PSYC 651 Week 6 Weekly Reading Summary 6 Example

Reviewed by Allison Pemberton, PhD · Liberty University · Updated

The everyday conversations that make or break performance management are the subject of this PSYC 651 Week 6 example, prepared as the sixth reading summary for Liberty University PSYC 651, worth 25 points in Liberty's I/O master's program, the MS in Industrial/Organizational Psychology, covering Aguinis's chapter on performance management skills. Its four themes are coaching as an ongoing, collaborative relationship and the styles managers bring to it, the qualities that make feedback useful rather than wounding, ways to handle defensiveness and run the review meeting and the progressive steps of discipline and termination. Theeboom, Beersma and van Vianen's meta-analysis showing that workplace coaching improved performance, well-being and self-regulation, and London and Smither's work on feedback orientation and feedback culture, give the coaching and feedback themes research weight.

CoursePSYC 651 Personnel and Performance Management (PSYC651)
Module/Week6
AssignmentWeekly Reading Summary 6
Paper typeWeekly reading summary in APA style with subheadings
Lengthabout 475 words, 2 double-spaced pages plus title page and references. Course guide: per the course guide, a 1.5 to 2 page summary in current APA format with subheadings, a cover page and a reference page, containing an introduction that summarizes the module's reading, 3 to 5 paragraphs each on a major theme and a conclusion that summarizes the themes and applies them to a business setting
FormatAPA 7 student paper
Points25
SchoolLiberty University Online
ProgramMS in Industrial/Organizational Psychology
Where it sitsModule/Week 6 in Liberty's published PSYC 651 course guide; current sections can differ
UpdatedOctober 2026

Free sample paper for PSYC 651 Week 6

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Weekly Reading Summary 6: Coaching, Giving Feedback That Helps and Handling Discipline Fairly

 

[Student Name]

School of Behavioral Sciences, Liberty University

PSYC 651: Personnel and Performance Management

Weekly Reading Summary 6

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

 

The writer and the workplace example are composites; the textbook and the journal articles are real and described from their published sources; the requirements follow Liberty's public course guide for PSYC 651.

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Weekly Reading Summary 6: Coaching, Giving Feedback That Helps and Handling Discipline Fairly

Introduction

Why this part earns its pointsThe introduction frames the chapter around the manager's skills, which explains why the themes are behaviors rather than system features.
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Chapter 9 of Aguinis (2013) argues that the best-designed performance management system will fail if managers lack the skills to use it. Coaching, giving feedback, handling difficult reactions and managing discipline are where the system meets the employee. This summary develops four themes: coaching, effective feedback, defensiveness and the review meeting and the disciplinary process.

Coaching as an Ongoing Relationship

Aguinis (2013) describes coaching as a collaborative, continuing process in which a manager takes an active interest in helping an employee develop and improve. Managers bring different styles to coaching, which Aguinis labels driver, persuader, amiable and analyzer, and effective coaches adapt their style to the employee. A driver who simply tells an analytical employee what to do, for example, may get compliance without understanding. The coaching process involves setting developmental goals, identifying resources, creating a development plan and monitoring progress. Theeboom et al. (2014) pooled studies of coaching inside organizations and reported benefits on every outcome family they examined, from performance and skills to well-being, coping, job attitudes and goal-directed self-management.

Feedback That Helps

Good feedback, according to Aguinis (2013), is timely, frequent, specific, verifiable, consistent and private. It describes behavior before evaluating it, focuses on behavior rather than personality and explains the consequences of continued performance. Feedback that arrives only once a year cannot meet these standards, which is why the chapter treats feedback as a daily skill rather than an annual event. London and Smither (2002) add that people vary in feedback orientation, their readiness to ask for and use feedback, and that an organization can cultivate a feedback culture where comments on performance are routine, welcome and acted on.

Defensiveness and the Review Meeting

Why this part earns its pointsIncluding defensiveness as its own theme reflects the chapter's point that how feedback is received matters as much as how it is given.
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Employees often react defensively to negative feedback, especially when it threatens their self-image. Aguinis (2013) recommends listening, acknowledging feelings, focusing on behavior and inviting the employee to share solutions. The formal review meeting should be planned, with the employee's self-appraisal discussed first, so that the conversation becomes a dialogue rather than a verdict. Ending the meeting with agreed next steps and a date for follow-up keeps the review connected to the coaching that should continue afterward.

Discipline and Termination

Why this part earns its pointsEnding the body with discipline shows that the same skills, applied with documentation, carry into the hardest conversations.
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When performance problems persist, a progressive disciplinary process moves from a verbal warning to a written warning, a suspension and finally termination. Aguinis (2013) emphasizes fairness and documentation at every step, giving the employee clear expectations, a chance to improve and consistent treatment compared with others. Careful records of each conversation also protect the organization if a termination is later challenged.

