Coaching Shorts Video Series - Soundbytes for Group and Team Coaches

Part of my Q4 creative project was to launch the new daily Coaching Shorts™ video series on YouTube. These are quick 60 second or less videos to support you as a group or team coaching, providing you with a quick daily soundbyte around core topics like coaching competencies, coaching tools or frameworks.

In the last 33 days I've covered a range of topics from:

Why I do what I do - https://youtube.com/shorts/-jixCmcaDQo?feature=share

to Metaphor - https://youtube.com/shorts/i12r1VDytEg?feature=share 

Scaling the Coaching Conversation - https://youtube.com/shorts/i12r1VDytEg?feature=share

 Coaching Agreements - https://youtube.com/shorts/rEfqB5bZXik?feature=share

Pre-calls - https://youtube.com/shorts/IFfCCNgIumM?feature=share

To the Six Layers of Connection we can activate in group and team coaching - https://youtube.com/shorts/Wlxmq0gcW7A?feature=share 

 I also got to take you on the road with me to Barbados as I returned to my second home in the Caribbean last week to support family members. See what I had to say about my roots as a coach in Day 19 of the Coaching Shorts series - https://youtube.com/shorts/ZcIQCAvnI3M?feature=share

I look forward to continuing to bring you these short soundbytes every day. What topics would you like covered? Be sure to put it in the comments!

Enjoy!

Jennifer

Our award-winning ICF-CCE approved training programs have been taken by thousands of coaches since 2006. Join us for coursework leading you to the new ACTC (Advanced Credential in Team Coaching) or complete our 70 or 125 hour Certificates in Team or Group Coaching.

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What is your unique style as a coach? Take 2-minutes to complete the  Group and Team Coaching Superpower Quiz. You can find it at https://bit.ly/gtcoachingsuperpower. Share your style using the comments below and/or follow along on Instagram at our CoachingBizBuilder site.

Join us for an upcoming program including: 

Team Coaching Essentials - this foundational program is geared for coaches who want to add team coaching to their mix. It is a practical "let's get going" practitioner program of 6 weeks and 14 CCEs. Next session will be led by Jennifer starting Monday November 6th at 12 noon ET. 3 spots open. Reserve your spot.

Neuroscience, Learning and Experiential Processes for Group and Team Coaching - NEW  -- a 2 day offering will be part of our year-end celebrations

Group Coaching Essentials - Our flagship program which started this all. Looking to boost your understanding around what group coaching is and how to structure, market and lead conversations? Join us for the final program of the year in the December accelerated program. https://www.groupcoachingessentials.ca/group-coaching-essentials.html.  With Evana

Mentor Coaching Group - Fridays 9- 10 am ET starting November 8th running to February 9th with Jennifer for ACC renewals and PCC. Join us for this 10 hour program to sharpen your skills as a team coach. With Jennifer

 

 

Expanding Your Group and Team Coaching Toolkit - 30: Questions

Welcome back to the 30th in this series of Expanding your Group and Team Coaching Toolkit. This week we're exploring one of the core coaching skills which is at the heart of any great coaching conversation - Questions.

If you've been a reader here at the Group Coaching Ins and Outs blog for a while, you might be familiar with one of the more popular set of posts around Six Questions a Day. Take a look at them here.

Questions are at the heart of coaching conversations - and are a transferable skill we can also pass on to the groups and teams we are working with.There is an important layer of capacity building in the work that we do with many groups and teams, helping to transfer skills in key areas with the entities we work with. For many organizations the additional focus of helping teams and groups build the skills we use, is an important part of culture change.

As you think about the questions which might frame out the coaching conversation, it's likely that they will be:
* Short in length - powerful questions usually are only about 5-7 words in length;
* Mirror the language of the client/team/group - each group or team will have it's own language - is it direct, flowery, detailed, concise? What are key words being used by that group?
* One at a time - Watch for stacking questions! When we ask more than one question, it can confuse people and they may not know what to ask?
* Adjusted for different learning styles - In a group or team coaching context, it's not uncommon to see when questions do not resonate. A blank stare may signal this.  The question - What does that look like? may get reframed to What does that feel like?

A few more tips when thinking about boosting the impact of your coaching conversation:
Leave enough time for discussion around the questions. It's not about quantity, but quality.

Use breakouts if you are working with a group. Rather than always going "Around the room" pair people off so they can have a deeper level of conversation with one or two others. Provide them with a question or two.

