COACHING & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Learning Habits Profile

A research-informed coaching reflection tool

Explore the learning habits you have used recently, discuss what helps or gets in the way, and choose a practical next step with your coach. This tool is not a validated psychological assessment and does not identify a fixed learning style.

Your name (optional)Coach nameDateYour development focus

Before you begin

Allow around 10–15 minutes.

Choose one work-related development focus, such as leading meetings, handling difficult conversations or learning a system.
Think about the past six weeks and occasions relevant to this focus, including courses, coaching, reading, practice and learning through work.
For each statement, indicate how often you did this when there was a relevant opportunity. Answer about what actually happened, not what you feel you ought to do.
Choose Never when an opportunity existed but you did not use the behaviour. Choose N/A when it did not fit or there was no opportunity. Choose Cannot recall rather than guessing.
More frequent use is not automatically better. Your task, available time, support and circumstances matter. For recall exercises, use practice or low-risk situations; keep required procedures and checks in real work.

This explores learning habits, not all your development needs. Recall questions may be less relevant to some goals, such as confidence or relationships. N/A is a valid response, not a failure to complete the tool.

Answers stay in this page and are not sent by this tool. They are not saved automatically: reloading or closing the page loses them. Use Print / Save as PDF to keep a copy. Your website’s own hosting or analytics policies are separate.

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0 / 36 responses selected

RESPONSES 1–12 OF 36

Your recent learning habits

Past six weeks, for your chosen development focus.
1 Never | 2 Rarely | 3 Sometimes | 4 Often | 5 Almost always
N/A = Not applicable / no opportunity. Cannot recall is unscored.

A. Planning learning

A1I identified a specific work behaviour to improve.

A2I decided what successful progress would look like.

A3I selected a learning priority when several competed.

A4I broke a development goal into manageable steps.

A5I set aside time for a learning activity.

A6I identified resources needed before starting.

B. Spacing practice

B1I spread learning on a topic across different days.

B2I scheduled a return to something newly learned.

B3I revisited earlier learning while working on something newer.

B4I used short practice sessions rather than leaving all practice to one long session.

B5I returned to learning after an interruption.

B6I changed when I revisited something based on how much I could remember.

RESPONSES 13–24 OF 36

Your recent learning habits

Past six weeks, for your chosen development focus.
1 Never | 2 Rarely | 3 Sometimes | 4 Often | 5 Almost always
N/A = Not applicable / no opportunity. Cannot recall is unscored.

C. Checking understanding

C1I recalled key points before reopening my notes.

C2I explained an idea from memory.

C3I attempted a practice task before viewing an example answer.

C4I used questions to check what I remembered.

C5I checked my recall after time had passed.

C6I corrected gaps revealed by a recall check.

D. Using feedback

For D2-D5, choose N/A if you received no feedback; for D3, also use N/A if the feedback was already clear. For D6, use N/A if you had not yet made a change based on feedback. If a relevant opportunity existed but you did not act, choose Never.

D1I asked someone to observe a skill I was developing.

D2When I received feedback, I asked for an example to help me understand it.

D3When feedback was unclear, I asked what the person meant.

D4When I received feedback, I considered how it related to my development goal.

D5When I received feedback, I identified a useful change I could make.

D6After making a change based on feedback, I asked how it was working.

RESPONSES 25–36 OF 36

Your recent learning habits

Past six weeks, for your chosen development focus.
1 Never | 2 Rarely | 3 Sometimes | 4 Often | 5 Almost always
N/A = Not applicable / no opportunity. Cannot recall is unscored.

E. Reviewing and adjusting

E1I recorded the outcome of a learning activity.

E2I compared progress with my intended outcome.

E3I considered how my approach affected the result.

E4I considered circumstances that affected my progress.

E5I questioned what I had expected when the outcome was different.

E6I changed an approach that was not helping.

F. Applying learning at work

F1I identified a work situation for using new learning.

F2I deliberately used a newly learned approach at work.

F3I adapted a learned technique to a particular task.

F4I arranged an opportunity to put learning into practice.

F5I sought support needed to apply new learning.

F6I checked whether I was still using an earlier improvement.

YOUR RESULTS

Your reported learning habits

Past six weeks · Reported frequency, not ability.

Each topic shows the average of its numeric answers, when at least four of six are numeric. N/A, Cannot recall and blanks are excluded. The completeness rule is a design choice, not a validated threshold. There is no overall score or pass mark.

A. Planning learning

B. Spacing practice

C. Checking understanding

D. Using feedback

E. Reviewing and adjusting

F. Applying learning at work

1 Never · 2 Rarely · 3 Sometimes · 4 Often · 5 Almost always

Your scores describe how often you reported particular behaviours in this context. They do not show how capable you are, or which habit you should work on first.

Higher frequency is not proof of skill or better learning. A lower result may reflect context, limited opportunity or a useful area to explore. Look at individual answers and examples; topic averages can hide different patterns.

If repeating this tool, use the same focus and six-week window where practical. Check which items were answered before comparing scores. Changes do not prove that coaching caused improvement.

UNSCORED REFLECTION

Your examples and context

Brief notes are enough. These answers do not change your scores.

Which answer would you most like to discuss with your coach, and why?Describe a recent occasion when learning helped you do something differently.

For the third prompt, consider time, workload, support, permission and opportunities to practise. A barrier is useful context, not a personal failing.

What most helped or prevented you from putting learning into practice?Which habit would be useful to experiment with over the next fortnight?

Help us improve this tool (optional)

This is a usability pilot, not validation. Share comments with your coach; this form does not submit them.

