Upcoming Programs - February 2011

I'll be running a number of programs this month for coaches and other professionals who are eager to design their own group coaching programs, or brush up on their coaching skills. Upcoming programs starting this month include:

Group Coaching Essentials (accredited for 6.75 CCEs with the ICF)

Upcoming Programs start:
February 2011:Tuesdays 8-9:15 pm Eastern/New York/Toronto (Evening Program): February 8, 15, 22, March 1 and 8, 2011
Thursdays 10:30 -11:45 am Eastern/New York/Toronto (Daytime Program)February 17, March 3, 10, 17 and 24, 2011

Each month I work with a small group of coaches (maximum 8) in the Group Coaching Essentials teleseminar program. The program covers tools, exercises and resources to support coaches with the design, marketing and implementation of their own group coaching programs. We look at both in person and virtual (web and phone) based programs, as well as tips for groups from the general public and organizations. The program includes 5 x 75 minute calls, access to lazer/laser(15 minute) 1-1 calls with me (at no additional cost), and an 80 page manual (delivered in weekly modules). Benefit from the accountability and structure of the program to get your own group coaching program going!
Price: $325 US or Canadian (plus HST)
Click here for more info or to register for upcoming Group Coaching Essentials programs.

Here's what coaches have said about the Group Coaching Essentials program:
“I have been leading group coaching programs for more than three years now. Jennifer Britton’s Group Coaching Essentials program provided me with the knowledge, insights and tools to take my programs to an even higher level! I highly recommend this program to every coach has or wants to add group coaching as part of their offerings.
Ann Farrell, CPCC, PCC, Quantum Endeavors®, Inc.
www.quantumendeavors.com; www.yourcorporatesuccess.com”

“Completing this program gave me the confidence and knowledge to cerate and deliver my own group coaching program. In fact I started delivering my program before the training ended! The 1-1 sessions with Jennifer and the feedback she gave me on my program content was invaluable. Knowing I was working with the “expert” in the field of group coaching was extremely valuable.” – Julie Marah, CPCC, www.howsyourlifecaoching.com.

Mentor Coaching Group (By Phone)
Fridays 11 - 12 noon Eastern starting February 25, 2011 (Runs to May 27, 2011)
For several years I have been supporting coaches through the certification and credentialing process. Several times a year I offer a mentor coaching group which is designed to meet the needs of ACC recertification coaches, as well as coaches who are eager to brush up on their coaching skills while developing their business.
The program consists of 7 x 1 hour calls over the 3 months, as well as 3 hours of individual mentor coaching calls over the three months.Calls focus on the core coaching competencies, and enhancing your skills in these areas. Come to practice, learn, stretch and grow your core coaching skills!
Group calls will be held on: February 25, March 11, 25, April 1, 15, 29, and May 20. Individual calls are scheduled monthly.
Cost: $1000 US for the 3 month program (10 hours of mentor coaching in total). Save $250 each when you register with a colleague.
Click here to reserve your spot in the program.
Contact us directly if you want to take advantage of the special discounted colleague rate.Reserve your spot for the Mentor Coaching Group (spaces are limited)

Advanced Group Coaching Issues: (For GEC Alumni or experienced group coaches): 6.25 hours By Phone
Fridays 12 - 1:15 pm Eastern/New York: March 25, April 1, 8, 15 and 29, 2011
Looking to continue to refine your craft, get feedback on your skills and tackle advanced issues in group coaching? Join us for this advanced look at group coaching issues including tricky issues, virtual facilitation, exercises, marketing and design issues. Coaches will have the opportunity to lead parts of the calls and receive feedback on their own group coaching skills. As with the Group Coaching Essentials program participants will be supported by an e-manual, 1-1s with Jenn and rich, practical dialogue about group coaching issues.Click here for more information about the program
Cost: $325 US or $325 CDN (plus HST)

Group Program Virtual Intensive
Friday Feb 25 and March 4 (1-4 pm Eastern): By Phone
Designed for professionals who want to create the space to FOCUS and TAKE ACTION on their next group program (workshop, retreat, teleseminar). This program consists of 6 hours of structured group and individual exercises, designed to support you with your group program design, marketing and implementation.
Cost: $175 US/CDN (plus HST)
"Jennifer's program gave me the vision and the confidence to develop virtual programs for my clients. Thank you Jennifer for breaking down the process into do-able steps!" - Marsha Barnosky
Click here for more info.