Some of my favorite questions which I find are often transferable across conversations are:
What's important about that?
What's the 30,000 foot/meta view of that issue?
What's not being explored?
What's helping? What's hindering?
What's an enabler?
What's going to magnify that for you?
What's the flipside?
What else?
What next?

Just a reminder of the What? So What? and Now What? sequencing of questions - you can read more about that on page 73 of From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching OR take a look at this blog post here.

Enjoy your conversations,
Jennifer


Jennifer Britton - GroupCoachingEssentials | Potentials Realized
Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder
Author of Effective Group Coaching (2010), Coaching Business Builder (2018), Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013). Check out my author page on Amazon for all publications.
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com

If you are looking for  coaching skills development through CCE approved programs - The next Group CoachingEssentials CCE approved program starts on Monday February 3rd from 9 - 1015 am ET - group calls will be held on February 3, 10, 24, March 2 and 9, 2020. This 8.75 CCE program also includes weekly 1-1 time with me (15 min each week). Is 2020 your year to get your groups going or expand the number of groups you are doing? Whether you are new to group coaching or stepping into your next year, there’s always something to learn – I hope you’ll join us. Reserve your spot here.

Starting up again soon is the  Virtual Facilitation Essentials - for those that want to expand their conversations to the virtual domain. We'll be meeting on March 1, 8,  15, 29 and April 5, 2020.

Next Mentor Coaching Group will start Mondays 12 - 1pm ET on
February 3, 10, 24, March 9, 23, April 6 and May 4, 2020. 10 hours for ACC and PCC renewals.

PlanDoTrack Facilitator Training (24 CCEs) begins Monday February 3rd - six sessions on Mondays from 6-9 pm Eastern/3-6 pm Pacific.

Signature Programs - Questions to narrow your focus

Over the weekend one of my guest articles for the Coaching Tools Company was published. This

month's article was entitled "Create Your Own Signature Program: What, Why and How to Get Started". You can view it here.

It was a really fun article to write as I have been able to support hundreds of coaches in developing their signature programs since 2004  - whether they have been online learning programs, workshops, retreats, or group and team coaching work. In fact, I think I've supported coaches in developing all of the different types of programming  I mentioned - from VIP days to intensives.

In the article I explore some of the questions you want to be asking yourself before you start focusing on a topic, or range of topics. Here are a few questions I share in the article:

• What are the areas you want to become known for?
• What's the one area, or niche, you want to take deeper?
• What are your clients looking for?
• What are the issues every client or a majority of clients, explores in your conversations?
• What makes your approach and philosophy unique?

These are all questions that can help support narrowing your focus. The more narrow the focus, the easier it is for someone to say "this program is for me"?

One of the refreshing shifts I am seeing in the space of group programming is a recognition that we will likely have multiple programs running,and being marketed at any one time.

Personally, as a designer, I believe in creating customized solutions for different clients I work with. I have seen in my business that some people are attracted to earning in the deep dive of a virtual VIP Day with me, or a weekend Intensive program, whereas others prefer to connect and learn in bite-sized pieces over a longer span of a weekly virtual program like Group Coaching Essentials.


Since 2014, I've also noticed a large group of professionals who like the flexibility of engaging in on-demand programming, like I offer over at our on-demand portal of the Coaching Design Studio.

Different program options allow for different paces and engagement levels in the learning process, as well as budget.

We still have 8 weeks of 2018 available, just enough time to get some new programs off the ground. What are the signature programs which are waiting to emerge for you?

If you'd like some support, consider joining me for the Learning Lab and Design Studio, a live Friday group which meets the 1st and 3rd Fridays of each month from 845- 930 am ET, or engage me for a five hour package of coaching services, or a half day strategy session. View these options here. You can also book me to work with you virtually for an entire day with one of my VIP Design or Business Development Days.

Let us know using the comments what signature program you are planning to create and/or launch in the next few months!

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | /GroupCoachingEssentials
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
Phone: 416-996-8326
Group Coaching Essentials - All things group coaching
Effective Virtual Conversations.com - All things virtual
Coaching Business Builder.com- All things business related (for coaches) 

Essential Coaching Questions - Fall and Q 4

Several years ago I ran a series here at the Group Coaching Ins and Outs blog entitled "Six Coaching

Questions" where I did a series of posts on potential coaching questions you might incorporate into the coaching conversation when working with:
Goals
Action
Awareness
Accountability

You can read those posts here.

 As I wrote in From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching "Questions form the backbone to the coaching conversation).

