How to Run a Group Coaching Program
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>> Have you ever wanted
to run a group coaching program?
In this lecture, we'll talk about
the various aspects
of creating, marketing,
and running a group coaching program.
Group coaching is a great way
to expand your practice
as it allows you to help more people
at the same time.
Because you're working
with more than one person,
sometimes group coaching
can actually be more lucrative
than private coaching.
To illustrate,
if you charge $300 a month
for private coaching
and $100 a month for group coaching,
but you have five clients
in your group coaching program,
you'll be making $200 more per month
than if you were working
with just one private coaching client.
Let's break down the steps
to running a group coaching program.
One, pick a topic.
The first step to offering
a group coaching program is to decide
what you're going to talk about.
Your group coaching program
can simply be a group version
of the six month program,
a condensed version
of the six month program,
or something totally new in that you create
to serve your target market.
It's up to you to decide
what will work for you.
If you're interested in starting
a group coaching program
but don't have a lot of time
to create something new,
we suggest starting
with the handouts you were given
in your Health Coach training program.
Of course, you can create
new handouts and materials
for your group when time allows.
Two, structure your program.
Next, you'll want to consider
how you're going to offer your program.
Will you offer group coaching online
or in person?
How many people do you want
in your group?
How often will you meet?
How long will you meet for?
Will you offer any kind of support
outside of the group coaching sessions?
If so, what will you offer?
We've included these questions
on the Create Your Group Program
handout included in this module.
If you're interested in creating
a group coaching program,
take a moment to write down the answers
to these questions on that handout.
Three, market your group program.
Marketing a group program
is a little different
from marketing private coaching
because you're looking to enroll participants
in your program all at the same time
rather than one at a time.
When you're running a group program,
give yourself sufficient time
to market and promote your group.
This usually means about four to six weeks
before the first session of the group.
If you're doing a group program in person,
you might promote yourself
by posting flyers,
going to networking events,
or connecting with local referral partners.
If you're offering a group program online,
you might promote yourself
by e-mailing your newsletter subscribers,
posting about it on social media,
or creating an event on Facebook
or Eventbrite that you invite people to.
There are many ways to market yourself
and to promote your programs,
experiment with a few of the ones
we've discussed and see what works
for you and your groups.
Four, coach your clients.
Once you've filled out your group program,
it's time to run it.
Before your first session, you might consider
screening your group members
to get to know a little bit about
each of them before the program starts.
This is a great way to see
what they are each struggling with,
and to get a feel for group dynamics
before you all meet.
In the first session,
you'll want to have
members of the group
introduce themselves
and share their goals with the group.
This helps to establish
trust and rapport amongst attendees.
If you're running a live in-person group,
you can do this
during the first live session.
If you're running a virtual online group,
you can ask participants
to share a bit about themselves
in your Facebook group
as an introduction.
It is important that each member
feels comfortable in the group.
So we also recommend
starting off your group coaching program
by creating some boundaries and guidelines
for your group,
such as when one person is talking,
other people listened silently.
No feedback is given after someone shares.
Anything that's shared in the group
stays with the group.
Once you have your guidelines set,
it's time to get coaching.
Group coaching can be
very similar to private coaching.
The main difference is that
instead of working with each client
one at a time
to dig deeper into their issues,
you work with the group as a whole
to help the members of the group
get to the core
of their individual issues.
This could include asking the group
high-mileage coaching questions
and asking them to share their thoughts
with the group,
asking the group to reflect on something
and write about it in their journals,
doing some private coaching
with one group member
while the rest of the group observes.
When you're planning your sessions,
it's important to remember
that not all of your time
should be structured.
We recommend leaving about
20 percent of the time unstructured
so you can answer any questions
that arise or spend more time
on a subject that your clients
seem really eager to learn about.
Another aspect of group coaching
that makes it different from private coaching
is the group dynamic.
How does your group interact
with one another?
It is not uncommon for a group
to have participants
who are eager to share
and those who are quieter.
As the Health Coach,
you'll want to make sure
that everyone is getting a chance
to speak and participate.
This might mean you're asking
your more talkative members
to dial it back a bit or calling on
your more reserved participants to speak up.
Five, manage your group.
Just as you want to keep in touch
with your private coaching clients
in between sessions,
it's important to keep
group coaching clients engaged
between meetings as well.
You can achieve this
by offering them homework assignments
or creating a private Facebook group
for them to interact
in between sessions.
To recap, we talked about
how group coaching allows you
to leverage your time
and help more people at once.
Then, we talked about what goes into
running a group coaching program,
from picking your topic,
to structuring your group,
to marketing it,
and finally, coaching it.
Lastly, we talked about
ways to keep in touch
with your group members
between sessions.
I hope this video was helpful
and I look forward to seeing you
in the next video.
Bye for now.