Group Coaching: Right For My Team?

I’ve been struggling recently with the idea of group coaching or group work. I don’t actually struggle with the concept – what I dislike is the name. Group Coaching. Group Work. Something about the name smacks vaguely therapeutic or clinical. It just doesn’t sound right for coaching. Where coaching the individual is straight forward, group coaching is, even in coaching circles, defined myriad ways. How could you know if this is something your team needs or not?

Group Coaching, Group Work, Cohort Coaching?!?

During my coaching training, I met with several experienced, established coaches regarding all aspects of coaching. In a conversation with one, we delved into “group coaching.” Her take on it, and I think it was the most honest I heard, was that no one really had a designation for group coaching. “Group coaching hasn’t really been defined consistently by schools or coaches.”

I say her assessment is honest because that has been my experience as well. In my management career, I have seen all manner of “group coaching:” workshops, seminars, leadership training, assessment-based discussions, team building, and soft-skills “training.” All of these have fallen under the guise of coaching, and I believe many of them are coaching. So, let’s start with a definition that is digestible. This definition is from the Michigan Government and it describes the essential nature of a coach:

A coach supports the growth and professional learning of an organization and its stakeholders. A coach models and facilitates best practices to achieve desired outcomes while providing feedback. A coach possesses specialized knowledge and skills that builds capacity of an organization.

Michigan Government: https://www.michigan.gov/mde/resources/michigan-top-10-strategic-education-plan/definitions/coaching, accessed January 14, 2023

I like this definition because it talks about more than individuals. Functionally, coaching is the same for individuals as well as group. What makes group coaching more dynamic is the organizational culture. The coach is not only affecting the individual but delving into the team dynamic.

To be clear, a coach is not an instructor. They don’t sit at the front of the room and talk to the audience about their specialized topic and call that coaching. Likewise, they won’t come in and tell an organization what is wrong and give them direction to fix it. That is within the realm of a management consultant.

I use the above definition to define what I feel group coaching is all about, and perhaps it will help others assess if group coaching is right for them. I will break down the definition by its sentences and show where group work may be right for you.

“A coach supports the growth and professional learning of an organization and its stakeholders.”

Leaders know that it is their responsibility to care for their team’s collective and individual growth. We perform one on one meetings, team discussions, and organizational get togethers. While a professional coach can assist individuals with their goals toward growth, team dynamics are a challenge. Many leaders are not used to dealing with a group energy. We can call this egregore, or a group thought-form. Some groups have a distinct way of working, and most are unique because they are based on the collective individuals. We may also call this a group culture.

When one moves into a management position, we’re not exactly taught how to manage this group culture. It’s something we derive over time, or rarely by natural talent. This is where a coach can assist the entire group. When disfunction happens, the coach can walk through steps to assist the team with seeing how the individuals work, or not, together. They do this through group assessments (like Myers-Briggs) or by facilitating exercises that uncover personality types and modes of working. This discovery leads to a deeper understanding of the “whys” of behavior and may open up new pathways of communication, thereby strengthening the team.

“A coach models and facilitates best practices to achieve desired outcomes while providing feedback.”

Coaches can cover wide ground when it comes to best practices and modeling helpful behaviors. This could range from specific management activities, such as writing reviews or interviewing potential candidates to more strategic learning, such as soft skills. Soft skills differ from hard skills in that they are non-technical, transferable life skills. Think “general education” vs. classes in a specific major. You can hire to specific technical skill but hiring someone with a sense of professional decorum is challenging to ascertain. In fact, many managers hire for technical talent and gloss over the professional and interpersonal skills that really make or break a team member.

Workshops such as those on professional writing, constructing and giving presentations, or having a “service” mentality are very effective in a group setting. Coaches provide excellent facilitation in discussion as well as guidance on activities and actions that enhance learning. In a group, each member contributes their experiences and key “ah-has” from the work they do. The collective, facilitated and structured by the coach, gain not just their own knowledge but the knowledge of the wider group participation. Many coaches offer, like Managers2Leaders, short weekly workshops with goals improving very specific skills, like those noted above.

Soft skills are essential for leadership as well. One of the aspects that can stump a team moving into a more professional dynamic is the lack of foundational skills for leaders. Presentations, facilitating upward communications, and networking are necessary for promotional opportunities. It is nearly impossible for an individual leader to uplift their entire team. A coach, though, working in a group workshop, can help by facilitating shared experiences and meaningful insights for the team and their leader.

“A coach possesses specialized knowledge and skills that builds capacity of an organization.”

This is a good segue into specialized knowledge. Coaches have specific training in general coaching techniques as well as fields of speciality. There are fitness, executive, performance, career, and personal coaches. Each field has its own specialized group work. You might find fitness coaches (as opposed to sports coaches) help teams improve their work-from-home routines, while executive coaches work with top leadership on achieving corporate goals faster or developing business portfolios. Another really good explanation of coaching types is here.

What type of coach you want for your group depends. I’ve seen real estate coaches, sales coaches, and leadership coaches all work with the same team – much depends on the needs of the group at the time.

I believe the phrase “builds capacity of an organization” needs clarity. What does this mean? I see this as the ability to handle growth and change. These two items go hand-in-hand and require adjustments. The ability to grow is predicated on the adaptability, awareness, creativity, and force of will underlying the team culture. You can build a team working at an initial level, but reaching the next level will require new skill sets. You can’t hire to always fill the gap. Group coaching can assist in this by considering the team as an entity and helping them discover their own talents and capacities in these areas, thereby enhancing their personal skill set and elevating the team to handle more work.

So, is Group Work right for my team?

Group Coaching, like individual coaching, is not an ongoing “class” or “instruction.” Like all coaching, it’s meant to move you across the river and help you further your journey on the other side. Some sessions are three individual days over the course of six weeks, while others may be 12 weeks or one day. You, as the leader of your team, know what you want and what your team needs. Your mind may turn to balancing workload with improving skills. An excellent article on Stephen Covey’s seventh habit, “Sharpening the Saw” explains this concept beautifully.

Bottom line: there are times when group coaching is necessary, extremely valuable, and fun. For a relatively small amount of time and cost, you may vastly improve communication, teamwork, and professional acumen of many people while enjoying the journey.