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What’s it like to be coached in a group. By Sharon Gordon 16 January 2014. Why Group Coaching?. It’s an area that interests me and I wanted to find out more: In my quest to learn more I discovered that not much was written about group coaching as there was about one-to-one coaching.
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What’s it like to be coached in a group By Sharon Gordon 16 January 2014
Why Group Coaching? • It’s an area that interests me and I wanted to find out more: • In my quest to learn more I discovered that not much was written about group coaching as there was about one-to-one coaching. • Quite a lot of data on groups and how they work: • We all live in groups – Douglas (2000) in his book Basic Groupwork suggests that individuals can use their experiences in groups to assist them to understand what goes on in group situations. • ‘group coaching exists along a continuum of group processes, including training (workshops, retreats), facilitation, and other group processes’ (Britton, 2010, p. 7). • I found that the focus tended to be on the coach not the coachee’s experience. • Would benefit the coaching profession and other key stakeholders/interested parties if more was known about the experiences of those who have undergone the phenomenon.
My Approach • Interpretative Phenomenological Anaylsis (IPA): • An insight into how group coaching is perceived by participants. • Investigating and interpreting how individuals make sense of their experiences. • 5 participants – 4 from the same programme. • Semi-structured interviews so ‘concepts and theories can emerge out of the data’ (Bryman, 2012, p. 12). • Questions framed around participants’ group coaching experiences.
My Findings • Three themes emerged • Readiness for group coaching: • Position in life. • Expectancies of the group coaching process. • Participation and commitment. • The importance of the Coach: • Role of the coach. • Qualities/skills of the coach. • Benefits from the process: • Change. • Learning. • Communication. • Cohesiveness.
Conclusions • Group coaching is a partnership arrangement where the coach, coachee and group as a whole are signed up to the process through shared purpose and commitment. • Study would benefit coaches working with groups as it gives an insight into how coaching is experienced by the coachee, thus, I would agree, increasing the likelihood of a successful group coaching intervention. • More research is needed perhaps using different cohorts, methods, tools and an increased timescale.
Lessons Learned • Make sure the topic you choose is actually of interest… • Start early (I wish I did!). • Put the work in. • Really understand your research methodology.
References • Bion, W. R (1961) Experiences in Groups and Other Papers. London: Tavistock Publications Limited. • Britton, Jennifer A. (2010) Effective Group Coaching – Tried and Tested Tools and Resources for Optimum Group Coaching Results. Ontario: John Wiley and Sons Canada, Ltd. • Bryman, Alan (2012) Social Research Methods. 4th edition. New York: Oxford University Press Inc. • Douglas, Tom (2000) Basic Groupwork. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. • Lewin, Kurt (1947a) ‘Frontiers in group dynamics: concept, method and reality in social science; social equilibria and social change’, Human relations, Vol. 1,Issue. 1, pp. 5-41. • Lewin, Kurt (1947b), ‘Frontiers in group dynamics II: Channels of group life; social planning and action research’, Human relations, Vol. 1, issue 2, pp. 143-153. • Smith, Jonathan, A, Flowers, Paul, Larkin, Michael (2009) Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis – Theory, Method and Research. London: SAGE Publications Inc.