Towards a process-based typology of workplace coaching: An empirical investigation.

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Research into work-based coaching has been led by the need of a new discipline to demonstrate of this practice, often assuming that coaching is a homogeneous activity. A multifaceted and multi-purposeful nature of coaching now requires development of meaningful typologies that reflect this diversity and grounded in the analysis of coaching process. There are many reasons empirical investigations of the coaching process are extremely rare. The aim of this article is to present such a study leading to an empirically derived model representing a 4-demensional coaching typology. The research was based on a ‘qualiquantological’ Q methodology involving 47 participants. Actual coaching sessions were evaluated from the perspective of professional coaches, their clients and professional coaches observing recordings of these sessions. A Q methodological factor analysis led to a clear identification of two types of coaching: ‘Client-led coaching’ in which the coach and client work together in a flowing dialogue exploring the client’s issues and ‘Process-led coaching,’ characterized by an actively engaged coach using a wide range of coaching techniques, visibly structuring the coaching process. There was partial support for a third type of ‘Dialogic Coaching’ and a fourth approach was inferred as being the inverse type of client-led coaching.