Questionnaire on Goals in Coaching

How long have you been undertaking coaching either as part of your job or on a paid basis? 4 years.

How did you learn to be a coach? (tick all that apply)

By experience of coaching
By attending a short course (5 weeks total time or less)
By attending a long course (more than 5 weeks total time) / X
By using experience gained elsewhere (eg executive career) / X
By using training gained elsewhere (eg counselling, HR)

Please add any comments to clarify how you learned to be a coach:

I have learned to be a coach during a master’s programme at Oxford Brookes University, Coaching and Mentoring Prakctice, MA. I also went through a coachin supervision course one year duration.

Always / Often / Sometimes / Seldom / Never
1. I set goals with my coachees at the start of a coaching assignment / X
2. At the start of a coaching assignment we set goals for the whole assignment / X
3. In subsequent coaching sessions we refer back to the goals set at the start / X
4. We determine when to finish a coaching assignment by checking whether the goals have been achieved / X
5. The goals help us to decide whether the coaching is appropriately focused / X
6. Goals remain the same throughout the coaching assignment / X
7. We are surprised by topics that come up during a coaching assignment / X
8. We set goals for each coaching session / X
9. The goals are central to deciding the effectiveness of the coaching / X
10. We have purposeful conversations without setting goals / X

Any other comments about your use of goals in coaching:

The goals set on the beginning of a coaching programme tend to change. Almost everytime client rethinks his/her goals. We struggle to define goals according to SMART or other goal setting techniques. Instead of goals I personally ask “what is the topic you want to discuss?”, “how do you want to change?” i.e. we’re talking about a change, not goals.

Please return to d.f.megginson@ shu.ac.uk

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