DDI Performance Coaching & Feedback Delivery 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: DDI research on feedback acceptance shows that employees are most receptive to corrective feedback when:
- The feedback is delivered in front of peers to create social accountability
- They have a high-trust relationship with the feedback giver and believe the intent is developmental (Correct answer)
- The feedback is tied directly to compensation decisions
- The conversation is initiated by the employee rather than the manager
Correct answer: They have a high-trust relationship with the feedback giver and believe the intent is developmental
Trust in the feedback giver's positive intent is the single strongest predictor of whether corrective feedback leads to behavior change.
Question 2: In DDI's GAPS model used during development planning, what does 'G' stand for?
- Growth
- Goals (Correct answer)
- Gaps
- Guidance
Correct answer: Goals
GAPS stands for Goals, Abilities, Perceptions, and Standards—the four lenses used to assess development needs and create targeted plans.
Question 3: A manager has been delivering feedback using the same script for every coaching conversation. According to DDI, this approach risks:
- Being too consistent, which employees actually prefer
- Feeling formulaic and reducing the authenticity needed to build trust (Correct answer)
- Improving feedback quality through repetition and practice
- Satisfying HR audit requirements more easily
Correct answer: Feeling formulaic and reducing the authenticity needed to build trust
Over-scripted feedback loses authenticity; DDI's interaction essentials are principles to internalize, not scripts to recite verbatim.
Question 4: When coaching a team member who is underperforming due to a skill gap (not a motivation gap), the DDI-recommended intervention is:
- Apply progressive discipline to communicate seriousness
- Provide targeted skill-building through modeling, practice, and feedback (Correct answer)
- Reassign the work to a more capable colleague
- Increase the employee's performance targets to create urgency
Correct answer: Provide targeted skill-building through modeling, practice, and feedback
Skill gaps require learning interventions such as modeling, guided practice, and structured feedback—not consequences, which are appropriate for motivation gaps.
Question 5: Which DDI principle explains why a manager should paraphrase an employee's response before building on it during coaching?
- To demonstrate active listening and confirm accurate understanding before moving forward (Correct answer)
- To slow the conversation down so the manager has more time to formulate their own response
- To repeat the employee's words back verbatim as a memory technique
- To ensure the employee's statement is on record if the conversation becomes a legal matter
Correct answer: To demonstrate active listening and confirm accurate understanding before moving forward
Paraphrasing is a core active listening technique in DDI's framework that signals genuine understanding and prevents the manager from responding to a misinterpretation.
Question 6: DDI distinguishes 'coaching' from 'counseling' primarily based on which factor?
- Coaching uses positive feedback while counseling uses only corrective feedback
- Coaching focuses on development and growth; counseling addresses performance or conduct issues requiring correction (Correct answer)
- Coaching is informal while counseling requires HR involvement
- Coaching applies only to high potentials while counseling applies to all employees
Correct answer: Coaching focuses on development and growth; counseling addresses performance or conduct issues requiring correction
In DDI's model, coaching is primarily growth-oriented and developmental, while counseling addresses specific performance or behavioral problems that must be corrected.
Question 7: An employee receives positive feedback from their manager but dismisses it as insincere. According to DDI, the manager can build credibility for future positive feedback by:
- Increasing the frequency of positive feedback until the employee accepts it
- Being specific about what was done well and why it mattered, linking it to concrete outcomes (Correct answer)
- Having senior leadership deliver the same positive message to add authority
- Pairing every piece of positive feedback with a corrective point to show balance
Correct answer: Being specific about what was done well and why it mattered, linking it to concrete outcomes
Specific, outcome-linked positive feedback is perceived as credible and genuine, whereas vague praise ('great job!') is easily dismissed as insincere.
DDI Performance Coaching & Feedback Delivery 5
DDI research on feedback acceptance shows that employees are most receptive to corrective feedback when: