Meta-Conversation: How Do We Measure the Efficacy of Coaching?

Starting June 14, 2023

How do we know what we do in coaching is actually working? Coaching is often presented as a primary tool for the transformative process, but there is a research and practice gap in measuring the efficacy of coaching. This series aims to provide a brief and highly implementable framework for measuring efficacy that coaching practitioners can apply to their own practice and evaluation.

The series is structured around three key themes that cover the following topics:

  1. Debunking the myths ("practice doesn't make perfect, practice makes habits"),
  2. Three Key Tools of Dialogic Orientation and Construction ("Watch your language, literally"), and
  3. Evidence-based practice for measuring efficacy ("How we know what we know?"). Throughout the series, you will be able to apply what you have learned through experimentation, in-session exercises, and discussions.

Continuing Education Credits

Continuing Education Units

The International Coaching Federation (ICF) has approved this series for a total of 7.5 hours of CEU credit! This includes the 3 seminars and 3 discussion groups. The series is also approved for 7.5 hours from Wellcoaches and 7.5 hours from Association for Coaches. In order to receive credit you must attend live and complete a survey at the end. After completion of the survey you will be sent a CEU certificate for the number of CEUs that you earned. Watching a recording will not qualify you for CEUs.

Meet The Seminar Presenter

Photo of Haesun Moon

Haesun Moon

Haesun Moon, Ph.D., is a communication scientist, an educator, and author of Coaching A to Z: The Extraordinary Use of Ordinary Words and several collaborative books, including Thriving Women, Thriving World, and Foundations of Brief Coaching, a short handbook for professional coaches. Haesun received her Ph.D. in Adult Education and Community Development from University of Toronto.

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Date & Time Topic
June 14, 2023
9:30 am to 11:00 am ET
Debunking Myths of Coaching
Do people in coaching conversations take turns just asking questions and answering them? Does practicing longer and more make perfect? Conversations of many forms and functions follow simple rules with a recursive nature. The course's first lecture will respond to some of the most common misunderstandings with evidence from communication science. This lecture will explore how a conversation works, how people negotiate meanings, and how micro-decisions are made in each utterance to co-orient toward the preferred future. The research gap in measuring the efficacy of coaching practice will be discussed as you learn the Dialogic Orientation Quadrant (DOQ), an evidence-based process for measuring the efficacy of coaching. Participants will apply the DOQ to a recent coaching session in an interactive reflection.
July 12, 2023
9:30 am to 11:00 am ET
Three Key Tools of Dialogic Orientation and Construction in Coaching
The second lecture of the course will focus more in-depth on dialogic processes in coaching. How do we use the key tools of conversation - formulations, questions, and gestures - to co-author a transformative coaching experience? This interfluential nature of conversation will be explored further with detailed analyses for coaching practice. Also, the Rashomon effect, the phenomenon where multiple people have different interpretations of the same event, will be presented, along with strategies for managing the Rashomon effect in coaching. Participants will also learn how to use the DOQ to generate useful responses to their clients and as a self-teaching heuristic. Class activity will provide opportunities to practice using the “statement + question” pair structure as we review case studies and sample sessions.
August 09, 2023
9:30 am to 11:00 am ET
Evidence-Based Practice for Measuring Efficacy
The third and final lecture of the course will focus on applications of evidence-based practice for measuring efficacy in coaching. Key interventions from solution-focused coaching will be explored, along with how to apply these interventions in coaching practice right away. The lecture will also cover the importance of understanding coaching as an interactional process that requires a congruent epistemology. Various research, practice, and training ideas will be introduced and encouraged to refine their craft.
Date & Time Topic
June 28, 2023
9:30 am to 10:30 am ET
Conversations under a microscope
In this session, we will learn how to analyze coaching conversations using one of the latest research methods in Communication Science. Short samples of recorded conversations or dialogue will be used for microanalysis, followed by deep reflection on your own work so that you become more aware of your speech patterns and their functions. You will learn how to apply this tool to review your work and supervise others' conversations.
July 26, 2023
9:30 am to 10:30 am ET
Mapping the Interfluence
In this session, we will learn how meaning is dialogically constructed in conversations. We will use a highly practical documentation method to track how coaches and clients co-author meaning and hope. This process can be mapped using the DOQ, a heuristic of interaction, to show the chronicle of hope construction. There will be several hands-on activities to map out the interfluence of key dialogic tools and crucial moments in coaching.
August 23, 2023
9:30 am to 10:30 am ET
The dilemma between valuing and evaluating
In this session, we will delve into the complex relationship between valuing and evaluating in the context of coaching and coach education. We will explore the various factors impacting how we measure coaching efficacy and consider a process-oriented approach, including direct observation, ipsative evaluation, and the need to balance quantitative and qualitative data. We will share insights and ideas about how we can integrate both valuing and evaluating into our coaching practice.