Tomorrow, Thursday September 20th, I'm hosting the first of three separate fall business planning virtual retreats. Fall officially arrives on Friday/Saturday, and it's a great opportunity to pause, and take stock of where you are at.

Given the popularity of the past questions series, I thought that it would be useful to share with you a series of questions you can incorporate into your own work with clients, or  your own business, as you step into fall.

Here are some of the questions I have been asking my clients this week:
As you reflect back on the last quarter/summer:

1.  What has worked? What hasn't?
2. What's been your greatest success?
3. What's been your greatest learning?
4. How is your work/business different today, than it was on June 20th?
5. What habits have helped you? hindered you?
6. What relationships have been critical for success?

As you look ahead to the fall (or spring if you are in the Southern Hemisphere) or Q4:
1. What are your top 3-5 priorities?
2. What will "wild success" look like at the end of the year around these priorities?
3. What do you need to say "no to" in order to focus?
4. What resources and partnerships will help you with these priorties?
5. What strengths can you lean into?
6. What blindspots do you want to avoid?
7.  What milestones do you want to plan (and schedule) to check in around your progress?

I hope that these are useful questions for you, and your clients. They can be useful journaling questions, peer partner questions, or incorporated into any quarterly check-in meetings you facilitate.

I'm hosting three separate fall virtual business planning retreats in the next few weeks and am looking forward to them. They are at 3 separate times to try and catch a variety of time zones. We'll be using my latest book - The Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner as a foundation - but if you don't have a copy yet, and it won't arrive in time, I'll set you up with the pages you need.

Cost for this 4 hour virtual program $97 US.

We meet the first 10 - 15 minutes of every hour online and then you'll have activities to undertake for
the rest of each hour.

During the program you'll take stock of your past quarters successes, do some planning for the quarter ahead, set some marketing goals and GET THINGS DONE - take some action on one of your projects.

I'm offering three separate time zones -  you can register for the one that's most convenient:
Thursday September 20 - 1 - 5 pm ET
Saturday September 22 - 10 - 2 pm Eastern
Wednesday September 26 - 12- 4 p ET

Check out this business development program and other offerings at the Upcoming Events page at the new Coaching Business Builder site. These are separate from the GroupCoachingEssentials.com offerings but in the coming months you should see more integration of registration options.

Can't find the link to register? Email me directly at info@potentialsrealized.com, and I'll send you a direct invoice.

If you are on Instagram, I hope that you'll follow along with the regular posts and videos I am doing at https://www.instagram.com/coachingbizbuilder (specific to Coaching Business Development) as well as https://www.instagram.com/jenn.britton (focus on the wider coaching and leadership conversation).

Let us know how you enjoy using the 12 questions I've included here!

Best wishes,
Jennifer

With best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | /GroupCoachingEssentials
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
Phone: 416-996-8326
Group Coaching Essentials - All things group coaching
Effective Virtual Conversations.com - All things virtual
Coaching Business Builder.com- All things business related (for coaches)  

Four ways to spark deeper dialogue within your groups

Group coaching is about a conversation amongst group members. Many new coaches feel

uncomfortable with the silence that can emerge in the space needed for reflection, pause and entry into that place of deeper dialogue.

Four ways coaches may consider sparking deeper dialogue include:

1. Provide pre-work, an inquiry, or have the group design an assignment in the last session which will get them thinking about that week's topic.

2. Leave structured time for pausing and writing as part of your process. Bring in music or a timer to formally mark the reflection time. Reflective writing could range from a journal question, to an inquiry, to mindmapping, to working around people's vision.

3. In larger groups, and the virtual domain, utilize breakouts and pairs. Get people connecting in different ways during the actual group coaching session, and in smaller groups so they can share more of their insights, more frequently with each other. Provide one or more questions to get the groups started in dialogue.

4. Create learning pairs/buddies for the entire program (or part of the program if it is longer) so that people do get to know each other at a deeper level, and trust each other more. These deeper connections may provide for deeper conversations quicker, inside and outside of the room/phone.

What other approaches do you use to spark deeper dialogue in your groups? As always, please feel free to comment below.

Warm regards,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, PCC
Group Coaching Essentials | Potentials Realized  
Author of Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013)
 (416)996-8326

Two quick announcements.....
9 Days to go for the two day in person Group and Team Coaching Intensive (19 CCEs) training. Ready to get started and immerse yourself? Take a deep dive into these two sub-disciplines on the weekend of November 7-8 (19 CCEs with the ICF including 17 hrs of core competenices)! Save 15 % when you register with a colleague. Click here to reserve your spot.

