Feedforward in coaching: how to help your coachee move forward

Feedforward in coaching: how to help your coachee move forward

Feedforward in coaching means looking ahead with your coachee: what behaviour do they want to show going forward, and what helps them get there? You don't discuss in detail what went wrong last week; instead, you ask about possibilities and small steps for next time. That makes a conversation lighter and more concrete. In this article you'll read how feedforward works, how it differs from feedback, which questions you can ask, and how to turn it into clear behavioural goals.

In short

• Feedback looks back at what happened. Feedforward looks ahead to what can be done differently next time.
• Feedforward works well when your coachee wants to change and when the same behaviour keeps recurring.
• Don't skip acknowledgement: looking back briefly first, then looking ahead, often works best.
• Turn a good idea into a behavioural goal you can see or hear, with a moment when you review it together.
• Record agreements and check-ins, so the forward look doesn't disappear between two sessions.

Table of contents

• What is feedforward in coaching?
• Feedback and feedforward: the difference
• When do you use feedforward, and what to watch out for?
• The feedforward exercise in a session
• Feedforward questions for your sessions
• Formulating behavioural goals with your coachee
• Outcome or output: what do you measure?
• Holding on to feedforward between sessions
• Our view on feedforward
• Feedforward in your practice with Exantur
• Frequently asked questions
• Sources

What is feedforward in coaching?

Feedforward is a way of talking about development in which the future is the starting point. Your coachee chooses a behaviour they want to strengthen or change. The conversation then turns to possibilities: what can you try, what already works, what is a next step?

The best-known form is Marshall Goldsmith's exercise. In it, someone describes a behavioural change they want to make. They ask others for suggestions, without talking about the past. And they listen to those suggestions without judging or defending them. Clutterbuck CMI describes this approach as a way to make development less heavy.

In a coaching conversation you use the same idea, but one-on-one. You are not the one giving suggestions. You ask questions that lead your coachee to come up with options themselves. That way the coachee remains the owner of their development.

An example. A team leader notices that she often interrupts others in meetings. With feedback you would dissect the last meeting: when did she interrupt, why, how did the team react? With feedforward you ask: "How do you want your next meeting to look? What could you do to listen first?" She may come up with the idea herself to respond only after she has asked a question.

Feedback and feedforward: the difference

The biggest difference lies in the direction of the gaze. According to Act Inc., feedback looks back at what happened and what effect it had, whereas feedforward looks at what can be done differently next time. Feedback more quickly triggers defensiveness. Feedforward is easier to receive, but can skip acknowledgement if you use it on its own.

So it's not a choice between right and wrong. Storytelling Trainer points out that feedback remains necessary for reflection and self-awareness, and that a combination is often most effective: first reflect, then look ahead.

Why feedforward often lands better

Many coachees have been receiving feedback for years in performance reviews. They know what didn't go well. For that very reason, a conversation about the past can quickly feel like a repeat of an evaluation. A question about the future creates room. There is nothing to defend, because the behaviour hasn't happened yet.

When do you use feedforward, and what to watch out for?

Feedforward is especially useful in two situations. The first: the goal of the conversation is change, not accountability. The second: the same behaviour keeps recurring, and looking back produces the same conversation every time. In both cases, a forward look gets things moving again.

Do pay attention to acknowledgement. If your coachee has been through something difficult and you immediately move on to "what will you do next time?", they may not feel heard. Act Inc. recommends first acknowledging what happened and only then looking ahead.

This fits with Fred Korthagen's ALACT model. That model describes a cycle of action, looking back, becoming aware, creating alternatives, and a new attempt. Feedforward fits mainly in the last two steps. The first steps provide the foundation.

Korthagen also warns that a conversation solely about behaviour stays on the surface. Deep learning requires attention to what drives someone, to strengths, and to inner obstacles. So don't only ask "what are you going to do?", but also "what matters to you in this?" and "what might hold you back?".

One final point: let your coachee be responsible for gathering input themselves. If they ask colleagues for suggestions themselves, it feels less like something being done to them.

The feedforward exercise in a session

You can translate Goldsmith's exercise well into a coaching session or an assignment between sessions. Here's how to go about it:

1. Choose a behaviour. Have your coachee name a behaviour they want to change. Make it small and concrete, for example "respond more calmly when someone contradicts me".
2. Briefly acknowledge the past. Ask what has happened so far and why this matters. Keep this short.
3. Ask for suggestions about the future. What could they try? If it becomes an assignment: have them ask two or three colleagues for suggestions.
4. Listen without judgement. The coachee writes down the suggestions and only says "thank you". No explanation, no "yes, but".
5. Choose one or two steps. Together you discuss which suggestions fit and which they will try.
6. Agree on a moment. When will they try it, and when will you review it together? Record this as an action point.

It works well to note down the suggestions and chosen steps right away. In the next session you then know exactly where to continue. Our guide on writing session notes shows how to keep them short and useful.

Feedforward questions for your sessions

Good feedforward questions are open, focused on the future, and small enough to answer. Below you'll find questions for each moment in the process.

At the start of a session

• What would be useful for you to discuss today?
• What needs to come up to make this a useful conversation?
• Afterwards, how would you notice that this conversation got you something?

These questions come from progress-focused working. There they also call a variant the outcome-focused question: "Suppose this conversation has been useful to you, what has it given you?"

With a goal or behaviour

• What does it look like when you succeed?
• What would a colleague first notice about you then?
• What is a small step you can take this week?
• What already works now, even just a little?

When you want them to come up with suggestions

Suggestions for improvement work best in question form. Tijdwinst gives as an example: "What would you consider a better way to explain this to colleagues?" That way the other person comes up with the solution themselves.

