Movement Synchrony Over Time: What Is in the Trajectory of Dyadic Interactions in Workplace Coaching?

BACKGROUND: Coaching is increasingly viewed as a dyadic exchange of verbal and non-verbal interactions driving clients' progress. Yet, little is known about how the trajectory of dyadic interactions plays out in workplace coaching. METHOD: This paper provides a multiple-step exploratory investigation of movement synchrony (MS) of dyads in workplace coaching. We analyzed a publicly available dataset of 173 video-taped dyads. Specifically, we averaged MS per session/dyad to explore the temporal patterns of MS across (a) the cluster of dyads that completed 10 sessions, and (b) a set of 173 dyadic interactions with a varied number of sessions. Additionally, we linked that pattern to several demographic predictors. The results indicate a differential downward trend of MS. RESULTS: Demographic factors do not predict best fitting MS curve types, and only client age and coach experience show a small but significant correlation. DISCUSSION: We provide contextualized interpretations of these findings and propose conceptual considerations and recommendations for future coaching process research and practice.