Approximately how many minutes did this take?Which questions felt unclear, repetitive, difficult or missing?

YOUR COACHING CONVERSATION

From reflection to action

Choose one useful experiment with your coach. Start with a recent example; there is no need to maximise every score.

Planning learning

Planning learning means deciding what you want to develop and making it practical to begin. It might be as simple as choosing one behaviour to practise before a difficult conversation, rather than writing a formal development plan. Your answers explore priorities, intended progress, manageable steps, time and resources. A less frequent pattern could reflect unclear priorities, limited time or a task that needed little preparation. More planning is not automatically better if it delays useful action. Discuss what preparation would help with your particular goal.

Discuss: What would useful progress look like in your current role?

Try: Choose one observable action for the coming week.

Spacing practice

Spacing practice means returning to learning across separate occasions, rather than relying on one concentrated session. For example, you might revisit a meeting technique on two different days and then practise it in a suitable conversation. Your answers explore scheduling, returning after gaps or interruptions, and adjusting when you revisit material. Opportunities will differ: some skills can be practised often, while others arise rarely. A lower result is not proof of poor commitment. Consider where another brief encounter with the learning would genuinely be useful.

Discuss: Where would returning to this learning be useful?

Try: Schedule two short revisits on separate days.

Checking understanding

Checking understanding means finding out what you can recall, explain or do during practice, then checking and correcting any gaps. For example, you might explain a new process in your own words before checking it against the guidance. This can be more relevant to learning a system than to some goals involving confidence or relationships. Use N/A where a question does not fit. These activities belong in safe practice: continue using required notes, procedures and checks during real work. A frequent habit is not proof of accurate understanding.

Discuss: What can you currently explain or demonstrate without prompts?

Try: Try a low-risk recall check, then verify it.

YOUR COACHING CONVERSATION

From reflection to action — continued

Using feedback

Using feedback means seeking useful observations, understanding them and considering what to do next. For example, you might ask a trusted colleague to notice how clearly you summarise decisions in a meeting. Your answers depend partly on whether feedback was available, clear and relevant. A lower result does not mean you resist feedback; there may have been little opportunity or no suitable person to ask. A higher result does not show that the advice was sound. Explore a specific example and decide what, if anything, is worth testing.

Discuss: Whose observations could help you improve this skill?

Try: Ask for feedback on one specific behaviour.

Reviewing and adjusting

Reviewing and adjusting means looking at what happened and deciding whether to keep or change your approach. For example, after trying a different way of delegating, you might note what the colleague understood and what you would clarify next time. Include the circumstances, resources and other people involved rather than attributing every outcome to yourself. A lower result may reflect limited time to review or few relevant occasions. A higher result is not necessarily better if reflection becomes repetitive without informing a decision. Look for a useful next step.

Discuss: What does a recent result suggest you should change?

Try: Record one outcome and one adjustment.

Applying learning at work

Applying learning at work means using a new approach in a suitable real situation and checking whether it becomes part of everyday practice. For example, you might try an agreed questioning technique in a team discussion, adapting it to the people and task. Your answers explore opportunities, support, adaptation and continued use. A lower result may reflect workload, permission or lack of opportunity rather than unwillingness. A higher result does not establish that the change helped. Discuss what happened, what support was needed and whether the approach was worth continuing.

Discuss: What would help you use this learning in your actual work?

Try: Agree one suitable opportunity with any necessary support.

YOUR NEXT STEP

One useful experiment

Agree one action, the support you need and how you will review what happened.

One behaviour I will tryWhen and whereSupport or permission neededEvidence I will look forReview date / what I will discuss with my coach

RESEARCH & SOURCES

What informs this tool

The questions in this resource were newly drafted for Plutus, informed by the research listed below. The six topic groups and scoring rules are proposed coaching design choices; they have not been validated by those studies. Research findings have been summarised in our own words and considered in a coaching context. No published assessment items or figures are reproduced. The cited authors and publishers have not endorsed or validated this resource.

Panadero, E. (2017). A Review of Self-regulated Learning: Six Models and Four Directions for Research. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 422.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00422
© 2017 Panadero. Article licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Planning and reviewing; a review of educational models, not validation of this tool.

Belardi, A., Pedrett, S., Rothen, N., & Reber, T. P. (2021). Spacing, Feedback, and Testing Boost Vocabulary Learning in a Web Application. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 757262.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.757262
© 2021 Belardi, Pedrett, Rothen and Reber. Article licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Spacing and recall; a vocabulary study. Broader coaching applications need caution.

Wisniewski, B., Zierer, K., & Hattie, J. (2020). The Power of Feedback Revisited: A Meta-Analysis of Educational Feedback Research. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 3087.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.03087
© 2020 Wisniewski, Zierer and Hattie. Article licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Feedback; educational evidence with varied effects. More feedback is not always better.

Mehner, L., Rothenbusch, S., & Kauffeld, S. (2026). When formal training leads to informal learning among colleagues: antecedents of training transfer and knowledge sharing. Frontiers in Organizational Psychology, 4, 1705256.
https://doi.org/10.3389/forgp.2026.1705256
© 2026 Mehner, Rothenbusch and Kauffeld. Article licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Workplace application; observational employee studies do not establish causation.

Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Legal terms and warranty disclaimer:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.en

The article licences apply to the cited research. The questionnaire uses newly drafted wording; citing these studies does not make its scores validated. Research includes educational and workplace settings, which may differ from your coaching context.

Plutus Training & Coaching · Reflection edition v1.2 · October 2026