Do you need a coaching contract for a stakeholder engagement?

Do you need a separate contract for a stakeholder?

We know of no UK law that sets out a stakeholder coaching contract, and coaching has no statutory regulator. So the question is practical: what could go wrong if the sponsor, the client and you all hold slightly different ideas of what the coaching is for?

Usually that is where trouble starts. The sponsor expects progress reports, the client assumes everything is private, and you are in the middle. A written record of one three-way conversation removes most of that risk. Some coaches use two documents (a coaching agreement with the client and a short engagement letter with the organisation). Others use one three-party agreement. Either can work, so long as each person has seen what applies to them.

The International Coaching Federation's core competencies page, under its Co-Creating the Relationship area, describes coaches and clients developing agreements that set the framework for each session, ensuring alignment on goals, logistics and expectations. That is a description of general good practice, not a rule about stakeholders, so check your own professional body's code if you belong to one.

What the three-way contracting meeting should cover

Hold the meeting before the first session, with the client and the stakeholder in the room (or on the same call) and you facilitating. Aim to leave with every point below agreed and written down.

• Purpose. Why the coaching is being offered and what the sponsor hopes will be different.
• The client's own goals. These may overlap with the sponsor's but are not identical, and the client should be able to say so.
• Measures. How anyone will know the coaching has been worth it, in the client's words as well as the sponsor's.
• Reporting. What, if anything, the sponsor receives: attendance and dates only, a short summary agreed with the client, or nothing.
• Boundaries. What the coach will not do, such as report on performance or pass opinions about the client to the organisation.
• Practicalities. Number of sessions, fees and who pays, cancellation terms, and a date to review.

What the sponsor is told: confidentiality and data

The most important line in a stakeholder contract is the one that says what the sponsor will and will not see. Settle it in the meeting, in front of the client, and put it in writing.

The ICO's data sharing guidance says that before sharing data you must tell individuals what you propose to do with their personal data in a way that is accessible and easy to understand. In coaching terms, the client should hear what will reach the sponsor before it does, not afterwards.

If you want a client's agreement to a particular kind of sharing, keep it specific. The ICO's guidance on valid consent says consent should not be bundled up as a condition of service unless it is necessary for that service, and that people must be able to withdraw it easily at any time. See our guide to confidentiality clauses that build client trust for wording.

When the sponsor asks for more later

Mid-programme requests are common: a manager asks how the coaching is going, or HR asks for an end report. Your agreement should say what happens. A simple rule works well: you share nothing beyond what was agreed in the three-way meeting unless the client agrees first, and you tell the sponsor that this is how you work.

If the sponsor's requirements change, hold a short second three-way conversation and add a dated note to the record rather than adjusting by email alone.

Keeping the record

Give each person a copy of what concerns them, and keep your own signed copy with the client file. The meeting record in the free form below is deliberately short. It sits alongside your coaching agreement and any corporate client agreement, not instead of them.

What a three-way contracting meeting record should capture

A preview of our free Three-Way Contracting Meeting Record. The complete, print-ready version is sent to you by email.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Data sharing code of practice: fairness and transparency in data sharing, Information Commissioner's Office
• What is valid consent?, Information Commissioner's Office
• ICF Core Competencies, International Coaching Federation