Most group coaching programs are judged by how participants felt at the last session. That tells you whether people enjoyed it, not whether anything changed. Measuring group coaching effectiveness means asking better questions at the right times.
This guide covers what to measure, when to measure it, and a set of coaching effectiveness survey questions you can use as they are.
What to Measure in Group Coaching
Measure four things, in order of importance to the business:
- Reaction. Did participants find the sessions useful and relevant?
- Application. Are participants using what they worked on?
- Behavior change. Do the people around participants experience them differently?
- Results. Have team outcomes moved?
Most organizations stop at the first. Only 39% of leadership development teams measure behavior change, according to the 2024 LEADx Benchmark Report.
When to Measure
| When | What to collect | From whom |
|---|---|---|
| Before the first session | Baseline goals, baseline behavior ratings | Participants and their managers |
| After each session | A two-question pulse on usefulness and one commitment | Participants |
| End of program | Reaction and application survey | Participants |
| 90 days after | Behavior change survey | Participants, managers, direct reports |
| 6 to 12 months after | Repeat behavior ratings, team outcomes | Same raters, plus business data |
Do not skip the later measurements. Research on multi-rater feedback found larger improvement when assessments were repeated within 12 months (Smither, London and Reilly, 2005), and change takes time to show.
Coaching Effectiveness Survey Questions
Use a 1 to 5 agreement scale for rating questions, and keep each survey under ten questions.
End-of-program survey (participants)
- The coaching sessions addressed situations I actually face at work.
- I left most sessions with a specific commitment to act on.
- I have used what I worked on in coaching in the past two weeks.
- The group format helped me see my own patterns more clearly.
- What is one thing you now do differently because of this coaching? (open)
- What got in the way of applying what you worked on? (open)
90-day survey (participants)
- I have kept or renegotiated the commitments I made during coaching.
- I handle difficult conversations differently than before the program.
- My manager has supported me in applying what I worked on.
- Describe a recent situation where you used something from coaching. What happened? (open)
90-day survey (managers and direct reports)
- This person follows through on what they commit to.
- When this person cannot keep a commitment, they address it before the deadline.
- This person raises problems early rather than late.
- I have noticed a change in how this person leads over the past three months.
- What, if anything, is different? (open)
The manager and direct report questions matter most. They measure behavior as others experience it, which is the only measure of leadership change that counts.
Group Coaching KPIs
- Session commitment completion: share of commitments made in sessions that were completed or renegotiated by the next session.
- Behavior rating change: difference between baseline and 90-day ratings from managers and direct reports.
- Application rate: share of participants reporting use of coaching content in the past two weeks.
- Team outcomes: engagement, retention, and goal attainment on participants’ teams.
Commitment completion is the most useful leading indicator. If commitments made in sessions are not being kept, behavior ratings will not move. That is the logic behind DorWay’s focus on team agreements and accountability in leadership.
Analyzing the Results
- Compare 90-day ratings with the baseline, by participant and for the group.
- Look at the gap between participants’ self-ratings and others’ ratings. A large gap is a coaching topic in itself.
- Read the open answers for what got in the way. These are usually the fastest fixes.
- Share results with participants and turn the biggest gaps into the next round of commitments.
For a fuller framework, see how to evaluate a leadership development program and how to measure leadership effectiveness.
FAQ
What are good coaching effectiveness survey questions?
Questions that ask about specific behavior, not satisfaction. For example: “I have kept or renegotiated the commitments I made during coaching,” and, for managers, “This person follows through on what they commit to.”
How often should you evaluate group coaching?
Briefly after each session, at the end of the program, at 90 days, and again at 6 to 12 months.
What are the challenges in measuring group coaching?
Separating the coaching’s effect from other changes, getting honest input from others, and keeping measurement going after the program ends. A baseline and repeat ratings from the same raters address most of these.
Related: group coaching vs. individual outcomes, online vs. in-person group coaching, and assessing the impact of coaching on performance.