D-Differences between Group and Team Coaching
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Although there are many similarities between group and team coaching, many coaches and organizations, for that matter, often have some questions about what makes them different. This post intends to address these questions.
Let’s start with definitions of both:
Jennifer Britton defines team coaching as “A
sustained series of conversations, supported by core coaching skills. The focus
is on goal setting, deepening awareness, supporting action, and creating
accountability. The focus of the coaching may be on the team as a system and/or
strengthening individuals within the team. Team coaching links back to business
goals, focusing on results and relationships.” (Britton, 2013 - From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching)
Furthermore, Jennifer shares that Group coaching is
the “application of coaching principles to a small group for the purpose of
personal or professional development, the achievement of goals, or greater
awareness, along thematic or non-thematic lines.” (Britton, 2009 - Effective Group Coaching)
Although they are a common foundational skillset in design, marketing, and implementation, the main differences are the role of relationships, the role of leadership, the lifecycle of the group, and what may be at stake.
Context
In a team coaching context, coaches will connect the conversation and focus to three levels of impact: self/individual, team, and organization. Team coaches need to be able to support teams as a whole system and a team of individual group members.
Whereas team coaches may be working with the team as a system or supporting individual member development towards the team goals, vision, and values, in group coaching, by its nature, coaches often focus on individual development in the group context. An exception to this is in the organizational context, where you may be working with groups of new managers who don’t report to each other. In this context of offering group coaching within an organization, the group coach needs to support individual group members to reflect on the learning and insights related to themselves, in addition to the teams they are part of and the overall organization they belong to.
Role of relationships
Relationships in many group coaching processes
start and end when the group process finishes. Teams usually have relationships
that exist before and will continue after the coaching relationship. The team coach (or team coaches) will be the ones "fading in" and "fading out" of the team system".
With groups, members of the group MAY know one
another but hold disparate positions and levels of relationships. The group is likely to disband in form after the conversations are complete.
Role of leadership
Due to the nature of team coaching, the team leader plays a crucial role in supporting the team coaching to be successful. Their early engagement and including them in designing the type of coaching before coaching commences support a team coaching process to be effective.
Leadership plays a minor role in group coaching. Consider having your participants share learnings with their leaders without leaders being directly involved. This could also be the case of working with teens/young adults. Similarly, you can encourage them to share learnings with their parents/loved ones.
Lifecycle of grouping
With groups, typically, the coaching lifecycle is short (3 months, six months, etc.), disbanding at the end of the coaching agreement. Nothing is ongoing, as it’s a group of individuals who return to their life or teams within the organization once the group dismantles.
Teams, on the other hand, exist before and after the coaching engagement. Knowing this, an effective team coach can support the team to integrate models/frameworks back on the job for continued success beyond the coaching conversation and engagement. For example, they can encourage the team to incorporate the “ways of working” to support “acceptable behaviors” on the job.
What’s at Stake?
Team coaching - there is a perception that there is more at stake. Team members opening up to their peers and leaders require a certain level of vulnerability and trust. As such, team members may take time to open up with their peers if they don’t feel that the coaching space is nonjudgemental and safe concerning the coach and all the team members.
Possible next steps:
- Invest in a copy of Jennifer Britton's book, “From One To Many”- Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching” for further conversation on team and group coaching. https://amzn.to/3KFp8tN
- Schedule an exploration call to discuss compatibility and upcoming opportunities for possible learning and growth as a Group or Team Coach. : https://calendly.com/potentials-realized/group-coaching-essentials
Enjoy your conversations,
Evana Valle (thanks Evana for penning this week's blog post) and Jennifer Britton
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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