How do you end a coaching engagement?

Unless distance is prohibitive and telephone coaching has been the accepted norm, it's ideal to end coaching relationships during a face-to-face conversation when there are fewer opportunities for misunderstanding. Of course, as a coach, once you've helped your coachee achieve the goals you identified at the beginning of the coaching process, your current employment relationship will come to a natural end, but there may also be times when you have to take responsibility for ending the relationship sooner than expected. In the case of professional coaches, this may mean that the client has achieved the coaching objectives, that the contract for coaching services has ended, or that the client leaves the organization. In the case of managers who use a coaching approach, this may mean that the objectives of the coaching with the employee have been met or that the team member is moving to another team.