Did you know...there are two levels to Core Competency #2: Establishing the Coaching Agreement

The first level is establishing the agreement for the overall coaching relationship.

The agreement can, and probably should, be established both in writing and verbally.

To establish the agreement in writing, you may want to create a series of documents that inform the client of what is expected within the context of the coaching relationship. You want to include the expectations of you as coach and the expectations for your client. These documents can include:

• a welcome letter
• a policies and procedures document (or a contract )
• a questionnaire for self-discovery and awareness
• a copy of the ICF Standards and Ethics.

To establish the agreement verbally, you may want to schedule the first session as a review of the documents (thus the overall coaching agreement) as well as the establishment of a focus for the coaching and an overall coaching plan.

The second level is establishing the agreement for each individual coaching session. This means you ask a few very key questions:

1. What does the client want to discuss and be coached on? (What is the topic?)
2. What does the client want to walk away with from the session? (What is the desired outcome?)
3. How will the client know the session has been successful? (Is there some specific way of measuring when the outcome has been reached?)