Coaching Virtually - Five Things to Keep in Mind

An increasing number of coaches are working virtually with individual clients as well as teams and

groups.

Here are five things to keep in mind as you navigate a call

1.       Create shared expectations – what can people expect from the call. How will this be different. What are you there to offer? What do they want out of the experience?

2.       Connect people early on – to what they want out of the call, and with each other. This might involve posting the question : What do you want to make sure you get out of the call today and having people share that in chat. To connect people, even at a surface level, have people annotate and dot where they are calling in form.

3.       Keep the pace moving – Don’t just talk at people. Involve them through slides, inserting ideas via chat and also by having them use annotation. Annotation is not naturally set up I all rooms but it does provide a more hands-on experience. Give people some practice and guidelines on how to use it.

4.       Provide pauses for people to do things along the way. While many virtual leaders hesitate from doing this, if you are streaming, you’ll see how valuable it is to provide a pause of a minute or two for people to do something practical and tactical. This might involve capturing what they have learned in a mindmap, or identifying their top 3 bullet points and writing it down some where, or identifying their next steps, or scheduling it in. What can you do to provide a pause point.

5.       Follow up – keep the conversation going. There many different platforms to build community. From closed Facebook groups, to shared virtual boards such as Mighty Networks, keep the conversation flowing by sharing resources related to your topic, inviting people to respond via polls, and get together for future calls or co-working sessions.

For more ideas check out these past blog posts I’ve written on virtual:

Watch out for these pitfalls - Five faux pas to avoid in virtual calls from the Teams365 blog https://www.potentialsrealized.com/teams-365-blog/teams365-742-virtual-facilitation-faux-pas

Virtual Facilitation – Creating Powerful Starts and Ends to Virtual Calls – We remember the start and end of things – how can you jazz things up to make your last call more memorable? https://www.potentialsrealized.com/teams-365-blog/teams365-560-virtual-facilitation-creating-powerful-starts-and-ends

Check out the Effective Virtual Conversations tips published each Monday at my Teams365 blog. These tips are based on my 2017 book – Effective Virtual Conversations. Pick up a copy at Amazon today.

Thanks for joining me - let us know what you put into practice and what impact it has!

With best wishes,

Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT, PCC, CPCC

 Author of Effective Group Coaching (2009), and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013), Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) and Coaching Business Builder - Workbook and Planner (2018)
Phone : 416-996-8326
Upcoming Spring 2019 programs include Group Coaching Essentials program (8.75 CCEs) which starts again mid-April and the  Advanced Group and Team Coaching Practicum (10 CCEs which focuses on the "practice" of group coaching). Advanced will start Friday May 3rd (6 weeks, 10 CCEs)

Two upcoming October trainings for coaches - Group Coaching Essentials and Virtual Facilitation Practicum

A quick reminder that there are 2 upcoming (virtual) training programs starting in the last half of October 2018.

First of all, starting this Friday October 19th at 11:45 AM I'll be launching the 6-week Virtual Facilitation Practicum. It’s geared for coaches, trainers. and professionals who want to get more experience and gain confidence in conversation. This program covers the gamut of virtual conversations.

It is a small group setting and each professional leads a virtual call on the platform of their choice,

receiving feedback on their skills. In addition to the practicum element of the course, we’ll be taking a deeper dive on topics related to design, exercises, leading and marketing virtual programming (webinars, conference calls etc). This is the second part of the program that makes up the Virtual Facilitation Skills Intensive (a 15 hour virtual train-the-trainer).

Cost for this 6-week program is $495 US and you can register by contacting me.

Interested in this 15 hour series? The Virtual Facilitation Essentials will start up again in November. It's a five week 75  minute program held weekly, and has been approved for 8.5 hours of CCEs.

The second program I wanted to tell you about is the flagship Group Coaching Essentials program. Our next fall 2018 group will start on the afternoon of Tuesday October 23rd with calls meeting on October 23, 30, November 6, 13, and 20^th. Group calls will run from 3 to 4:15 PM Eastern on zoom.

This program is approved for 8.75 CCE is with the I CF, geared for coaches who want to explore best practices of design, marketing, and implementing their own group coaching. The program will be of interest to those  who wanting to add this on to their mix of offerings. Weekly assignments support you to further your own ideas and program planning actions.

I do hope that you'll join us for one of these upcoming programs this month.

With best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, CPCC, PCC
Potentials Realized | /GroupCoachingEssentials
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com
Phone: 416-996-8326
Group Coaching Essentials - All things group coaching
Effective Virtual Conversations.com - All things virtual
Coaching Business Builder.com- All things business related (for coaches)  

Three Activities for Your Virtual Programs - Calls, Group/Team Coaching, Webinars

I've been doing a lot of speaking lately about creating more effective virtual learning events, in lead

up to the launch of my newest book which will be out this summer. As many of you know, for the better part of the last three decades my work has been virtual in one way or another. Whether I was leading virtual teams across countries or regions of the world, of running a series of teleclasses, webinars and virtual group and team coaching, I love working virtually!

Many coaches and other professionals struggle in gaining the confidence to lead their own virtual programs and I'm on a mission this year to support even more coaches in designing their own virtual programs - not just group coaching, but also webinars and other virtual programs.

Having a wide variety of tools on hand can mean the difference between a drab and engaging call. Today's post includes three quick activities you might consider bringing in to boost a team call, or to energize a longer virtual call.

