Coaching Question Library

Check out our question library we have compiled to aid in your coaching sessions.

Need more help getting started with coaching? Find industry-proven program templates that you can use here.

Example Questions by Role

Account Executive

• Which opportunity have you had in your pipeline the longest? What is your action plan to either progress or disqualify?

Sales Development Representative

• What strategy/theme will you use this week to generate interest?

• What have you been doing that's working? Why?

• What have you been doing that's not working? Why?

Manager

• Which employees would you not fight to keep if they turned in their notice? What is your action plan to coach them up or out?

• What did you read/ listen to since the last review that's made you a better manager?

• What are you going to read / listen to between now and your next review to make you a better manager?

Example Questions by Time-Based Check-Ins

Quarterly

Think classical "performance review" where your goal with each employee is to encourage open communication, align professional objectives with company goals, praise growth, and identify/address challenges.

• What is the one thing you have accomplished since the last review that you are most proud of?

• How have you advanced your career goals since the last review? What are your career goals?

• What are you hoping to accomplish between now and your next review?

• Do you have access to all of the tools and/or resources you need to do your job?

• Do you feel like you and your team work well together?

• What is one area where you feel like you could improve at your job?

• What do you think the goals of our company are? What do you think the goals of our department are?

• Can you explain how management has helped you in doing your job? Can you explain how management has hindered your job performance?

• What opportunities is our company not doing a good job realizing?

• What's the biggest strength and weakness of our company's offering?

• What is one role that we should hire for to make our company better?

• If you were the CEO of our company, what would you focus on?

Monthly

Focus on employee objectives and the path to achieve them.

• What were your big wins? Small wins?

• Are there any projects you'd really like to work on if given the opportunity?

• Is there anything that I can partner with you on?

• Did you achieve your Objectives since the last review? Why or why not?

• What are your new Objectives between now and your next review?

• Do you feel like the inputs asked of you correlate to the outputs asked of you?

• What part of the process do you find the most challenging, and why?

• How would your prospects/customers say about working with you?

• How have your team members helped you since the last review? How have you helped them?

• What is the biggest gap in your knowledge of our company's offering? What will we do to fix this?

Weekly

Focus on employee activities and motivation/impediments that could affect productivity.

• What did you focus on this week?

• What challenges or roadblocks do you need help with?

• Who has been your MVP since the last review?

• On a scale of 1-10, how productive have you been since the last review? If you wanted to move up a number, what would it take?

• How are you taking care of yourself this week?

• Share you thoughts on how things went regarding last week's performance?

• What do you need from me? What can I do better as your leader?

Daily

Think low-touch interaction to instill discipline and accountability.

• What is your top priority today?

• On a scale of 1-10, how productive were you yesterday? What kept you from a higher number?

• What was your high and low from yesterday?

Example Questions by Events

New Hire

• What have you found within this position that's surprised you? Why?

New Promotion

• What have you found within this new position that's surprised you? Why?

Performance Improvement Plan

• Is there another role within our company where you feel you would excel? Why?