How can you create a successful coaching survey?

1 Define your survey goals

Before you start writing your survey questions, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve with your survey. What are the specific outcomes or indicators that you want to measure or evaluate? Who are the target respondents and what are their expectations and preferences? How will you use the survey results to inform your coaching practice and improve your client satisfaction? By defining your survey goals, you can align your survey content and format with your coaching objectives and ensure that you ask relevant and meaningful questions.

2 Choose your survey type

Depending on your survey goals, you may want to use different types of surveys to collect different kinds of data. For example, you may want to use a pre-coaching survey to assess your client's needs, expectations, and readiness for coaching, a post-coaching survey to evaluate your client's satisfaction, progress, and outcomes, or a follow-up survey to track your client's behavior change, performance, and feedback over time. You may also want to use a 360-degree survey to gather input from multiple sources, such as your client's peers, managers, or subordinates, to get a holistic view of your client's situation and impact. Each survey type has its own advantages and disadvantages, so you need to choose the one that best suits your survey goals and context.

3 Design your survey questions

One of the most important aspects of creating a successful coaching survey is designing effective and engaging survey questions. You want to avoid asking vague, ambiguous, leading, or biased questions that may confuse or influence your respondents. You also want to avoid asking too many, too long, or too complex questions that may overwhelm or bore your respondents. Instead, you want to ask clear, concise, and specific questions that elicit honest and accurate responses. You also want to use a mix of open-ended and closed-ended questions, as well as different scales and formats, such as Likert scales, rating scales, multiple choice, or ranking, to capture different dimensions and levels of data.

4 Deliver your survey

Once you have designed your survey questions, you need to decide how and when to deliver your survey to your respondents. You may want to use online platforms or tools, such as SurveyMonkey, Google Forms, or Typeform, to create and distribute your survey electronically, or you may want to use paper-based or face-to-face methods, depending on your preferences and resources. You also need to consider the timing and frequency of your survey delivery, such as before, during, or after your coaching sessions, or at regular intervals or milestones. You want to ensure that your survey delivery is convenient and accessible for your respondents, as well as timely and relevant for your coaching purposes.

5 Analyze your survey results

The final step of creating a successful coaching survey is analyzing your survey results and drawing meaningful conclusions and recommendations from them. You may want to use statistical or qualitative methods, such as descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, or thematic analysis, to summarize and interpret your data. You may also want to use visual aids, such as charts, graphs, or tables, to present and communicate your findings. You want to ensure that your analysis is accurate and objective, as well as insightful and actionable. You want to use your survey results to evaluate your coaching effectiveness, identify your strengths and areas for improvement, and plan your next steps and actions.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?