Kick Start Your Group Programs for 2013 - join me Thursday

A quick reminder that I will be holding the last Group Coaching Essentials teleseminar for 2012 starting this Thursday November 29th from 9-10:15 am ET./New York. The program will be of interest to those who want to add group coaching to their mix, or incorporate a group coaching approach into their other group programs - teleclasses, retreats and workshops.

We will be meeting on Thursdays and Tuesdays from 9-10:15 am Eastern/New York for the next few weeks, with calls set for November 29, December 4, 6, 13 and 18th. Each call has a distinct focus with assignments designed to support you to move from program idea into program draft. I also am available for one on one laser calls between each session. Our calls will look at designing, marketing and implementing group coaching, providing you with road-tested tips and tools, so you don't have to reinvent the wheel.

The program is approved for 6.75 CCEs with the ICF. Cost: $395 US or CDN (including HST)

Click here for more information or to register.

“ Jennifer knows her stuff, walks her talk, and provides effective modeling of group coaching principles for those seeking a basic understanding and framework for artful group coaching.”

Melanie Keveles, MA, CPCC, MCC, Starting Fresh Coaching, LLC, startofsomethingbig.com

 

Hope that you will join us for this or one of our other upcoming programs (see side bar).

Warm regards
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, PCC, CPCC
GroupCoachingEssentials.com 
Author of Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010)
info{at}potentialsrealized.com
(416)996-8326

4 of my favorite group program resources this year

As we move towards the end of the year I am in the process of starting to take stock of different engagements I ran this year and what I want to carry forward into work with clients. I've shared a number of these throughout this year with other coaches during the Group Coaching Essentials and Advanced Group Coaching Practicum. I wanted to share four of these with you today. Consider how you might be able to incorporate these into your next group coaching program, retreat, teleclass or webinar:

1. Post It Notes - recently on my Facebook page, I outlined 5 ways to bring in post it notes (also seen here). Post-its continue to be an essential tool for engagement, addressing different learning needs, and just mixing it up in my group programs. Think about how you may use it for check ins, evaluation, brainstorming, identifying the coaching focus etc.
2. Visual Explorer  - Over the years I have written a lot about Visual Explorer which is produced by the Center for Creative Leadership. I've continued to use it regularly this year in team and group coaching processes, retreats, and also in phone and web based programs.
3. JICT Cards - These were first introduced to me by Dr. Jean Davidson at my Summer Group Coaching Intensive in Muskoka and I fell in love with them right away. Smaller than the Visual Explorer main deck which I use, the JICT cards were created by four coaches. Great photos, portable, and with a coaching process behind it, you can check out the JICT cards at CoachingToys.com. Also a terrific site for coaches to check out for many more tools.
4. Working with Strengths and Styles - Exploring strengths and styles continued to be a foundational piece of my work with teams and groups this year. Wherever possible we built on what the organization already was doing, and I found myself also bringing in the PSI (Personal Styles Inventory), StrengthsFinder, DiSC, and also VIAStrengths.

What were some of your favorite tools and resources you incorporated into your group programs this year?

Have a great week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, PCC, CPCC
Author of Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010)
Join me for the last Group Coaching Essentials teleclass of 2012 starting this Thursday Nov 29th at 9 am Eastern. We'll be meeting on Tues/Thurs 9-10:15 am ET on November 29, December 4, 6, 13 and 18 (6.75 CCEs). Hope you can make it. More info and registration here. 
2013 BizSuccess Virtual Retreat starts this Friday at 1 pm ET and will also be held on Monday December 17th. Looking to carve out some time to focus on your business? Hope that you will join me. More info here.
Phone: (416)996-TEAM (8326)

Team Coaching: Areas of conversation

There are many rich areas for conversation and focus during a team coaching engagement. In speaking with coaches recently during research for my next book, From One To Many - Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching, it has been very interesting to zoom in on the multitude of topic areas, and similarities teams are bringing to the table.

Here is a quick list of some core team coaching topic areas:
- Difficult Conversations
- Feedback
- Roles within the team
- Styles - leadership, communication, conflict
- Vision (team, individual, organizational)
- Values (team, individual, organizational)
- Strengths
- Communication - ranging from meeting management to styles to feedback and virtual team issues
- Trust and Respect
- Working Synergistically and Across Differences
- Conflict - Styles, Navigating Conflict
- Goal setting and action planning
- Alignment - Goals, Roles etc.