Also a quick reminder to join Thursday's Group Coaching Design Studio(TM) Blab. During this complimentary 30 minute blab (online call) I'll be getting back to the basics of group coaching looking at Questions and Connection. I'll also open up the chair for you to join me with your questions. The blab will run from 945-1015 am ET/New York Thursday October 29th. You'll be able to find the link at https://blab.im/jennbritton.

Six Powerful Questions to Close a Group Coaching Session

A couple of weeks ago I started a new series on powerful questions. As coaches most of you would recognize the importance, and value, of having a wide repertoire of questions to pull from, depending on

6 Coaching Questions - Copyright 2015 Jennifer Britton

the different types of coaching conversations you are having.

Today we're going to look at six (plus) questions you might consider drawing from in closing off a coaching conversation. These are applicable whether you are coaching an individual, team or group:

1. What is your next step?
2. What insights have you gleaned today?
3. What are you committed to doing, no matter what?
4. What's the one thing you can do in the next 24 hours to move towards your most important goal/your commitment? (I really like this one and you will often notice a palpable visceral response - sitting up straighter, raised eyebrows, widened eyes)
5. What was your greatest learning/insight/a-ha from today's next conversation?
6. a) What might get the way of your success?
b) What can you do to mitigate or minimize? (as always, use language that is relevant to the client)
c) Who can support you with any hurdles?
7. Six months from now, what would you like to have achieved?
8. What's the energy you are leaving with?
9. On a scale of 1-10, how did we do in meeting your needs for this call/conversation today?

Ideally, any questions we use should be relevant to the themes we are coaching around and in the clients language. You will also want to consider making a list of questions to draw fro which might be more relevant when closing off a session, versus closing off an entire coaching process.

What are some of your favorite coaching questions for closing off a group coaching conversation? An entire group coaching process?

Have a great rest of your International Coaching Week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, PCC
Group Coaching Essentials | Potentials Realized  
Author of Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013)
Early Bird rate now on for the 5th Annual Group and Team Coaching Intensive (19 CCEs) in Muskoka, Canada - July 16-17, 2015. Early Bird rate ends May 30th.
 Contact us by phone: (416)996-8326

Six Powerful Group Coaching Questions to Open a Session

"Questions are the backbone of any coaching conversation" is what I write in From One to Many: Best Practices of Team and Group Coaching.  As coaches, we can never have enough questions.

Today marks the start of a new series for me here at the Group Coaching Ins and Outs blog around powerful questions. On a regular basis I'll be spotlighting questions you may want to consider incorporating into your group or team coaching conversations.   They will also be applicable to the individual coaching conversation as well.

As I was saying recently in a Mentor Coaching Group I host for those working towards, or renewing their ICF credential, we can never have enough questions to draw on. The same holds true for the realm of group and team coaching. AS with any communication, make sure you adapt it for the needs, style and language of the people you are working with (Refer to ICF Coaching Competency of Direct Communication).

Today I wanted to put  a focus on some possible questions you may want to use in a start up of a group coaching conversation:

1. What do you uniquely bring to the group?
2. What are you hoping to get out of our conversation today?
3. What's your intention for this conversation?
4. What progress have you made on your #1 commitment from last week (this #1 commitment will change from person to person)
5. How engaged do you plan to be today? What risks are you ready to take? (Note these two questions I trace back originally to Peter Block in his excellent book - Flawless Consulting. I usually use these as an individual reflection question, and don't necessarily have people share their responses)
6. How will you know we've been successful today in this conversation (or how will you know we've been successful with our coaching overall)?


As in individual coaching, less is more. It is unlikely that you would ever use all of these questions at the start of the same session AND they are great to pull from in different touchpoints.

What are some of your favorite powerful questions? As always, please feel free to comment below.

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, PCC
Group Coaching Essentials | Potentials Realized  
Author of Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013)
Upcoming programs include: Mentor Coaching Group for ACC Renewals and ACC/PCC portfolio (Thurs 12 - 1 pm ET starting May 14) and the Advanced Group Coaching Practicum (10 CCes) - Thursdays 1015 -1130 am ET starting May 28th - July 23
Contact us by phone: (416)996-8326

What? So What? Now What?

I started my work with groups and teams more than 2 decades ago as an experiential educator. Leading What? So What? Now What? framework of debrief.