This month, in the spirit of relationships we are offering two special discounts when you register in a program with a colleague:
1. $250 off each of your registrations for the Mentor Coaching Group (by phone)
2. $175 off each of your registrations for the April 2-3 Group Coaching Intensive program which will be held on April 2-3 in Toronto, CANADA

If you have any questions or want to register offline, please contact me by phone or email. I look forward to having you join us!

Warm regards
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Author of Effective Group Coaching
Group Coaching Essentials
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jennbritton
Connect with us on Facebook: bit.ly/ezDK0E

Group Coaching: Core Elements of Any Program

I often get asked by coaches What are the Core Elements of any Group Coaching Program? I go into much more detail on these during the Group Coaching Essentials program and also in my book, Effective Group Coaching.

If you are a coach new to group coaching some of the key elements to consider including are:

Pre-Program -
Designing with your clients what they want coaching around
For you - Design and Marketing of Program. Looking after logistical details. Program Supports for participants (handouts/worksheets/workbooks)

During the program -
Opening: Group Agreements/Groundrules, Overview, Introductions
The coaching conversations/exercises themselves - What core themes are you likely to coach around?
Closing: Assignments/commitments, feedback from participants

After a Program:
Program Evaluation
Program Redesign

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but some core areas you will want to put some attention on.

As always, I welcome thoughts, comments, additions from those of you who are undertaking work in the area. Please comment below.

Warm regards
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, PCC, CPCC
Group Coaching Essentials - Two new programs start in February. Next programs start Tuesday February 8th (8-9:15 pm ET: Feb 8, 15, 22, March 1 and 8, 2011) as well as Thursdays 10:30- 11:45 (Feb 17, March 3, 10, 17, 25, 2011). Spaces available in both programs. Accredited for 6.75 CCEs with the ICF
Phone: 416.996.TEAM (8326)

We Magazine's Top 101 Women Bloggers To Watch During 2011

I've just been named as one of the Top 101 Women Bloggers to Watch During 2011 for the Group Coaching Ins and Outs blog by We Magazine. Thank you! What a terrific group of women.

It's quite an honour to be named this list, particularly as the blogosphere continues to expand. It's a much bigger place here than it was back in 2006 when I first started this blog. I continue to enjoy writing here, and am inspired on a regular basis by emails from readers and followers who indicate that what they have read has helped them with their own work.

Thank you too for taking the time to stop by. Last year was a year of renewing my creative energy and getting back to writing after the publishing of Effective Group Coaching. With my creativity renewed this year I look forward to continuing to support you. If you have particular questions you would like addressed at the blog regarding group coaching, workshops, retreats, business building for coaches, please email me or leave a comment below. I also hope that you will subscribe to our monthly newsletter, follow me at Twitter or join me for an upcoming program.

For those of you who are business owners, or work with leaders and managers, you may also wish to check out my BizTookit blog which won an award for one of the Top 150 Leadership and Management blogs during 2010. I hope that you will enjoy this too and check it out.

Cheers for another productive week!

Warm regards
Jenn

Jennifer Britton, PCC, CPCC
Group Coaching Essentials - Click on over for upcoming programs
Potentials Realized
Follow me - http://twitter.com/jennbritton
Phone: 416.996.8326
Email: info{at}potentialsrealized{dot}com

Group Coaching: Creating a Team Around You

In my book, Effective Group Coaching, I spend a chapter talking about marketing your group coaching offerings. Without "bums in seats" or "voices on the line" a group coaching program really does not exist.

Here's a quick exerpt from the book on questions about the people you may wish to bring onto your team (literally or not) to make your group coaching program a reality:

"Reflect on the following questions:

• Who is positioned to deliver your product or service (direct providers, as well as affiliates, strategic partners etc)?
• Who is on your team?
• Who else do you need on your team?
• Who else can help you spread the word about what you have to offer?
• What do they say about you and your product (directly, indirectly and by reputation)?
• What is your customer service like?
• How do your business and group program systems (refer to chapter 8) support what your team needs to do?"
  

(Copyright: Britton, 2010, Effective Group Coaching, Wiley, pp. 166)

As you think about the 5th P in Marketing - People - what actions do you want to take, and relationships you want to formalize/build - to make your program a reality?

Have a great week
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, PCC, CPCC
Group Coaching Essentials (An ICF Accredited CCE Program: Starting Feb 8 and 17)
Author of Effective Group Coaching: Order an autographed copy today
Phone: 416.996.TEAM (8326)

Coaching on the Rise: 6th Annual Sherpa Executive Coaching Survey

The 6th Annual Sherpa Executive Coaching survey has just been released and can be downloaded here.