What are some of the key team coaching issues you see with the teams you work with? What resoruces would you point teams and coaches to? As always, please feel free to comment below.

Have a great week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, PCC, CPCC
GroupCoachingEssentials.com | Potentials Realized
Author of Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010)
(416) 996-TEAM (8326)
info{at}potentialsrealized{dot} com

Group Coaching Essentials starts November 29 (6.75 CCEs)

Our last Group Coaching Essentials teleseminar for 2012 will start on Thursday November 29th at 9am Eastern/Toronto/New York. We'll be meeting on an accelerated schedule of calls on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-10:15 am Eastern, on November  29, December 4, 6 and 13 and 18 th. The program is approved by the ICF for 6.75 CCEs (including 4.25 hours of Core Competencies).

The program is geared for coaches who want to add group coaching to their work, whether in-person, virtual, for public groups or in organizations. Throughout the five calls we explore:

·         The Essentials of Group Coaching – What is group coaching? Skills for Group Coaching? Group Coaching vs. Training and Facilitation. Best Practices for Group Coaching.

·         Designing and Implementing Your Program – Tips, Templates and Resources to support you in designing and implementing your program - Virtually and In Person, for corporate and public clients

·         Marketing tips and approaches for your program - social media, positioning and pricing

·         Tools, Resources and Exercises for Group Coaching

·         The 8 Habits of Highly Effective Group Coaches

If you want to get your programs launched in the new year, the timing is ideal! In addition to the 5 calls, I am available for 15 min laser calls each week as  part of your registration. You'll also receive module notes packed with content, questions to support your work and many templates. If you can't make a call, calls are recorded for you to catch up. Space is limited to 6-8 coaches.

Here's what coaches have said about the program:

"Group Coaching Essentials represents outstanding value.  Every encounter with Jennifer Britton demonstrated her rich skill, experience and integrity as a coach, trainer and group facilitator.  In addition to the content-rich and ideas-rich course material, the addition of several one to one coaching sessions with Jennifer during the progress of the course added great value to the experience.   Anyone wishing to develop confidence, tools and ideas for running their own group coaching will benefit greatly from this course."

Alison Manning

Professional Mediator and Coach

Mindspan Communications, Australia

www.mindspancommunications.com

 

"As a coach, I was looking for new and valuable services to offer my clients.  Group coaching is a great offering for people who want to experience both the accountability of coaching and the support of a group.  When I was looking for the best mentor the only real choice was Jennifer Britton.  She’s structured the Group Coaching Essentials program to be a turn-key solution for anyone to go from inexperience to launching a program – all in five sessions.  Jennifer has done the work of gathering all the best information about group coaching and filtered it into a resource-packed format that takes you from newbie to launch easily and confidently." ~ Deirdre Walsh, Integrative Health Coach www.deirdrewalsh.ca 

 

Cost for the program: $395 US or CDN (including HST). For more info and to register, please click here.

Questions? Please don't hesitate to contact me.

Best regards

Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, PCC, CPCC 

GroupCoachingEssentials.com

Phone:(416)996-TEAM 

 

Looking to create some structured focus to plan for 2013? Consider joining us for two of our year end Virtual Retreats - the 2013 BizPlanning Virtual Retreat (Friday November 30 and December 7 from 1-4 pm Eastern by phone) which focuses on creating your business plan for 2013. Also I'll be hosting the Group Program Design Virtual Retreat on Friday Dec 14 and 21 from 1- 4 pm Eastern by phone, which is geared for coaches who want to work on the design of their own teleclass, workshop, webinar, or other group coaching program.

Group Coaching: Awareness and Action through questions

Coaching is different than many related fields such as facilitation and training, due to our focus on goal setting, expanding awareness around these goals and key issues, supporting action, and creating accountability. One of the most powerful coaching tools is our questions. How are your questions supporting these four areas - goal setting, awareness, action and accountability?

In Effective Group Coaching, I wrote about how the What? So What and Now What? questions can serve as a great framework in leading any individual, team or group through a coaching conversation. You can also check out this post from last year on the What? So What? Now What questions?

As you consider the clients - individuals, groups and/or teams you are working with, take note of the questions that really have impact for them.

