and the impact of their actions and interventions on performance. Effective evaluation is part of the professional practice of High Growth Enterprise Coaches. The results of evaluation activities should help the High Growth Enterprise Coach to improve their own performance and therefore should feed into their own professional development.
There are many parts of a High Growth Enterprise Coaching programme that could be evaluated.
The Coaching Process
Contracting and Objective Setting
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· Client understanding, appreciating and committing to the process
· Client, coach and organisation clarifying and understanding organisational objectives of coaching and way in which progress is to be measured · Client and coach clarifying, understanding and reconciling organisational and personal objectives of coaching · Period of coaching |
Rapport building
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· Building trust between client and coach
· Client and coach developing a working alliance |
Client Engagement
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· Coach engaging the client in sessions
· Client perceiving choice around repertoire of behavioural options · Coach modelling desired work behaviours in session · Client practising behavioural options in session |
Coaching Inputs
The Client
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· Gender, age, race, personality, cognitive abilities, educational attainment, experience, managerial responsibilities
· Belief in ability to change · Current quality of relationship with manager · Current quality of other inter-personal work relationships · Current non-work issues · Level of self-awareness, awareness of others · Personal development needs · Affective state and energy levels |
The Team
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· Current quality of team relationships
· Team’s perception of client · Perception of team performance · Team dynamic |
The Organisation
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· Organisational objectives from coaching
· Job requirements · Organisational dynamiics · Organisational culture and climate |
The Coach
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· Gender, age, race, personality, cognitive abilities, qualifications, experience
· Coaching style/approach · Ability to develop working relationship with coachee · Organisational dynamics · Understanding of organisation · Affective state and energy levels |
Evaluation involves asking questions. The choice of which questions to ask is determined by the focus of the evaluation. For instance, the focus could be on the quality of the coaching experience from the perspective of the client or it could be purely on the achievement of the planned goals and objectives. Evaluation also needs to be considered at each stage of the High Growth Enterprise Coaching Process. Evaluation questions might be asked regarding the effectiveness of the engagement process or the effectiveness of the needs analysis process in Stage 2: Exploring. Evaluation questions might focus on the level of resource that was made available during Stage 3: Implementation.
The High Growth Enterprise Coaching Process
High Growth Enterprise Coaches need to discuss with clients the key areas for evaluation and agree a plan to ensure it takes place in a planned and timely manner.
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