130: Is Group Coaching Effective?
Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher
Welcome back! This week, my purpose for this episode is to answer the age-old question about group programs: are they actually more effective than private, 1:1 coaching?
I think group coaching is like the little sister of personal, private 1:1 coaching. It gets ignored or isn’t treated with as much respect sometimes. Almost like it’s the easy way out - I’ll just herd a group of people and get a bunch of money each month from them and they’ll get the results they get and that’s that.
Group coaching can be so effective with a better mindset!
One of the biggest reasons people fail at group coaching is because they think as the coach, they need to 1:1 coach every single person in the group, or at least everyone who raises their hand and asks for it. This is extremely ineffective because:
1. You’re going to burn out at that pace
2. You’re not leveraging what’s right there in front of you - a group of other members who are also wanting the same results and are also trying things to get to the result
Is group coaching less effective than 1:1 coaching?
These problems in group coaching mostly all stems from the belief that group coaching is not as effective as 1:1. So today, my goal for this episode is to help you change your belief around group coaching programs and give you another perspective to help you grow your coaching business and impact more people…. but do that with less wear and tear on you.
We are going to address 3 common thoughts around group coaching today:
I can’t go deeper with each client in group coaching, therefore it is not as effective
It feels like a lot of STUFF to do - tech, creating modules, etc.
I feel like a teacher herding a class of students, except herding adults is a lot harder than kids
I can’t get better results for my clients in group coaching programs… right?
First of all, I want to challenge you to think about 1:1 coaching as it relates to the problem you solve. Is it always what your people need in order to get results?
If you’re having a hard time answering that, think about a problem you’ve had - maybe you wanted to lose weight, or you needed help with your toddler’s tantrums, or you wanted to grow your business. These are all problems I have had and invested in!
When you looked for guidance, did you make a firm rule that 1:1 was the only way you could ever reach the solution? Personal, private, 1-1 coaching is not always what the client wants or needs.
You have to make sure that your ego is not wrapped up in this conversation you’re having internally that the only way you can get people results is when you work with them deeply and closely. That is ignoring other needs the client has: some of which include belonging in the world, grappling with fitting in and what that looks like. It includes how we communicate with others and build relationships in our life so we’re not alone forever.
Story time: I have shared before that I had a pretty decent conversion out of my group coaching program, Fast Track, to 1:1 coaching - like 30-40% each cohort. What I have yet to share is that most of those ladies missed the group aspect so much once they were working 1:1. They reported feeling alone - and they were right. They have me and they have more of me, but I’m also not really IN IT with them the way the group members were, and neither are you.
As much as I walk the walk and did visibility challenges, read books, role played difficult conversations right along with them or whatever the situation called for, I still was not really at their level and they needed that.
How did I fix it? I ended up creating a “graduate” program built into the 1:1 offer so that they could still get that sense of community and have an easier transition to 1:1. Even though their businesses had grown in different ways and they were focused on different things, the fact remains that when someone is moving towards a goal, it’s going to be a lot easier when they have other people in the boat with them.
Don’t ignore the privilege you have as the coach… shift it to understanding that you get to create the environment for so much good to happen to these people. As a facilitator of a group coaching program where you can leverage the members to achieve goals together and impact more people at the same time, albeit looking a little different, is really important to preserving the health your coaching business.
Group coaching is too much work and I don’t have the time for it
I mentioned earlier about an environment you’re creating, and as a coach of your own coaching business, that environment can look however you want.
If it’s a real room we’re talking about here, you can have 4 walls, or no walls, or a wall of clouds, or a wall of exercise equipment, but dream with me here and create that environment in your mind.
Maybe there’s a color, or a scene, or a quote that comes to mind that you would add to your environment. Maybe it’s just feelings, or questions you like to ask your clients, or thoughts you want them to adopt.