At the end of a session

• What are you taking into the coming weeks?
• What will you try first, and when?
• In the next session, how will you notice that you've made progress?

Want to put your questions in a fixed order? The GROW model worksheet helps you lay out goal, situation, options, and next step.

Formulating behavioural goals with your coachee

A feedforward conversation produces options. To really take them further, you turn them into a behavioural goal. A good behavioural goal describes what someone does, not what they feel or want to be. You can see or hear it.

Compare:

• Vague: "I want to lead better."
• Concrete: "In every team meeting, I first ask the team a question before giving my own opinion."

Tijdwinst advises making goals concrete, achievable, and measurable. Their example: write a report of no more than one A4 page with the three most important decisions and action points, and send it to the team within 24 hours. According to the same source, a good forward look consists of four parts: clear goals, a description of success, a picture of the environment in which someone learns, and a route to get there.

This is how you formulate a behavioural goal together:

1. Start with the desired picture. Ask what is different when it succeeds.
2. Make it visible. Ask: "What would I see if I were there?"
3. Give it a moment. In which situation does the coachee show the behaviour? In every meeting, in every client conversation?
4. Agree on a measure of success. How often, within what time, and how will you notice it?
5. Break it up. Work with achievable sub-goals, so your coachee takes small steps and experiences success. GORTcoaching describes this as a core of progress-focused coaching.

The Dutch professional association for coaches, NOBCO, also values measurable goals. In the NOBCO Coaching Monitor, goals at the start of a process are linked to questionnaires. The same questionnaires return during and after the process to see whether the goals have been achieved.

Clear success criteria help in any learning process, even outside the classic coaching practice. Take someone preparing for a selection procedure at a European institution: there too it works better to know for each component what good looks like. One example of this is coaching for EU competitions, where candidates practise each component in a targeted way.

Outcome or output: what do you measure?

With goals in coaching you often hear the words output and outcome. It helps to keep them apart.

• Output is what your coachee does or makes. For example: holding a short check-in with the team three times a week.
• Outcome is the effect they want to achieve with it. For example: the team makes more decisions itself.

Feedforward works mainly at the level of output: what are you going to do next time? But the outcome gives it direction. So start with the outcome ("What do you want to be different?") and work back to output ("What are you going to do for that?"). That way your coachee knows why a small step counts, and together you have something concrete to follow.

Holding on to feedforward between sessions

Most change doesn't happen in the session, but in the weeks in between. A good feedforward conversation produces steps. Those steps then need to be recorded somewhere.

This is where accountability comes in. By that we mean: your coachee takes responsibility for their own agreements, and together you check whether they carry them out. That's not control, but support. A short check-in halfway ("How did Tuesday's meeting go? What will you keep doing next time?") is itself a feedforward moment.

Practical tips:

• Record each chosen step as an action point with a date.
• Schedule a check-in between sessions, short and with the same two questions: what worked, and what are you trying now?
• Start the next session with those action points, not with a blank page.
• After a few weeks, look at the bigger goal: do you see the outcome getting closer?

You'll find more tips in our guide on improving accountability in coaching. If you want to track goals and progress per coachee, the page on tracking coaching goals explains how that works in practice.

Our view on feedforward

We see feedforward as more than a conversation technique. It's a way of working that colours the whole process: from the first intake to the final conversation.

A good forward look in the session is only the beginning. What counts is what happens when you're not there. That's why we built Exantur around the coaching relationship itself. You record notes as observations, insights, breakthroughs, and action points. That way you can later find an idea from a feedforward conversation right away.

Your coachee sees their goals and progress in their own portal, completes check-ins, and prepares for the next session. That fits with feedforward: the coachee looks ahead themselves and remains the owner of their steps.

We also believe that trust belongs with feedforward. A coachee only honestly shares what they want to change if they know their data is safe. That's why everything is on servers in Frankfurt within the EU and a data processing agreement is available.

Martijn

Feedforward in your practice with Exantur

Want to give feedforward a permanent place in your processes? In Exantur you link goals, action points, check-ins, and session notes to the right coachee and the right process. Your coachee sees their own goals and progress in a portal. An optional AI assistant drafts a session preparation based on your own notes, without any data that makes your coachee identifiable. The Mini package starts at €19 per month or €190 per year. Explore the coaching practice management software from Exantur or compare the packages and prices directly.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between feedback and feedforward?

Feedback looks back at what happened and what effect it had. Feedforward looks ahead to what can be done differently next time. In coaching, a combination often works best: first briefly acknowledge what happened, then look ahead together.

Where does the feedforward exercise come from?

The best-known feedforward exercise comes from Marshall Goldsmith. Someone chooses a behaviour to change, asks others for suggestions about the future, and listens without judgement. Coaches use the same idea in one-on-one conversations.

Is feedforward suitable for every coachee?

Feedforward suits most coachees who want to change something. If someone has just been through something major, first take the time to reflect on what happened. After that, you can look ahead.

How do I make a feedforward idea concrete?

Turn it into a behavioural goal that you can see or hear, with a situation, a moment, and a measure of success. Record it as an action point and agree on a check-in. That way you can pick up in the next session where you left off.

Sources

• Clutterbuck CMI: Coaching with feedforward
• Act Inc.: What is the difference between feedback and feedforward?
• Storytelling Trainer: Feedback vs feedforward
• Korthagen et al.: Clarifying pre-service teacher perceptions (ALACT model)
• Korthagen: Core Reflection, International Handbook of Holistic Education
• Progressiegericht Werken: What can I do for you?
• Tijdwinst: From correcting afterwards to steering in advance
• GORTcoaching: Strength-focused and progress-focused coaching
• NOBCO: Coaching Monitor

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