Group Coaching
In my group coaching projects with organizations and teams, I blend my organizational development, leadership development, and culture change background (see my professional bio to learn more) to help your team or organization develop into how you need to be to perform as you would like. I also help develop ongoing capacity to navigate your organizational “way” throughout your organizational life. Martha Beck calls this “way finding.”
Change is easier said than done, and it’s also the new normal. How do we shift organizational “ways of being” to develop high performance teams to navigate the waves? Edgar Schein, former professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, focuses on organizational culture. We often attribute effort to success – the strength of our will, rather than recognizing that it’s the way in which we attempt to go about it that helps us the most.
Integral Coaching Canada’s coaching method approaches change through both honouring current – and imagining new – ways of being: which form the foundation for change more so than our trying to “muscle” our way toward it. Gareth Morgan’s Images of Organizations offers a similar approach to organizational change, depicting each organization with a metaphor for how and who it is – and the symptoms and results that it’s particular organizational design inevitably creates.
What does it look like to work together?
DISCOVERY > We have an initial consultation to get a sense of your unique organizational or team needs and context, and to discern the developmental goal(s) that, if achieved, would provide the results you seek. This phase also includes one-on-one interviews or focus groups with members of your team to get a clear grasp of organizational culture and developmental needs.
SCOPE > I go away and draft a group coaching program that outlines the unique developmental objectives that your team needs to achieve your coaching topic/culture change as a group. We review and revise together until we have agreement on the scope of the program.
DESIGN > Once we’ve agreed to the scope of our work together, I design the option that we’ve agreed to in more detail, with the understanding that this is an ongoing conversation that can be adapted and adjusted over time.
IMPLEMENT > I facilitate or help you implement the group coaching/leadership development program, including the particular capacity-building practices that will get your team or organization where you want to go (e.g., deliver the workshop series, facilitate or coach your team to implement the processes created, etc.) within a timeline and scope agreed to.
Want to know more about what group coaching or capacity-building might look like for your team?
Get in touch for a one-on-one consultation and visit my consulting page to get a sense of past projects and my client list.
What People Have to Say...
“The work Jessica did with our team was outstanding and sustainable. She has excellent communication skills and sensitivity to people from diverse backgrounds and visions. Jessica facilitated the expression of different views all the while bringing a sense of strong purpose and unity to discussions. She is professional, creative, analytical and brings a unique approach and vision to her work. I would strongly recommend her, and I would not hesitate to rehire her. She’s a phenomenal facilitator… and I’ve experienced a lot of them!”
”Jess helped us understand and tackle the organizational issues we had ignored. I can always count on Jess to provide astute insights and help the group, as individuals and as a team, get to where we need to go. It has been a true pleasure to work with Jess; she is a great mentor”
“Your facilitation workshop for our leadership team was outstanding. You create an excellent learning environment.”
“Jessica has excellent skills in designing projects in creative ways that work with the culture of the department. She is personable, knowledgeable, flexible, adaptable and an excellent listener. Through her leadership, our department led two very successful projects that have had a long-term effect on our work. I recommend her highly!”
“Jessica and her colleague excelled in creating trust and open exchange with all members of the organizational community. They were extremely capable in communicating with the clients and bringing forth their ideas. After collecting data from individuals representing different stakeholders, they conducted a highly effective workshop for all participants that led to consensus on several projects. They modeled for our organization ways to create shared decision-making among groups and left us motivated to improve our organization by continuing to build consistent exchange among stakeholders. As a member of the Board of Directors and the committee that worked closely with them throughout their contract, I am confident that everyone who was involved would highly recommend Jessica for process work.”