When I was in counseling school, one of our professors had us draw what our office would look like and explain to the rest of the class why we drew it the way we did. I’m asking you to do that now, but for your coaching business as it relates to how you help your clients best.
With private coaching, perhaps you create a different environment for each client. They likely all have similar elements because you’re the common denominator, but there’s a lot of environments to walk in and out of each week.
With group coaching, you get one environment to create. Instead of choosing to think it’s so many elements and they all have to come together versus you stepping into a quieter space that has just 2 people in it, think about the abundance of getting to create one environment where your group coaching members have a say in how it looks and feels also.
This way, you’re not stepping into so many different environments and trying to maintain them all at once.
Here’s why I want you to embrace that image in particular: there’s no right or wrong way to be a group coach, SAME as a private 1:1 coach. There’s no reason to pressure yourself to make it different or more difficult or just MORE.
It’s actually supposed to be less because you have a smoking gun - your group coaching clients. Everything else - tech, on-boarding, payment processors - that can all be automated with time, and trust that it will be.
Group coaching clients are overwhelmed, and you can fix it
When group members are surveyed, one of the things they talk about being the most overwhelming is the STUFF. That tells me that a lot of coaches are trying to preempt the fact that they already think a group program isn’t enough for their clients.
So they think need to provide this STUFF to make them feel safe in the absence of a coach. It’s just not what group coaching is.
You are not absent. You are actually providing MORE support. If you are still thinking that maybe you aren’t, that’s just because you need to learn how to facilitate your calls better (and that can be learned).
Group coaching is hard because there’s too many people to manage
My teachers, or coaches with education backgrounds, probably would love to leave classroom management behind. For those of you who are coaches and don’t have a teaching background, group coaching can be intimidating.
There is nothing harder than managing a classroom of kids… except maybe a classroom of adults!
In my last job, part of my responsibilities was teaching teachers, and I cannot tell you how hard it was to teach a group of adults who don’t want to look stupid or like they don’t know something even when they say they are coach-able.
There’s less consequence and more autonomy with a “classroom” of adults, and that can be challenging. You can’t tell an adult what to do the way you can a child and give them a consequence. There’s no getting in trouble or going to the principal’s office. In many ways, it can feel like managing versus coaching.
But what’s funny about that, is most group coaching clients will say that they wanted the coach to stop being the center of attention, and let the group talk. So we have this weird sense of obligation to manage, when really, we’ve already done the management part of vetting and on-boarding the clients.
Now, we get to let them use the environment. We get to watch their growth, ask them to go deeper, guard against advice giving and negative behavior that goes against the culture of the group.
We get to steer our education towards the things adults really need: self-assessment, experiences, debriefing, to name just a few pieces of adult learning theory.
Is group coaching really for me?
Group coaching is a discipline, but it can be learned, and amazing things can happen in those environments, that just can’t happen in a private 1:1 setting - no matter how good the coach is.
I would love to hear what your biggest takeaway from this episode was! DM me on IG @theallisonnelson so we can chat about it - I am so open to hearing your thoughts on whether group coaching is effective for your clients or not!
To get this all down for your group program in a done-with-you 60 minutes, you can message me about booking a Money Maker session by messaging me on IG @theallisonnelson, or email me at allison@allison-nelson.com.
>> I want a results-driven group program that increases my profits by getting better results for my clients and doesn’t burn me out as the coach!
Download your FREE Workbook - From 1:1 to Group: Create a Successful Coaching Program in 3 Steps
Grow Your Group Program From The Inside Out
If your group program is up and running, but you know you could acquire some new skills in how to run your group calls better, how to train your clients better, or how to make your program more profitable, this is a 4-week group program that would be perfect for you. I am accepting applications now, and we start in May with a kick-off call in April.
CONNECT WITH ALLISON:
Book a FREE Get Your Group On 20 minute strategy call!
Join my FREE Masterclass, Why Most Group Coaching Programs Don’t Get Results (And How To Fix It This Year)