On my Effective Group Coaching Facebook page today my tip of the day was around remembering that our questions can take our clients to the 30,000 foot airplane view or down into the weeds or flower view (thank you Coach Jory Fisher!).

A couple of great resources around questions and coaching are
Appreciative Coaching - Binkert, Clancy, O|rem
Change your Questions, Change your Life - Marilee Adams

What are your favorite coaching questions?
What other resources would you recommend?

Have a great week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Author of Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010)
GroupCoachingEssentials.com
(416)996-TEAM
A quick reminder that our last Mentor Coaching group for the year will be held on Fridays from 12 - 1pm Eastern, starting November 16th or 30th. We'll be meeting for the next 3 months to take a deep dive around the coaching competencies, as well as give you practice and feedback on your coaching skills. 10 hour program which meets the ICF mentor coaching requirements. A couple of spaces still open!

Group and Team Coaching Skills - Where do you stand?

I'm just back from a great weekend which I spent with a small group of coaches who joined me for the fall Group Coaching Intensive training here in Toronto. We had a lot of discussion around the core coaching competencies and how these serve as a foundation and are adapted for group and team coaching conversations.

A few weeks ago I wrote about Adapting the Wheel in coaching activities. One of the activities we undertook (see photo) brought the Wheel together with our core coaching competencies.

It is useful to pause once in a while and note where our strengths are, as well as some learning edges. I would encourage you to spend some time taking stock of your skills. Using the ICF language, here are the core competencies. On a scale of 1-10 (1 being low and 10 being high) what is your skill level in the group and team context with these areas:
- Designing/Establishing the Coaching Agreement
- Building Trust and Intimacy
- Coaching Presence
- Direct Communication
- Active Listening
- Powerful Questioning
- Planning and Goal Setting
- Creating awareness
- Designing Actions
- Managing Progress and Accountability

In terms of other skills important for great group and team coaches, where would you rate yourself with understanding of group/team process, and group facilitation skills?

I'll be taking a deep dive around these competencies later this week in the virtual domain, as the next Mentor Coaching Group starts. If you are working towards your ACC or PCC and need mentor coaching hours, or if you are needing to renew your ACC, I hope that you will consider joining me and a small group of other coaches for this three month program. We'll be meeting on Fridays from 12-1pm Eastern/New York with group calls held on November 16, 30, December 7, 14, January 18, February 1 and 15. I'll also be holding monthly 1-1 calls with each one of you during the program. 3 spots still open for this week's program. Next group after this will start in mid-January.

Have a terrific start to the week!

Warm regards,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, PCC, CPCC
GroupCoachingEssentials.com
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Author of Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010)

Closing Off Your Group Coaching Programs

It's often common that we spend a lot of time focusing on the start of things, but put little attention to the end of things. Today's post is about closure for groups. Leaving space and time for the group or group members to reflect on what they have learned and what they have achieved over the time you have worked together.

This week I have been wrapping up three different groups that I've worked with for past few months. Even in phone based programs strong bonds get created.

Some questions you may want to consider are:
What kind of space do you want to leave for thank yous and learning to be shared?
What benefit would there be in scheduling either a individual or group follow up down the road to see what further action they have taken, and or insights they have acquired?
What is the tone you would like to set in this final session?
What pre-work will support group members before the final call? (Self-assessment, structured questions)
What connection is the group eager for, going forward?
Is there a physical take-away you would like to leave with group members, or have them create for themselves (i.e. a box, a vision board, an action plan etc)

One of my favorite experiential education sites - Wilderdom.com - has a great list of exercises and activities you can do for closure. You may also want to check out a past post I wrote back in 2006 on Closure for some additional ideas.

What activities do you like to use for closure? What would work well for the groups you are working with?

Have a great weekend! I know that I will be enjoying connecting with other coaches as I lead the Group Coaching Intensive this weekend in Toronto.

Warm regards,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, PCC, CPCC
GroupCoachingEssentials.com
Join us for an upcoming program: Mentor Coaching Group (Starts Nov 16 at 12 noon ET), the Group Coaching Essentials teleseminar (Tues/Thurs 6-7:15 pm ET starting Nov 27 - 6.75 CCEs) or the 2013 BizPlanning Virtual Retreat