How to run a group coaching program: the calls, the hot seats and the group in between
Running a group coaching program comes down to two things: a weekly call where people get coached, not lectured, and a group that keeps working between calls. Give the call the same five blocks every week, plan a hot seat rotation so every participant gets coached in turn, manage the room so quiet members speak and loud ones share the floor, and measure whether people did what they committed to.
The program around those calls (dates, weekly releases, a baseline and a final reflection) works the same way as any cohort, and how to run a cohort-based coaching program covers it step by step. This guide is about the coaching part: what happens on the call and in the group between calls.
What makes group coaching different from a group course?
In a course, the live session exists to teach. In group coaching, the teaching sits in the lessons participants do on their own time, and the call is for coaching their real situations. upcoach’s group coaching setup guide calls this the flipped classroom: live sessions are for Q&A, hot seats, peer feedback and breakthroughs.
On the call you talk less, ask more, and make sure each person leaves with one specific action. If you want the design side first, the three things a group coaching program should have covers content, coaching and community.
How should a group coaching call be structured?
Use one agenda for every call so participants put their energy into their own situations. This 60-minute version comes from upcoach’s free group coaching program template:
| Block | Time | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome and check-in | 5 min | One word or one line from each participant on where they are |
| Action-item recap | 10 min | What each person committed to last week: done, not done, what got in the way |
| This week’s topic | 20 min | A short teaching point, then participants apply it to their own cases |
| Hot seat | 15 min | Live coaching for one participant while the group listens and adds perspective |
| Q&A and wrap-up | 10 min | Open questions, then everyone names one action for the coming week |
The recap and the hot seat carry most of the coaching: people act because they know they will be asked, and one person gets depth while the others learn from watching. When the topic block runs over, cut the topic, not the hot seat.
How to run the hot seat, step by step
- Publish a rotation on the first call. With one hot seat per weekly call over 12 weeks, you have 12 slots, or about 9 fixed ones once you keep a floating slot (step 2). A group larger than your fixed slots means some people wait for a turn. Assign the weeks up front so nobody wonders when their turn is.
- Keep a floating slot. Every third or fourth week, hold the hot seat open for whoever is most stuck.
- Ask for the challenge a day ahead. Three questions are enough: what is the situation, what have you tried, and what do you want from the group. The call starts on the problem, not on the background.
- Coach first, then open the room. Spend the first part of the 15 minutes coaching the person yourself with questions. Then give the group a few minutes to offer experience, not advice: “when I faced this, I…” works better than “you should…”.
- Close with a commitment. The person on the hot seat says what they will do before the next call. It goes into next week’s recap like everyone else’s.
How do you get quiet members to take part?
Some participants rarely speak unless the format asks them to. Build the call for it:
- Use rounds. In the check-in and the wrap-up, go around the group in a fixed order. Everyone speaks at least twice per call without being singled out.
- Ask by name, with warning. Saying “after this answer, I’d like to hear how this works in your team” to a named person gives a quiet person a few seconds to think.
- Let people write first. Ask a question, give everyone a minute to write their answer, then take answers. People who think before they speak get the time they need.
- Give the observer a job. During someone else’s hot seat, ask one quiet participant to share the one thing they would take from it. It is a small, safe way in.
How do you handle a member who dominates the call?
A dominant member is usually engaged, not hostile. Use structure before confrontation:
- Agree the rules on the first call. Timed blocks and speaking in rounds are group rules, so applying them to one person does not feel personal.
- Thank, name the time, pass. “Thanks, that’s useful. We have five minutes left, so let’s hear from someone who hasn’t spoken yet,” then name them.
- Redirect to their hot seat week. If they keep bringing their own case, point them to the week the rotation gives them.
- Talk to them privately. If the pattern continues, a one-to-one conversation often shows they need more individual attention than the group can give. Offer it, separately from the group calls.
How do you keep peer support going between calls?
The group meets for one hour a week. Peer support is what keeps people working on the other days:
- One discussion channel for the group. Post the week’s question there, and share wins and quick questions.
- Accountability partners or pods. Pair participants, or split a larger group into pods of four to six who check in with each other during the week. The free Accountability pod kickoff training gives a pod a four-week structure: an agreement, a weekly goal check-in and a 30-minute pod call.
- A short pre-call check-in. Two or three questions the day before the call (“what did you do on your action, what is in your way, what do you want from the call”) give you the agenda for the recap and spot who needs a hot seat.
How do you measure the results of group coaching?
Measure what people do, not only how satisfied they are:
- Commitment follow-through. In each recap, note whether each person did what they committed to. Over a program, the share of commitments kept is the clearest sign of whether the coaching is working.
- Session ratings. A short rating after each call shows which formats work. A dip after a week tells you what to change next time.
- One number per person. Ask each participant to choose one measure of their own (calls made, hours of deep work, a 1 to 10 confidence rating) and report it weekly. A trend over 12 weeks says more than one end-of-program survey.
- First and last answers. At the end, put each participant’s opening answers next to their final ones. The cohort guide covers the baseline and the final reflection in detail.
Checklist for running the calls
- The five-block agenda in every calendar invite
- A hot seat rotation, with a floating slot every few weeks
- Three hot seat prep questions, sent a day ahead
- Rules agreed on call one: timed blocks, rounds, confidentiality
- A record of each person’s weekly commitment
- One discussion channel, plus pods or partners for larger groups
- A pre-call check-in, a post-call rating and one personal measure per participant
Running group coaching on upcoach
upcoach has a Group Coaching program type. You choose the program name, weekly or bi-weekly calls, the first call date and time, and whether to offer 1:1 check-ins, and upcoach creates a 12-week program with a recurring group call linked to each week. The 60-minute agenda above is in each call’s description, and the program comes with a Community channel and a member directory. The setup guide describes the typical group as 8 to 15 participants and recommends capping it at 12 to 15 when calls include hot seats.
For the work between calls, check-ins collect responses that participants submit again and again, such as session prep before a group call or a weekly number, and show trend graphs for number and linear scale questions. Groups split a program into smaller teams for pods, and you can restrict events and content to a group. Admin notes keep private records on each participant, such as hot seat observations and follow-ups; participants never see them.
To see how the calls are going, turn on feedback for an event and participants rate it on value, guidance, content and engagement, each from 1 to 5 stars, as described in Track event attendance and feedback. Program and participant reports show attendance rate, activity completion and each participant’s last active date, so you can see who is drifting before they miss another call.
You can try it on a free trial.
Frequently asked questions
How do you structure a group coaching call?
Use the same five blocks every week: a short check-in, a recap of last week’s action items, a brief teaching point applied to participants’ own situations, one hot seat, and a close where everyone names one action for the coming week. A 60-minute call fits all five.
How do you decide who gets coached on a group call?
Publish a hot seat rotation at the start so everyone knows their week, and keep one open slot every few weeks for whoever is stuck. Ask the person on the hot seat to send their challenge a day ahead, so the call starts on the problem rather than on background.
How many people should be in a group coaching program?
upcoach’s group coaching guide gives 8 to 15 participants as the typical size and recommends capping the group at 12 to 15 when calls include hot seats or individual attention. Past that, calls shift from coaching to teaching, so run a second group instead.
How do you handle a member who dominates group coaching calls?
Set a shared rule on the first call that every block is timed and everyone speaks in rounds. When one person keeps taking the floor, thank them, name the time, and pass to someone by name. If it continues, talk to them privately: often they need more one-to-one attention than the group gives.
How do you measure the results of group coaching?
Track three things each week: whether participants did what they committed to on the last call, how they rate each session, and one number each person chose to move. Put each participant’s first and last answers side by side at the end.