DDI Performance Coaching & Feedback Delivery 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: DDI's 'Practical Model for Coaching' emphasizes that coaching conversations should be tied to:
- The manager's personal development goals
- Specific business needs and individual development goals simultaneously (Correct answer)
- HR-mandated performance improvement plans only
- Annual review cycles rather than ongoing interactions
Correct answer: Specific business needs and individual development goals simultaneously
DDI's model links coaching to both business results and individual growth, ensuring that development conversations remain strategically relevant.
Question 2: Which of the following best describes 'feedforward' as used in advanced DDI coaching practice?
- Summarizing past mistakes to prevent recurrence
- Providing future-focused suggestions for improvement rather than dwelling on past failures (Correct answer)
- Scheduling feedback sessions in advance on the calendar
- Forwarding feedback reports to senior leadership
Correct answer: Providing future-focused suggestions for improvement rather than dwelling on past failures
Feedforward focuses on what the employee can do differently going forward, shifting the conversation from blame to constructive action.
Question 3: When a manager uses 'tell-and-sell' rather than a coaching approach, the most likely outcome according to DDI research is:
- Higher employee engagement due to clear direction
- Short-term compliance but lower long-term commitment and ownership (Correct answer)
- Faster skill development because the answer is provided directly
- Increased trust because the manager shares expertise freely
Correct answer: Short-term compliance but lower long-term commitment and ownership
Tell-and-sell may achieve quick compliance but reduces the employee's sense of ownership, limiting sustained behavior change and engagement.
Question 4: A coachee consistently meets targets but alienates team members. In DDI's framework, this is best addressed by:
- Ignoring the interpersonal issue since results are being achieved
- Coaching both on the behavior pattern and its impact on team effectiveness (Correct answer)
- Transferring the employee to a solo-contributor role immediately
- Rewarding the results while privately hoping the behavior improves
Correct answer: Coaching both on the behavior pattern and its impact on team effectiveness
DDI recognizes that sustainable high performance requires both task results and positive relationship behaviors; coaching must address both dimensions.
Question 5: Which question type does DDI most recommend a coach use to help an employee develop self-awareness?
- Leading questions that confirm the manager's assessment
- Closed-ended questions to gather factual data quickly
- Reflective open-ended questions that prompt the employee to examine their own thinking (Correct answer)
- Hypothetical questions about what other employees would do
Correct answer: Reflective open-ended questions that prompt the employee to examine their own thinking
Reflective open-ended questions encourage introspection, helping the employee discover insights about their own behavior and its consequences.
Question 6: In DDI's model, the phrase 'coaching in the moment' refers to:
- Annual performance review conversations
- Brief, timely coaching interactions immediately following a behavior or event (Correct answer)
- Coaching conducted only during scheduled one-on-one meetings
- Sending written feedback via email shortly after an incident
Correct answer: Brief, timely coaching interactions immediately following a behavior or event
Coaching in the moment captures the learning opportunity when the experience is still fresh, making feedback more vivid and actionable for the employee.
Question 7: According to DDI, what is the most critical factor determining whether a coachee acts on feedback received?
- The seniority and authority of the person delivering the feedback
- Whether the coachee perceives the feedback as credible, fair, and linked to their own goals (Correct answer)
- The number of times the feedback has been repeated in different conversations
- Whether the feedback is documented in writing and stored in their personnel file
Correct answer: Whether the coachee perceives the feedback as credible, fair, and linked to their own goals
Coachees are most likely to act when they trust the feedback source, see it as fair, and understand how acting on it benefits their own development.
DDI Performance Coaching & Feedback Delivery 3
DDI's 'Practical Model for Coaching' emphasizes that coaching conversations should be tied to: