The Accordion - A Metaphor For Group Coaching Program Design

The Accordion - A Metaphor for Group Coaching Program Design

Copyright 2014, Jennifer Britton. All Rights Reserved

Last week I was in New York City speaking with the New York Coaches Lab. It was a wonderful evening
session where coaches learned more about about group coaching and they got to experience some of my favorite group coaching processes as well. Thanks for having me! I am looking forward to getting out to more in person speaking engagements in the coming months, now that spring is around the corner!

One of the design principles I was sharing with the group is the principle of the accordion which I write about further in From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2014). As coaches one of our philosophies is that we want the conversations to be shaped by the focus and priorities of the client. In a group coaching context, there may be multiple focus areas anchored into a weekly theme.

For example, if you are working with a group of new leaders, a weekly group coaching session may focus on strengths of as a leader.  Part of your pre-program design work will involve  considering the possible activities you could undertake with them. Perhaps there is some pre-work to complete the VIA Strengths profile, or undertake the StrengthsFinder. In the session itself you could work with either one of these in many ways - through dialogue, individual reflection, or something more experiential. Some of this will be shaped by your own approaches as a coach, a lot of it by what your group members prefer.

It is useful in the design phase to keep in mind an accordion, and what can be expanded if the group is moving quickly, and what can be condensed or let go of, if the group is enjoying another activity or conversation.

As you consider upcoming work with groups or teams, how can the accordion support you? What might you let go of if the group is enjoying one conversation or activity? What could you add in if time is not moving quickly?

Have a great start to the week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, PCC
Group Coaching Essentials | Potentials Realized
(416)996-8326

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