Group Coaching

The term coaching brings a lot of different images to the front of mind.

For me, the first image is that of a sports coach on the sidelines of a field observing the play and making the necessary adjustments to ensure victory. For others, it may be a moment of preparation before the match, making sure the plans and strategy are known. Both examples are taken from the arena of sports. That may be as coaching has had a longer history in athletics than other areas of life.

Business coaching did not become mainstream until the 1980s and 1990s and typically reserved for senior executives. Like the sports world, it has benefitted from the continued development in the world of psychology and cognitive science. In business, the coaching often revolves around that needs of the participant, and the exercises are designed to develop the individual.

The other model that is often used in corporate education is the classroom model. The classroom structure works for when a Subject Matter Expert wants to depart information to a wider group. While there have been some modifications, it largely still represents the classrooms that we experienced in our youth. One of my doctoral professors shared a story that he took his son to the ruins of a ghost town. Through the tour they walked through the town and the guide was pointing out the uses of the different structures. Then they walked up to a room and his son shouted out that they were in the school. The guide confirmed the fact that they were indeed at the school. The kid was right and when asked how he knew, he said that it was similar to the one that he currently attends. This illustrates the point that the physical model of the school has been around for a long time. While there have been attempts to optimize the experience, the core structure remains the same.

We have all been in a corporate training program before when a topic is raised and either due to time restraints or the collective make-up of the group it doesn’t get addressed. At that point, a true learning moment is lost to the classroom format. It tends to do best if it is meant to be a one-way flow of information from a Subject Matter Expert to a group of students, however it has challenges from a developmental perspective.

To address some of these challenges, we have starting to do training in small, dedicated groupings focused on a single development outcome. This approach is typically called Group Coaching which is a modified take on a traditional coaching structure. Coaching typically takes place in a dyadic interpersonal relationship and in a group setting we attempt to extend that with a limited number of participants. At Clairmont, we draw inspiration for group coaching comes from two sources.

The first is that of the Oxford Tutorial method. This is an inquiry-based format that really brings out critical thinking between the student and the tutor. For me, some of the most informative time in university was when a small group of students met our professor of Business Law at the local Starbucks after class hours. During these times, we were able to openly debate and dig deep into issues that the classroom just did not facilitate.

The second inspiration is the concept of Communities of Practice. The concept refers to a group that share an interest or passion for a particular topic that they learn how to do better as they interact regularly. The idea is rooted in several existing theories such as the community of inquiry, and others that proceeded it. The structure of Communities of Practice adheres to certain structural characteristics:

Domain: A subject that is common to all members

Community: Engagement across all participants

Practice: Specific activities aimed at individual and group learnings

At Clairmont, drawing on these two examples, we have developed a group coaching program that leverage to help participants who come from a variety backgrounds but all are focused on developing themselves the topic of the given sessions.

Group Coaching session focuses on the group’s collective challenges, goals, and learnings.

Therefore, a commonality of participants is important. They could all be facing similar situations. This could be taking on new roles (i.e., management) or being placed in a similar talent pool (i.e., High Potential). That is not to say that individual challenges are not addressed, they often are and can benefit from the collective wisdom of the group.

There are different structures for group coaching, the one that we use follows a more dialogical exchange method. The groups are constructed with participants (typically 6-8) who share similar attributes and development goals. The sessions normally last 60-90 minutes and take place once a week for a duration of 6 weeks.

Topics are raised and the theoretical background is shared. The group then engages in a discussion around the applications in their unique situations. Each member shares their experiences and thoughts, the group benefits from the collective insights from each other. There is also a time dedicated to debate where the alternative views are expressed and discussed. Between the sessions, there are assignments that the group works on together to reinforce the learnings and continue to build the relationship amongst the participants.

To conclude, there are several benefits of this model include:

Above delivery method used in Building Career Capital program.