Some of the highlights of the survey report include:
-Training budgets for 2011 will be increasing at a higher rate than we have seen in many years (Chief Learning Officer, November 2010)
- After a pull back in recent years, organizations are again offering coaching to all levels of management, instead of restricting services to include only top line executives.
- Demand for executive coaching on the rise
- A vast majority of business professionals see the value of coaching as very high. The creditbility of coaching increases every year.
- Coaching is used more and more often for leadership development as opposed to problem-solving.
Source: Sherpa Executive Coaching Survey 2011, pp. 4

Interestingly, two of the areas they identify as next wave are: team coaching, and coaching skills training for managers, two areas I've done a lot of work in over the past five years here in Canada and internationally. I agree and continue to see great scope for increased growth in these areas.

I hope that you will take a look at the survey results yourself at http://www.sherpacoaching.com/survey.html.

As always, feel free to comment below.

Warm regards
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, PCC, CPCC
Potentials Realized
Author of Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010)
Group Coaching Essentials (ICF CCE Accreditation: New programs start Feb 8 and 17)
Phone: 416.996.8326

Group Coaching By Phone - 4 Things to Keep in Mind

Throughout the Group Coaching Essentials program I often get questions from coaches who are designing their own group coaching programs which they are going to deliver by phone. There are some important considerations when designing and delivering phone based group coaching. Keep the following in mind next time you are creating your own phone based program:

1. Consider what is the best use of your phone based time. Really consider how much time you have with a group and if some of your exercises may be better as pre-work, so that you can have sufficient time for updates, coaching and discussion around the key themes you are working on each session. I continue to encourage coaches to consider in their design how they can create meaningful work for their group clients to engage in between sessions. Remember the impact of coaching really happens between the calls.
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2. Check in with group members regularly - Research continues to point to the importance of engaging virtual audiences every 5-7 minutes. This may include asking the group to write down a response to a question, hearing from all or selected members of a group, or engaging the group in an exercise. You may wish to refer to some of the posts I've written about engaging your audiences here.

3. Carefully consider your numbers of participants - A purer group coaching approach leverages the smallness and intimacy of a group. To facilitate the flow and sharing amongst group members many coaches opt to keep the numbers in their phone based group sessions on the smaller side - say between 4-8 group members. Even for experienced coaches like myself, I prefer the intimacy and connectivity with these smaller groups.

4. Consider both the benefits and drawbacks of phone based programs and what adaptations you may need to make.
Phone based programs have the benefits of:
- Real time participation without the time and expense of travel (for you and participants)
- Ability to bring together groups across distance, time and geography
- Low, or no overhead cost

Some of the drawbacks can include
- Not being able to "see" each other
- The wandering eyes, and minds, of group members (i.e. multi-tasking)
- Technology challenges

These are just a few of the pros and cons to phone based programs. What this do you want to put into place to address these?

Have a terrific week!

Warm regards
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, CPCC, PCC
Author of Effective Group Coaching: http://bit.ly/dAlgf3
Group Coaching Essentials program starts on Jan 25, Feb 8 and 17 (6.75 CCEs with the ICF)
Group Coaching Intensive - Toronto: April 2-3, 2011

The Art of Time Management

Time Management can be a core issue for any coach, especially as your business grows and your client base expands. A couple of years ago I came across the 4 D model to time management. I continue to enjoy the simplicity and power of the model.

Very simply, the 4 D Model to time management is:

Do It!: What tasks and activities do you need, and want to get done?

Dump It!: What tasks and activities should you let go of? What tasks and activities are merely a time sucker or adding no, or little, value?

Defer It!: What tasks and activities can you put off? If you defer them, are they scheduled in? often what doesn't get scheduled, doesn't get done?

Delegate it!: What tasks and activities can you delegate to someone else? A business partner? A staff member? A VA? An intern?

Even Microsoft has adapted the model to managing your email box and state:

• 50 percent of email can be deleted or filed
• 30 percent can be delegated or completed in less than 2 minutes
• 20 percent can be deferred to your Task List or Calendar to complete later

In your planning time this week, take note for yourself what activities you want to DO, DUMP, DEFER and DELEGATE. From my days as project manager, I continue to promote the adage that 15 minutes of planning can save us 60 minutes of unfocused effort! How much time do you take to plan each day?

Have a productive week!

Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, PCC, CPCC
Author of Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010)
Host of the Group Coaching Essentials program
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