How to Lead a Three-Way Contract
Get this wrong, and things can get tricky - quickly. Because whenever you have someone paying for the coaching, who is not the coachee, then you essentially have another client – a third party with an invested interest in the engagement.
To help manage this process, we’ve shared our top insights on the purpose of the three-way contract, including roles and responsibilities for the Coach, Coachee and Sponsor.
This article contains:
Purpose of the Three-Way Contract
Three-way contracting helps build the Coach-Coachee-Sponsor relationship and establishes joint ownership for the coaching process. At its core, the process aims to create a psychologically safe culture for growth and development within an organisation, with benefits that include:
A clear sense of direction and purpose for the coaching engagement.
Aligned expectations (for sponsor/coachee goals, process, and responsibilities).
Increased organisational support and sponsorship of the coaching process.
Joint accountability for the review of the relationship and assessment of progress.
Ensuring each person knows their role in the process is essential to getting the most out of the three-way coaching contract.
The Role of the COACH in Three-Way Contracting is to:
Manage the three-way contract and educate the Coachee and the Sponsor on their role in the engagement.
Set up a three-way meeting after the initial conversation with the Sponsor and the chemistry/contracting session with the Coachee.
Prepare the Sponsor and the Coachee for the three-way contracting conversation so that each person can get maximum value from the connection.
Create a shared understanding of the objectives and expectations of the coaching relationship, including the facilitation of a discussion where there might be differences of opinion – to help deepen insights and understanding of the other’s perspectives.
Listen closely to the Sponsor-Coachee engagement and reflect on any potential barriers to the coaching set up.
Provide clarity on the confidential nature of the Coach-Coachee engagement, and reinforce the message that the Coach will not provide feedback on the coaching engagement to the Sponsor unless explicitly agreed with the Coachee.
Support the Coachee to clarify how they will share what has occurred throughout the coaching conversations with their Sponsor.
Agree on a review process. How will both the Sponsor and Coachee know there has been a shift as a result of the coaching?
The Role of the SPONSOR in Three-Way Contracting is to:
Ensure an explicit conversation about development needs and the role of coaching has taken place with the Coachee.
Participate in a set-up conversation with the Coach and the three-way contracting conversation with the Coach and Coachee.
Provide active input on desired goals and outcomes for the coaching engagement.
Understand and acknowledge the confidentiality of the coaching engagement and help determine an appropriate mechanism for feedback conversations with the Coachee.
Describe the signs/milestones that will help determine if the coaching has been a success.
Agree on how they will recognise positive change as it occurs.
Be proactive with ideas for actively sponsoring the Coachee to achieve their goals.
Accept that a greater understanding of the challenges will likely lead to a revision of the goals – and potentially further demands on them.
Manage the process and logistics for the engagement with the Coach (sign off on a Statement of Work, payments, and contracts).
The Role of the COACHEE in Three-Way Contracting is to:
Engage in a chemistry check/'introduction to coaching' conversation and then decide to commit to the coaching process.
Enter into a formal agreement with the Coach, understanding the scope and goals of the coaching engagement, including:
Personal insights and clear goals for the coaching engagement (outcomes)
Expectations, nature, and tone of the coaching engagement (psychological)
Details on procedures and how the coaching experience will work (process)
Agree on a process for providing feedback and insight to the Sponsor on how the coaching is progressing.
Download the Effective Three-Way Contracting Guide, Question Sets and Imagery
If you’ve found this summary helpful, check out our Effective Three-Way Contracting Guide, Question Sets and Imagery – including a suggested three-way session structure and associated coaching questions to help support you.
What we love about this guide:
Effective tips and tools to help set up the three-way coaching contract.
Fact sheets and images to share with both your Sponsor and Coachee so they, too, understand the dynamics of the partnership.
Questions and scripts can be scanned as a quick reference, or read the questions directly from the guide if coaching virtually.
All the best for your next three-way contract,
