Ending a coaching session or program with the correct questions will help the client cement the advantages of working with you as a coach. Your client may see and acknowledge changes and achievements they may not even have acknowledged to themselves before filling out an evaluation form. A coaching evaluation form will also provide you with insightful feedback on the success of your coaching and areas for development.
This is a great way to prioritize continuous learning and evaluation so you can make any necessary improvements and ensure your coaching program delivers the finest results. So what exactly should be included in your evaluation form in order to get the best and most useful insights? Read on to find out.
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What Should a Coaching Evaluation Form Include?
A well-designed evaluation form should allow you to assess the impact of your coaching strategies and approach on the long-term success of your clients. While the specific questions you ask will depend on your specific niche and client, there is a popular approach used in the coaching industry; the Kirkpatrick evaluation model.
It involves 4 stages: Reaction, Learning, Behavior and Results. Let's learn more in detail about each of these phases and explain how you can incorporate them into your post-session/program evaluations.
Reaction
This phase is all about the degree to which your clients feel the coaching program was valuable to them. You can measure how well they took to the program by looking at how involved they were, how actively they contributed, and how they responded to it. Additionally, it gives you the opportunity to fill in any crucial topics that may have been skipped in order to improve your future programs. Some example questions include:
- Did you think the coaching was time well spent?
- What were the coaching's main advantages and disadvantages?
- Did you enjoy the setting and delivery method?
- Are the coaching exercises interesting?
- Are you happy with the level of communication in between sessions?
- What are the three most crucial lessons you took away from this coaching program?
Learning
This is where you measure how much and how little your clients have learnt. You will assess how driven they are to make changes, how confident they are that they can do it, and what they believe they will be able to do differently as a result. This indicates how their knowledge, attitudes, and confidence have all improved as a result of your coaching. The questions you ask here will depend on the goals of the program, but here are some suggested questions for this phase:
- Can you identify any new skills, or strengths you have developed from the coaching experience?
- What will you now change about how you conducted yourself prior to the coaching program?
- Did the insights provided during coaching support your work towards the defined goals?
- Were the coaching goals met? (you can outline the goals you defined during the intake session and evaluate whether they were met or not)
Behavior
The behavior phase is where you can learn more about how effectively your clients have been able to implement what they learned during the coaching program. This section can also help you discover areas where they might still need help. While you can assess the improvements in behavior mainly through observation and in-person interactions, you can try including the following questions in your evaluation form.
- Have you been able to apply the skills you learned during the program?
- If needed, would you be able to teach your new knowledge or skills to others?
- Are you aware that you have changed your behavior?
- What first steps have you taken towards improving your life/business/relationships?
Results
Finally, you will evaluate the overall outcome of your coaching program. For example, if you provide business coaching services, you would look for significant results the client achieved within their organization or their career. This could be landing a new job, getting a promotion, or delivering better presentations. As a life coach, you could evaluate how the client's personal relationships improved or if they were able to break their negative belief patterns.
Create Your Own Coaching Evaluation Form With Bonsai
Now that you know the most important aspects to help you evaluate the effectiveness of your coaching program, you can create your own form using Bonsai's custom form builder. Our forms are fully customizable so you can make it your own by adding as many questions as you need, selecting your desired answer format and even integrate your branding elements and logos.
To make your life even easier, you can use your evaluation form as an online document that you can share with your clients via email or URL link. This way you can maintain all of this feedback well organized and at hand whenever you need it. Check out these and many more excellent features that Bonsai has to offer. Start your 14-day free trial today and save time so you can focus on your passion, not your paperwork!