Expanding Your Group and Team Coaching Toolkit (25): Execution

This week brings us to the 25th week of the Expanding Your Group and Team Coaching Tookit. This

week's focus is all about EXECUTING, getting things done, and DOING!

One of the core coaching competencies with ICF is designing actions. This goes hand in hand with creating awareness. Doing without being grounded in what's important, our values, our visions, our beliefs, may not get traction. It may not create the momentum needed for results in today's context.

This week's blog post gets you thinking about the different things you can be doing with teams and groups to support execution. This may involve getting the important things done that people put off (individually or collectively) as well as creating an accountability support, either real-time, peer lead or after the fact.

As we approach the end of the year (or even the end of a quarter, or month), clients are often yearning for "closing the open loops" on projects. This is where immediate support on DOING can be of value.

Over the last decade the Virtual Business Planning Retreats I have hosted have always been given huge thumbs up by clients. They have appreciated the time earmarked for them to do both PLANNING and DOING. It was the many years of experience in leading these Virtual Retreats first as the 90 Day Biz Success VRs and then the Inner Biz Leader Virtual Retreats, that ultimately laid the groundwork for my 2018/2019 publications  - PlanDoTrack (for virtual and remote professionals) and Coaching Business Builder.

If you are a group coach, consider how you might incorporate bursts of DOING during your calls or as part of field work. As stated earlier, be sure that this is grounded in people's values and vision. Earmarking even 10 minutes of a regular call can start making inroads for people on things that they are stuck on. In a group context, this might involve:

 providing the group with a series of reflective prompts so they can write out an introductory brochure they have been putting off:

Putting people in breakout to speak through and work through together an introduction they are crafting about their services

OR earmarking 10 minutes of a call for people to take action real time in doing the thing they've been procrastinating on - filing, making a call, drafting a blog post.

What could you add in, in short bursts with your groups to hold more space for getting the important things done?

The power of peer accountability can be significant even in the virtual space This is where participating in longer virtual retreats - 4 hours - focusing on planning and doing can be a great support.  Check out info below about upcoming PlanDoTrack Virtual Retreats to support you in planning for 2020!

I've been seeing how valuable real-time working sessions are for several years now, from the Getting Organized Virtual Retreats I co-hosted a decade ago, to the upcoming PlanDoTrack virtual retreats. This month is also National Novel Writing Month and I've been hosting a series of Friday afternoon writing sprints for fellow writers. Two more are scheduled for November 15 and 22 (130 - 215 pm ET in my zoom room - check out the first two here).

If you are working with teams, execution and getting things done are also important. Some of the most powerful tema coaching work I've done in recent years has involved me being embedded as part of teams, where I join them (in the shadows or as a partner) as they move through high stakes events and programs. The spot coaching and rapid implementation they can undertake is very powerful. 

Teams will always benefit from a clear, shared plan, and one that is visible. How are you ensuring that accountability around their action steps is not only part of your coaching process, but also part of their ways of working back at the office.

In your team coaching work, what can support for EXECUTION and getting the important things done look like?

Note, I'll be hosting several year-end PlanDoTrack virtual retreats throughout November and December for those who are looking for a virtual pause and planning session. The four hours focuses not only on your PLANNING for the new year, but also DOING -Getting into action around an important project which will be the foundation of your work next year, as well as spending some time on TRACKING - looking at your metrics. Check out the CoachingBusinessBuilder.com blog for a recent post on metrics. The 4 hour retreats are a deal at only $129 US. Join me November 14th, 29th or in December. Reserve your spot now.

What do you want to put into practice with your work? Enjoy your week,

Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, CPCC, PCC – Potentials Realized 
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner (2018) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder 
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development)