What Is Group Coaching In The Workplace?

As organizations look for more effective and efficient ways to develop their employees' skills, group coaching has emerged as a powerful modality. Group coaching blends the personalized attention of one-on-one coaching with the peer learning and shared commitment that comes from participating in a small group setting.

While similar in some ways to team coaching and small group training, group coaching is a distinct approach with its own strengths. Understanding what defines group coaching and when it works best can help HR leaders maximize the impact of their employee development initiatives.

Distinguishing Group Coaching

To better understand group coaching, it's useful to distinguish it from related learning approaches like team coaching and small group training:

Team Coaching - When an entire team works together with a coach, typically focused on team operating processes, communication, alignment around a shared goal, etc. The "client" is the team itself rather than the individual members.

Small Group Training - A form of instructor-led training delivered to a small group, usually between topic presentation, skill practice, and knowledge reinforcement. The trainer is the Subject Matter Expert (SME).

Group Coaching - A coach works with a small group of individuals (5-8 people typically) to facilitate learning, self-discovery, and accountability around defined goals and skills over a period of time. The coach acts as a process guide rather than an SME.

The key distinctions are:

1. Group coaching centers on individualized goals within a group, not just team performance.
2. Participants engage in peer learning, not just knowledge transfer from an instructor.
3. There is an emphasis on self-discovery and commitment over an extended period.

So while team coaching aligns an intact team and training builds knowledge, group coaching develops individualised capabilities through facilitated group process over time.

Group Coaching As An Adult Development Intervention

Group coaching is uniquely well-suited for adult learning because it aligns with several key principles of andragogy - the study of how adults learn best. Specifically, group coaching embodies the following andragogical concepts from Malcolm Knowles' adult learning theory:

Self-Directed Learning Adults prefer to take responsibility for their own learning objectives and process. In group coaching, participants set personalized development goals aligned with their own needs rather than being prescribed a curriculum. The coach facilitates self-discovery rather than lecturing.

Drawing on Experience
Adults learn best by analyzing their experiences and deriving insights from them. Group coaching creates a space for participants to share experiences, receive feedback, and extract valuable lessons from their peers' diverse perspectives.

Relevancy Orientation 

Adults need to understand how learning will be immediately useful and applicable. Group coaching focuses on developing skills and mindsets directly relevant to the participants' current roles, challenges, and career inflection points.

Motivation to Learn 

Adults are most motivated to learn subjects that help them solve real-life problems. Group coaching maintains high engagement by working on solving each participant's authentic workplace issues in a supportive peer setting.

Respectful Climate 

Adult learners need to feel safe, respected, and free of judgment. Skilled group coaches build psychological safety early, so participants feel comfortable being vulnerable and taking risks in their learning with peers.

Social Learning 

Adults learn effectively through modeling and open discourse. In group coaching, participants observe diverse perspectives, give/receive feedback, and learn vicariously through each other's experiences.

By adhering to these core adult learning principles, group coaching is an inherently andragogical approach that drives sustained capability development. The intimate group setting facilitates self-directed yet socially catalyzed learning grounded in participants' relevant experiences and motivations. This stands in contrast with the more pedagogical model of instructor-led training common in workplace learning programs.

The Impact Of Group Coaching

What tangible benefits does the group coaching approach provide? Data from research firms points to positive impacts:

A 2022 study by 3rd Party Academics found a 54% improvement in self-reported skill mastery and behavioural change amongst group coaching participants compared to 34% for one-on-one coaching. Further research by the Human Capital Institute revealed that companies using group coaching reported higher engagement scores (67% favourable) versus companies using training alone (53% favourable).

These results speak to the power of structured small group learning, accountability to peers, and facilitated self-discovery that are core to group coaching.

When To Use Group Coaching

Given the significant benefits of group coaching, when does it make sense as a development solution versus one-on-one coaching or traditional training? Here are some scenarios where group coaching can be highly impactful:

Building Core Leadership Competencies

Rather than generic leadership training, progressive companies use group coaching to instill competencies like emotional intelligence, coaching skills, leading through change, etc. The peer group and coaching process embeds sustained behaviour change.

Developing High Potentials 

As part of high potential leadership development programs, group coaching builds critical "leadership mindset" skills like strategic thinking, presence under pressure, and decision-making in a rich peer learning environment.

Onboarding New Leaders

For newly promoted or hired managers, group coaching accelerates their transition while building a supportive cohort group learning experience. Peer coaching can continue informally after the formal coaching ends.

Navigating Critical Career Milestones

For employees progressing from individual contributor roles into first-time leadership roles, group coaching provides targeted mindset and skill development for successful role transitions.

Shaping Desired Culture/ Values 

Group coaching can focus an entire cohort on embodying the principles of a desired culture like customer-centricity, innovation, agility, or inclusiveness. The peer group drives increased self-accountability.

In each of these cases, group coaching provides a depth of sustained development beyond what can be achieved through episodic training or one-off coaching sessions. By combining professional coaching, peer accountability, and a facilitated cohort experience, participants build game-changing skills and commit to sustained behaviour changes.

The Optimal Conditions For Group Coaching

While group coaching can be highly effective, realising its full potential requires consideration of several key factors:

Group Size - Groups ideally consist of 5-8 participants to keep things intimate while allowing diversity of perspectives. Smaller than 4-5 limits group dynamics, larger than 8-9 becomes too dispersed.

Peer Learning Readiness - For peer coaching and accountability partnerships to flourish, participants need to be open to giving/receiving feedback and sharing experiences with a level of vulnerability. Building psychological safety early is key.

Clear Goals/Stakes - Participant motivation will be highest if everyone sees clear "what's in it for me" in terms of pertinent learning goals and meaningful stakes for skill development.

Participant Characteristics - Maximum engagement occurs when participants are in similar roles, levels, and face analogous challenges/opportunities within the program topic. Social cohesion accelerates.

Coach Competence - An effective coach goes beyond subject matter expertise, able to artfully facilitate robust discussions, manage group dynamics, drive accountability, and ultimately change behavior. BOLDLY coaches are experienced in group coaching models to deliver effective adult learning experiences!

While the program duration, coaching modalities (in-person, virtual, blended), and stakeholder engagement processes are also important design factors, addressing the above conditions lays the foundation for group coaching to flourish.

In summary, group coaching is a powerful learning approach that accelerates skill mastery and drives sustained behavioural change by blending the intimacy of professional coaching with the shared discovery and accountability of an engaged peer group. As HR leaders evaluate development solutions across the employee lifecycle, group coaching should be strongly considered whenever building critical mindsets and enabling meaningful role transitions.

If you're interested in learning more about how BOLDLY can help your organisation, we invite you to explore our or write to us at connect@boldly.app.

About the Author:

Alexandra Lamb is an accomplished organisational development practitioner, with experience across APAC, North America, and MENA. With 20+ years in professional practice, conglomerates, and startups, she has collaborated with rapid-growth companies and industry innovators to develop leaders and high-performance teams. She is particularly experienced in talent strategy as a driver for business growth. Drawing from her experience in the fields of talent management, psychology, coaching, product development, and human-centred design, Alex prides herself on using commercial acumen to design talent solutions with true impact.