Measuring the Impact of Team and Group Coaching

Measurement was an area flagged in the 2012 ICF Global Coaching Survey as a key area for the profession to keep an eye on, as well as a trend/hot topic area I flagged last month in my year end review call. How do you currently measure the impact of coaching - whether it is individual, team or groups? What changes/modifications would you like to make in this area?

In Effective Group Coaching (pages 222-224) I provide a very high level overview of the Four Levels of Evaluation by Kirkpatrick which is commonly used in the training and performance realm. Very briefly, these are:
Level 1 - Reaction - What do clients like about the program? This measures individual reaction - what do people like. It often is referred to as the "smile" sheets
Level 2 - Learning - What did clients learn from the program? This level looks at what specific insights people have acquired.  It looks at
Level 3 - Application - How have clients applied the learning/insights from the program? What are people doing differently after the program (short term and medium term)? For teams, this may be looking at the application of some of the new frameworks you have explored (i.e. difficult conversations) or integration of their team contracts. In leadership group coaching application may be include new supervisors adjusting their communication style with their team, based on what they have learned about themselves.
Level 4 - Results - What is the business impact/results from the program? This is much harder to measure and isolate. As Phil Sandahl of Team Coaching International recommends, the work will benefit from asking team members to identify success measurements that are relevant at the start of the engagement. Team members themselves will be well versed on what relevant measures are for their industry and context.

As I have seen in my work, measurement at higher levels (beyond measuring only initial reaction, and learning) can be a very sophisticated activity. Wherever possible I try to tap into the resources and expertise available within an organization. These individuals may be able to provide expertise in the area, what metrics are already being tracked, as well as to provide insight as to what the current state of evaluation within their organization.

Even if we as coach practitioners are not going to develop expertise in this area, it is useful for coaches to develop an basic understanding of evaluation and measurement for coaching. Two of the resources I point coaches towards include:

Anderson and Anderson - Coaching that Counts (2004)
Patricia Phillips, Jack J Phillips and Lisa Ann Edwards - Measuring the Success of Coaching (2012)

What resources would you recommend around measurement?

Have a great week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, PCC, CPCC
GroupCoachingEssentials.com
Phone: (416)996-TEAM (8326)
Upcoming programs include: 90 Day BizSuccess Group Coaching Program for Coaches (Thurs 2-3 pm ET: Jan 24 - April 25),  the Group Coaching Essentials teleseminar(Tues 2 - 3:15 pm ET): Feb 5, 12, 19, 26 and March 5 - 6.75 CCEs) and the Mentor Coaching Group (Tues 10-11am ET): Feb 5 - May 7, 2013 (for ACC and PCC portfolio applications and ACC Rewewals)