#1 - Map it - Making things more visual is key to fostering engagement in the virtual domain. If you are still leading on a phone only environment, ask people to bring a pen and paper. If you are on a platform like zoom or WebEx make sure group members are comfortable with using annotation tools like pens etc.

In map it, you can have a couple of iterations. The instructions are to ask the group to draw a map of their learning journey so far. If this is done on the phone environment it may be easier to have each person doing this individually, and then verbally having them share it afterwards with others. If you are all on a screensharing have people draw on the screen what they see as the journey. Depending on the size of group, it may become a more collaborative exercise, or if you are working to develop communication or leadership skills you may assign a "peer facilitator" to provide instructions.


#2 - My desk - Photo Spark - Many of you may know how much I enjoy integrating photographs into the work that I do with groups. In the virtual domain it can be worthwhile to develop or purchase a series of photos which you can use and share with your virtual groups. One quick activity is to put 2-3 photos up on the whiteboard with a question related to the topic you are discussing. Perhaps it's a webinar on leadership styles. You might put up 4 photos of desktops - one messy, one Spartan, one really organized, and one a briefcase. Ask the group members to select the photo which is most representative of their desk and what they like about the work space they have created for themselves,. Get people to write their name on the photo so you can break them into breakout groups. Have them spend 4-5 min with those who selected the same photo, sharing what they enjoy about their workplace. this is a quick activity to create some connection and break the ice.


#3 - Finding the common theme. We know that teams that are diverse in skills, yet have a common bond are often most effective. If people do not feel connected it is more likely that they will disengage. This is a good activity for a virtual team who might be newly forming, or have been together for a while. Set the context for the activity that the task is to find the common theme. You may choose a generic topic like - what's my favorite food, pastime, place to visit.
Ask team members to take some time to find their common ground around the topic you have chosen.
So, for example it's about finding a common thread around what everyone on the team loves about work/food/vacation.  Let the team go and see what they come up with! I've had groups find the common theme in just a few minutes, and others needing much more time.

What quick energizers do you like to use in the virtual domain?

Have a great start to your week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized/GroupCoachingEssentials
Email: info (at)potentialsrealized (dot)com

About Us: Jennifer Britton is the author of Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013) . Since 2004 she and her company, Potentials Realized, have supported thousands of coaches, trainers, and leaders, design and create more impactful team and group programs (in-person and virtual). Jennifer offers customized programs for organizations, as well as virtual public training programs. Our areas of specialty are team development, leadership and coaching. Our 2017 programming starts during the week of January  9th and will include: The Group Coaching Essentials teleseminar (8.75 CCEs), The Advanced Group and Team Coaching Practicum (10 CCEs), and the Mentor Coaching Group for ACC/PCC portfolio routes. The Learning Lab and Design Studio Group for Coaches who want to build their business and expand their group and team programs meets twice a month on Fridays 845am Eastern.

Virtual Facilitation Tips - Leading more engaged and effective virtual events

Many coaches today are tasked with leading virtual events. Whether it is a virtual group or team coaching session, or a webinar or teleclass, it is important to avoid the Death By Conference Call experience.

Recently, over at the Teams365 blog which I also host,  I have done a series of posts on Virtual Facilitation Tips. I thought it would be useful and interesting to share these with you there as well. As you review them, consider what tweaks you want to make in your own virtual programming.

Tip - Each person adds an exponential layer of complexity
It is important to note that as we add one member of a group we are adding a whole web of relationships, perspectives, insights and beliefs. Consider how growing group size impacts the webs. Read this Teams365 post here.

Tip - Small Is Beautiful
Part of the challenge of virtual events is to support group members in feeling connected and supported by each other. To facilitate this, consider how smaller group size can create more of a connection. Read this Teams365 post on Virtual Facilitation Tip #3 here.

Tip - Use Breakouts Liberally
one of my favorite posts so far explores the use of breakouts. Many virtual facilitators shy away from breakouts and lose the opportunity they present. Take a look at how you might consider using breakouts in your programming. Click here to read this post
 


There are many other posts available to you at the Teams365 blog which I hope you will check out and I have many more posts planned for this month and next .

This November I'll be launching our newest Essentials program - the Virtual Facilitation Essentials program. We'll be exploring core best practices for designing and leading engaging virtual events, along with building your toolbox and exploring the technologies. This course will cover the foundations of virtual facilitation, with the Virtual Facilitation Skills Intensive - our 15 hour virtual train-the-trainer being offered again in January for those who want an even deeper dive.

Join us in November on Fridays from 10:15 - 11:30 am ET: November 4, 11, 18, December 2 and 9, 2016. Click here to learn more about the program and reserve your spot. Class size is limited to 8. Cost: $450 US. Reserve your spot today.

Have a great week,
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)

About Us: Jennifer Britton is author of Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010) andFrom One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013) . Since 2004 she and her company, Potentials Realized, have supported thousands of coaches, trainers, and leaders, design and create more impactful team and group programs (in-person and virtual). Jennifer offers customized programs for organizations, as well as virtual public training programs. Our areas of specialty are team development, leadership and coaching. Our 2017 programming starts during the week of January  9th and will include: The Group Coaching Essentials teleseminar (8.75 CCEs), The Advanced Group and Team Coaching Practicum (10 CCEs), and the Mentor Coaching Group for ACC/PCC portfolio routes. Our 2017 Learning Lab and Design Studio Group for Coaches who want to build their business and expand their group and team programs starts January as well (2 group calls on Fridays throughout 2017)