Photo: J. Britton, 2013

groups through Algonquin Park, and working with my own team of Aquatic Instructors, one of the first question and debrief frameworks I learned in those days was the

This past weekend I spoke at  beautiful Lake Junaluska in the mountains of North Carolina at the CCI 2013 conference. My topic, of course, was about group coaching. What caught my eye on the first day were these great What? So What? Now What? building blocks (pictured above).

Whether we are coaching, training or facilitating the What? So What? Now What questions are very powerful in supporting our group (and team) members to explore their experience (the WHAT?), what's important about it and what the learning is (the SO WHAT?), and finally, what they are going to do about it (NOW WHAT?).

The What? So What? Now What? framework can be used in any group or team coaching context. Here's an example of using it in the one on one context with a leader:

Coach: Tell me about your staff meeting this week.

Leader speaks

Coach: What did you notice about how you led the session. (Focus on what?)

Leader speaks

Coach: What skills did you use to keep the meeting on track? (Focus on what)

Leader speaks

Coach: So what did you do for the greatest impact? (Focus on so what)

Leader speaks

Coach: So what's important about that?

Leader speaks

Coach: So what's possible....

Leader speaks

Coach: Now what do you want to do more of in your meetings?

Leader speaks

Coach: Now what do you want to do less of? OR What do you want to build capacity around?

Leader speaks

Coach: Who do you want to be accountable to? or How will I know? Will you let me know how it goes in our next call?

For more info on how you might use them you may also want to refer to From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (page 73) or Effective Group Coaching.

How do you use the WHAT? SO WHAT? NOW WHAT? questions in your work? As always, please feel free to share below.

With best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, PCC, CPCC, BCC
GroupCoachingEssentials.com
(416)996-TEAM

Questions in the Group Coaching Context

Group coaching is an extension of the coaching process, and is grounded in the core coaching competencies. Given the range of coaching models out there, I like to bring a lot of my discussions back to the ICF Core Coaching Competencies. One of the eleven competencies is a competency called "Powerful Questions". As I often say "Questions form the backbone to any coaching conversation".

Powerful questions in the group coaching context are:
- Short in length - shorter is often better
- Linked to the learning preferences of the group members. Depending on the types of groups you work with there may be a mix of learning styles (usual) or there may be a predominance of one style (particularly if you are working within a specific industry or if you are working with a group of technical experts). One difference I see in asking questions within the group (or team) context is that I may ask the same question a number of ways to meet the needs of the different group members. For example, one person may connect with the question "What does it look like?" whereas another might connect with "What does it feel like?".
- Encourage new insights, action and/or perspectives
- Help our group members look at issues from a range of levels - the big picture, or 30,000 foot view, as well as those at the micro-level

In my first book, Effective Group Coaching, I included a number of standard questions. They follow. Note that I have more included more team and group coaching  in the appendix of my new book which will be out in June - stay tuned!

For now, here are 19+ you may wish to draw upon during one of your  upcoming programs:

Starters/Warm up:

1. What do you want to take away from today's session?
2. What's your hope for today's session? What's your fear? What's your fantasy?
3. What is your intention for the day?
4. What will you commit to bringing to the group?
5. What role do you want to in the group?
6. What is your unique gift which you bring to the group?
7. On a scale of 0-10 how engaged will be with the process?
8. What risk will you take today?
9. What is one action you can take today to stretch your comfort zone?

Checking in along the way

1.      What's been your biggest ah-ha so far?

2.      What will turn up the volume on your learning?

3.      What is one thing that you can do in the next hour/day/session that will stretch your comfort zones?

4.      What has shifted for you since we started?

                                                                       

Action Planning: 

1.      What's going to make that exciting for you? OR

2. On a scale of 1-10 how exciting is that for you?

3.      On a scale of 1-10 how committed are you to it?

4.      What action can you take to make this happen?

5.      What do you need to commit to?

6.      What do you need to say yes to? What do you need to say no to?

(Source: Britton, Effective Group Coaching, pages 149-150 (Wiley, 2010))

What are the favorite questions you bring into your group coaching work?

Best wishes,

Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, PCC, CPCC

Group Coaching Essentials.com

Phone: (416)996-TEAM (8326)

Looking for more tips and tools for your group programs? The next Group Coaching Essentials teleseminar starts this Thursday Feb 28 at 10 am Eastern. Group calls are held on Feb 28, March 87, 14, 28 and April 4, 2013.  6.75 CCEs with the ICF.