Group Coaching is a lesser-known but increasingly used coaching intervention. While traditionally coaching was always a One-on-One intervention between a client and a coach, Group Coaching is now becoming increasingly popular.
Simply put Group Coaching is One-on-One Coaching in a group. This means participants still work on their individual goals except they do it in a group.
So can Group Coaching replace individual coaching?
Short answer- it depends.
Both One-on-One Coaching and Group Coaching have their distinct uses.
Here are some differences.
One-on-One Coaching
One-on-One Coaching is a very focused intervention between the coach and client, centered around the individual’s development goals.
The goals themselves are decided by the individual with support from a coach (and a manager in an organizational setting. )
The learning for the client comes from reflective and introspective conversations with the coach in the session. The coach’s complete attention is the session is on the individual. The conversation between the coach and the client is confidential. This allows the client to feel safe to express themselves completely and honestly.
A typical coaching session lasts between 60-90mins.
The success of the intervention is measured by the individual’s progress on the goals.
Group Coaching
Group Coaching is it’s a coaching intervention between a coach and 6 to 8 individuals with similar goals or goals with similar themes.
The goals for Group Coaching are decided by the group and not the individual.
During a Group Coaching session, the learning comes from introspection and reflection in the conversation as well as the experiences of other people who are part of the coaching group. For some individuals, this may not work very well especially if they are uncomfortable expressing themselves in the presence of other people. One of the responsibilities of the coach in a Group Coaching setting is to build trust among the team members and support members to explore their thoughts with each other. Often a Group Coaching cohort builds strong relationships and becomes a long-lasting network for each other.
Understandably the attention that an individual receives in a group setting is lesser than One-on-One Coaching.
Group Coaching sessions typically last 3 to 4 hours.
A typical measure for success in Group Coaching is the changes that are observed across the team and not a specific individual.
How to decide which intervention is right for you?
When picking the intervention that is right for you it is important to keep the differences between One-on-One Coaching and Group Coaching in mind. Sometimes it is also a good strategy to do a mix of both by starting with a Group Coaching intervention followed by a few One-on-One Coaching sessions for people who may feel the need.