Conclusion

The chapter shows that coaching, feedback, skillful handling of defensiveness and fair discipline determine whether performance management improves performance. A dental practice manager coaching a front-desk coordinator who struggles with scheduling errors could apply these skills by meeting weekly, describing specific errors before evaluating them, asking the coordinator to suggest fixes, agreeing on a development plan that includes software training and documenting progress, reserving discipline for persistent problems after support has been offered.

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References

Aguinis, H. (2013). Performance management (3rd ed.). Pearson.

London, M., & Smither, J. W. (2002). Feedback orientation, feedback culture, and the longitudinal performance management process. Human Resource Management Review, 12(1), 81-100. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1053-4822(01)00043-2

Theeboom, T., Beersma, B., & van Vianen, A. E. (2014). Does coaching work? A meta-analysis on the effects of coaching on individual level outcomes in an organizational context. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 9(1), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2013.837499

What the PSYC 651 Week 6 instructions ask

Weekly Reading Summary 6 is a 25-point assignment in Module/Week 6 of PSYC 651, submitted next to the sixth case study, the sixth article review and the module's presentation work, after chapter 9 of Aguinis and a presentation. Its format is fixed by the guide: 1.5 to 2 double-spaced pages in current APA style, organized with subheadings, plus a title sheet and references that stay outside the length. The paper opens by summarizing the reading, spends three to five paragraphs on its major themes and ends by summarizing them and applying them in a business. Because this chapter is about skills, the application should describe behavior a manager could practice, ideally in a conversation the writer has seen or could imagine having at work next week.

How this PSYC 651 Week 6 example is built

The introduction presents the chapter's view that managers' skills determine whether a performance management system helps or harms, and it previews four themes. The first explains coaching, its styles and its process, with Theeboom and colleagues' evidence on outcomes. The second lists characteristics of good feedback, such as timeliness, specificity and privacy, and draws on London and Smither's idea of feedback culture. The third covers defensiveness and the review meeting. The fourth describes progressive discipline, from verbal warning to termination, and the fairness it requires. The conclusion applies the themes to a dental practice manager coaching a front-desk coordinator through repeated scheduling errors.

PSYC 651 Week 6 grading rubric: where the points go

The summary is graded on accurate representation of chapter 9, on the structure the guide requires, on subheadings that signal each theme and on APA format within the length limit. Because the chapter is practical, strong summaries capture specific skills, such as describing behavior before evaluating it, rather than general advice to communicate well. Each theme paragraph should explain why the skill matters for performance management. The conclusion should show a manager using the skills in a particular situation. Research on coaching or feedback, if included, should be described with its key result and tied to the chapter's recommendations, so that evidence and advice support each other.

PSYC 651 Week 6 help: mistakes that cost points

The chapter's lists of feedback characteristics and coaching steps are long; choose the items that matter most and explain them instead of reproducing them. Show the connection between coaching and the development plans from the previous module. When summarizing discipline, emphasize fairness and documentation, since those protect both employee and organization. In the conclusion, write a short scenario with a specific conversation, which makes the skills concrete. Keep the summary within two pages, trimming background on coaching history if space runs short, since the guide values themes and application over context. If you present this week, a role-played feedback example in your narrated slides can illustrate the skills well and give classmates something specific to discuss in their responses.

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PSYC 651 Week 6 questions, answered

What does PSYC 651 Weekly Reading Summary 6 cover?

The Aguinis chapter on performance management skills: coaching and its styles, the qualities of useful feedback, defensiveness, the review meeting and progressive discipline.

Where can I find a free PSYC 651 Week 6 sample paper?

The complete PSYC 651 Week 6 reading summary on coaching, giving useful feedback and handling discipline fairly is available on this page.

Does workplace coaching work?

Theeboom and colleagues' meta-analysis says it does: coaching inside organizations improved performance and skills, well-being, coping, attitudes toward work and people's ability to steer themselves toward goals.

What makes performance feedback effective?

Aguinis describes feedback that is timely, frequent, specific, verifiable, consistent, given in private and focused on behavior before evaluation, so that the employee can understand and act on it before the next review.

What else is due in PSYC 651 Module/Week 6?

Case Study 6, Research Article Review 6 and either the narrated presentation, for that week's presenter, or two cited answers to the presenter's questions for everyone else.

Use it as a model, or ask for your own

This paper is an original model written by our desk for study. It is not a submitted student paper and not an official Liberty University document. Read it for structure and reasoning, then write your own to the instructions in your Canvas course. If you want a version built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.

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