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.

Group Coaching Design Studio - Inaugual Blab - October 22, 2015

As many of you know I like to experiment with new technologies in service of community, education and learning. I am exctied to announce that I hosted my first blab this morning! If you haven't heard about blab yet, it's a neat new platform which can bring people together for conversation. From my experience this morning I also see it as a great vehicle for educational snippets and dialogue.

I'll be hosting my next blab  - the Group Coaching Design Studio (TM)  Blab - on Thursday October 29th from 945 - 1015 am Eastern. You'll need an internet connection and Twitter account.

You can view this week's inaugural blab where I cover off some of the benefits of group coaching, do a short piece on vision work (with the Conversation Sparker card deck), and then opened the mic!

You can view the replay here (26 minutes) - Enjoy!

Hope that you will join me next week for our 2nd blab - 945 - 1015 am ET on Thursday October 29th. The link should be https://blab.im/jennbritton-group-coaching-design-studio-jennifer-britton-author-effective-group-coaching-3 (and you can also always search on the date of programming where I am "online live" in case the link does not work).

If you have program ideas - things you'd like covered, or questions you have, please let me know as I'm looking forward to hosting several more of these.

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)
 (416)996-8326
Join us for an upcoming program including the Group Coaching Essentials teleseminar starting Oct 29th at 1030 am ET (8.75 CCEs) or the Advanced Group Coaching Practicum (10CCEs) starting Friday Oct 30th at 145 pm m ET. There are also a few spots open in our 2 day training - Group and Team Coaching Intensive (19 CCEs) - being held the weekend of November 7-8 (19 CCEs)

Coaching Toolbox - Powerful Questions

In my book, From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching, I write that "Questions form the backbone of any coaching conversation".

Powerful questions are one of the eleven core coaching competencies with the International Coach Federation (ICF). Whether we coach full-time or incorporate coaching skills into our conversations, having a variety of coaching questions to draw upon create a more powerful conversation.

Today's blog post focuses on five resources you may want to explore as you build your resource base around questions:

1. Coaching Questions  - A Coaches' Guide to Powerful Asking Questions -Tony Stoltzfus
2. Change Your Questions, Change Your Life - Marilee Adams
   
3. Co-Active Coaching Book- Kimsey-House, Kimsey-House
4. Appreciative Coaching - Orem, Binkert and Clancy
5. QBasics - Open Ended Questions from Marcy Nelson-Garrison at CoachingToys.com 

What other resources would you recommend around the art of questioning?

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)
 
Looking to expand your tools for groups and teams? Join us in Toronto the weekend of November 7-8 for the Group and Team Coaching Intensive (19 CCEs). Register with a colleague and each receive a discount on your registration. 

Group Coaching Essentials starts October 15 and Group and Team Coaching Intensive runs November 7-8, 2015

Looking to launch your own group coaching work this fall and winter, or  have a new request come up for team coaching? Join me virtually later this week for the Group Coaching Essentials teleseminar, as we Thursdays from 10:30 - 11:45 am ET on October 15, 29, November 5, 12, 19.

take a five week look at the foundations and best practices of Group Coaching - design, marketing, implementation and resources. The program is approved for 8.75 CCEs with the ICF. Each week you will have short assignments to breathe life into your program ideas, while we use the call time looking at examples, and also modelling some of the approaches you may use in your own work. The Group Coaching Essentials teleseminar will be held on

If you prefer to learn face to face, join me in Toronto in a few weeks for the Group and Team Coaching Intensive on the weekend of November 7 and 8th. We'll be widening the lens to look at both group and team coaching - best practices, approaches, and we will give you several opportunities to practice leading group and team coaching conversations over the two days. This program is approved for 19 CCEs with the ICF (including 17 hours of core competencies).

Listen in as I talk more about the program and what you can expect to get out of it

Hope to see you either online for the Essentials teleseminar program (8.75 CCEs) later this week (4 spots open) or on November 7-8 here in Toronto (5 spots open) for the Group and Team Coaching Intensive (19 CCEs).

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)
 (416)996-8326