Cathy Liska 
It is worthwhile to consider the factors that impact efficacy of coaching before starting so that you are prepared to most effectively maximize outcomes. Additionally, when measuring the efficacy of coaching, awareness of the factors that affect it means planning to, at a minimum, consider how to interpret results and ideally to plan how to adjust your scoring appropriately.
- Factors
What are the factors?
- Set-up
- Matching – best practices in coaching means providing the coachee with the opportunity to select their coach from several available coaches to support a high level of rapport
- Logistics – positively communicating the opportunity offered with coaching, clearly delineating the parameters, and ensuring a private means of doing coaching are essential for success
- Coach
- Training – a coach that has completed their certification through an ICF-approved program has the foundational training for being effective with the coaching process
- Experience – a coach that has the ability to understand the coachee’s role and environment through related experience, orientation, or the ability to get up to speed quickly is prepared to best serve the coaching relationship
- Client
- Coachable – the individual being coached who wants feedback, wants to learn, and wants to change will gain exponentially more from the coaching process
- Organizational Support
- Resources – in addition to funding coaching, providing training opportunities, a library of reading materials, time and space for coaching, plus cultural support for working on coaching goals and action steps will maximize the outcomes
- Environmental Impact
- External – external factors such as politics, strife, the economy, etc. will impact outcomes so anticipating where possible, addressing where appropriate, and evaluating after the fact provides significant insight
The tips above provide ideas for action to take in advance of coaching. In the next blog considerations before choosing measurement process are defined.
