The Art of Coaching People in Groups: Exploring the Necessary Skills
Group coaching offers a unique opportunity for individuals to grow together, learn from one another, and create meaningful change. When approached with care and intention, it becomes a nurturing space where everyone feels valued and supported.
But as with all skills, the ability to coach people in groups is one that requires practice, experience and conscious effort. The needs of the group have to be held carefully in the hands of a true professional.
Work with a seasoned group coach and you will benefit from their experience, skills and warm professionalism. Their ability to create psychologically safe spaces, enable trust, encourage listening and facilitate learning are all what makes the group coaching experience so powerful.
Let’s look at the importance of these essential elements that display as warmth, respect and pure professionalism.
Listening to the ‘Said and the Unsaid’
Listening is about more than just hearing words; it means fully engaging with everything a person shares - both verbally and non-verbally. Acting on it or not is separate. But noticing is essential.
When a coach displays this level of deeper listening, they help actively create an environment where everyone feels seen and heard. When a person feels seen, heard and then understood they are more likely to feel comfortable contributing.
To practice and develop this wonderful and important skill, professional coaches do a lot of development. This includes learning to:
Pay attention to the emotions and energy behind the words, noticing how group members interact and respond
Reflect what they hear by summarising or rephrasing, which shows they value input and helps clarify meaning
Use thoughtful pauses to give space for reflection and deeper insights
Encourage quieter members to share by asking open questions that invite diverse perspectives, whilst balancing their right to contribute in their preferred way
Acknowledge different viewpoints respectfully and allow them to be truthfully and constructively shared
When a group coach embodies this listening approach they foster trust and openness, allowing a group to explore topics with honesty and depth.
Facilitating with Care
Facilitation is about guiding the group’s process in a way that encourages participation and mutual respect. It involves creating a supportive structure while remaining adaptable to the group’s evolving needs. This is an advanced skill, and one which a group coach will have spent years refining.
Of critical importance is the coaches ability to foster an environment of psychological safety right from the very start. Experienced group coaches will spend time clearly contracting at the start of any group coaching activity as one way of achieving this. They will then continue to increase and build psychological safety by setting clear expectations, promoting respectful dialogue, and demonstrating openness themselves.
They cultivate an environment where all participants feel accepted and confident to express their thoughts without fear, fostering trust and encouraging authentic, meaningful participation throughout the group.
Professional group coaches will have a wealth of facilitation skills to hand. This may result in them taking actions such as the following:
Connecting with participants individually before sessions to understand their goals and build rapport
Collaborating with the group to establish shared guidelines that promote respect and confidentiality
Balancing participation by inviting input from all members and gently managing dominant voices
Remaining flexible, allowing the group’s energy and interests to shape the flow of each session
It takes a skilled professional to facilitate a group of individuals to learn and they only achieve it by fostering a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere, helping people feel safe and motivated enough to engage fully.
Building Trust and Connection Through Vulnerability
Trust forms the foundation of a successful group coaching experience. When participants feel safe to express themselves openly, they unlock deeper learning and stronger connections.
We all know how it feels when there is trust in place, and in contrast how it feels when there’s a lack of trust – or when trust is broken.
A presence of trust leads people into a place of true and safe learning. And it’s in this place that vulnerability can be shown. Showing vulnerability in coaching can enable genuine self-discovery. When people honestly share their struggles and doubts, it creates an environment where real growth can happen. This openness in a group setting often invites others to participate sincerely, strengthening bonds and making the coaching process more impactful and transformative for everyone involved.
But how do group coaches work that enables participants to feel trusting and safe to show vulnerability?
It’s common to see an experienced group coach do the following:
Share their own experiences and challenges appropriately to model openness
Show that making mistakes is part of the learning journey and encourage a non-judgmental mindset
Promote empathy by encouraging people in the group to listen with understanding and to respond with kindness
Reinforce the importance of confidentiality to maintain a secure space for sharing
Allow the learner to remain ‘in control’ of what they do or don’t share, or when they dig deeper or pull back
Provide a balance of support and challenge appropriate to the learner at any given moment in time
It’s in the creation of this quality environment that a group is allowed to become a supportive community where everyone feels valued and learns from each other.
And undoubtedly, one of the greatest strengths of group coaching is the opportunity for participants to learn from one another. This peer learning builds relationships, fosters collaboration, and spreads knowledge across different areas of the organisation.
It’s hugely valuable in our hybrid and global modern day workplaces.
By utilising the skills already outlined above, a quality coach will maximise this wonderful benefit of the group coaching experience.
It requires skill, practice and reflection – but the qualities an experienced group coach is able to offer are invaluable when it comes to the success of any group coaching initiative.