Running a great group coaching call

Here's a training outline. Build it as a draft program in upcoach called "Running a great group coaching call":
one section per day, with a lesson,
worksheet, task list or check-in for each item, using the text and questions word for word.
Questions marked (1 = ..., 5 = ...) are 1-5 scales.
Don't publish the program or invite anyone. When you're done, list what you created so I can check it.

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Training: Running a great group coaching call
For: Coaches who run group programs
Length: 6 days

Day 1: Plan the call
- Lesson: One call, one outcome, one page
  A group call goes well long before it starts. The calls that drift are usually the ones with no clear outcome: the coach has a topic, but not a picture of what each person should leave with.
  Start with the outcome. Finish this sentence: "By the end of this call, each person will have ..." For example: "... one conversation they will have with their manager this week, and the first sentence they'll open it with." One outcome per call is enough. A call that tries to cover three things covers none of them well.
  Then give the call a fixed shape, and use the same shape every week, so the group spends its energy on their own situations rather than on working out what happens next. A 60-minute shape that works for most groups: a 5-minute welcome round, a 10-minute recap of last week's commitments, a 20-minute topic where people apply one idea to their own case, a 15-minute hot seat, and a 10-minute close where everyone names one action. Write the times down. When the call runs long, cut from the topic, not from the hot seat or the close.
  Finally, decide what you'll ask people to bring. Two or three questions sent the day before ("What did you do on your action? What's in your way? What do you want from the call?") give you the recap in advance and show you who needs the hot seat.
- Worksheet: Your call plan
  1. Which group call is this training built around? Write the group, the date and the time.
  2. Finish the sentence: "By the end of this call, each person will have ..."
  3. Write your call's shape with a time for each block. If you don't have one, start from: welcome round 5 min, commitments recap 10 min, topic 20 min, hot seat 15 min, close 10 min.
  4. What's the one idea or question for the topic block, and how will each person apply it to their own situation?
  5. Which block will you cut short if the call runs over?
  6. Write the two or three questions you'll send the group the day before the call, and when you'll send them.

Day 2: Open the call
- Lesson: The first ten minutes set the call
  The way a call starts tells people how much they'll be asked to take part. If the first ten minutes are you talking, people settle in to listen. If everyone speaks in the first five minutes, they stay ready to speak.
  Open with a round: everyone answers the same short question in one line, in a fixed order you say out loud ("I'll go around in the order I see you on my screen"). Keep the question easy to answer and about them: "In one word, where are you today?" or "What's one thing that happened on your action this week?" Go first yourself, and keep your answer as short as you want theirs.
  Then name the outcome and the shape: "Today, by the end, each of you will have ... Here's how we'll get there." Saying the times out loud makes it easier to move people on later, because you're keeping to the plan the group heard, not cutting someone off.
  On a first call, or when someone new joins, agree the group's rules early: what's said in the group stays in the group, speak in rounds, keep to the times, cameras on if you can. Rules agreed together are easier to use later than rules you announce in the moment.
- Worksheet: Your opening
  1. Write the one-line welcome round question you'll ask.
  2. In what order will people speak in the round, and how will you tell them?
  3. Write your own one-line answer to the round question.
  4. Write, word for word, how you'll name today's outcome and the shape of the call.
  5. Which group rules will you remind people of, and how will you say them in one or two sentences?
  6. What will you do in the first two minutes if only half the group has joined?

Day 3: Hot seats and breakouts
- Lesson: Hot seats: one person goes deep, everyone learns
  In a hot seat, one person brings a real situation and gets coached on it while the group listens. It's often the most useful part of a group call: the person on the hot seat gets depth, and the others see their own situation in someone else's.
  Make the turns predictable. Share a rotation so people know their week, and keep a floating slot every third or fourth call for whoever is most stuck. Ask the person a day ahead for three things: what the situation is, what they've tried, and what they want from the group. Then the hot seat starts on the problem, not on the background.
  Run it in three parts. First you coach the person with questions for most of the time. Then you open it to the group for a few minutes, and ask for experience, not advice: "When I faced something like this, I ..." lands better than "You should ...". Last, the person says what they'll do before the next call, and that commitment joins everyone else's in next week's recap.
- Lesson: Breakouts: small groups with one clear job
  A breakout puts people into pairs or small groups for a few minutes, so everyone gets to talk, not only the people who speak first. Pairs and threes work best on a call: everyone has to take part, and there's no room to hide.
  A breakout works when the job is clear before people leave the main room. Say three things: the task ("Each of you describes the conversation you're avoiding, and your partner asks two questions about it"), the time ("Eight minutes, four each, I'll message you at the halfway point"), and what you'll ask for when they come back ("One sentence each on what you'll do next"). Write the task where people can see it during the breakout, because most people forget it once they're in the small room.
  When they come back, take a short round instead of a full report from each group. Ask for the one sentence you said you would ask for, and move on.
- Worksheet: Your hot seat and breakout plan
  1. Who's on the hot seat in this call? If you don't have a rotation yet, who will you ask, and when?
  2. Write the message you'll send them the day before, with the three questions: what's the situation, what have you tried, what do you want from the group?
  3. Write three opening questions you could ask the person on the hot seat.
  4. Write how you'll open the hot seat to the group so they share experience, not advice.
  5. Where in the call will you use a breakout, and why there?
  6. Write the breakout instructions word for word: the task, the time, and what you'll ask for when people come back.
- Check-in: Day 3 check-in
  1. How ready do you feel for this call right now? (1 = not at all, 5 = very)
  2. How much of a typical group call do you spend talking yourself? (1 = almost none, 5 = almost all)
  3. Which part of the call are you least sure about, in one sentence?

Day 4: Quiet participants and over-talkers
- Lesson: Make room for the quiet ones
  Some people rarely speak unless the call makes room for them. That doesn't mean they have nothing to say. Many people want a moment to think before they answer, and a fast, open discussion never gives them one.
  Build that moment into the call. Ask a question, give everyone a minute to write their answer, then take answers. Use rounds in the opening and the close, so everyone speaks at least twice without being singled out. When you want to hear from a particular person, warn them first: "After Sam, I'd like to hear how this works in your team, Priya." A few seconds' notice turns a cold call into an invitation.
  Give quiet people a small, safe job. During a hot seat, ask one of them to share the one thing they'd take from it. In a breakout, pairs make it easy to speak, because there's only one other person listening.
- Lesson: Manage the over-talkers, kindly
  A person who talks a lot is usually engaged, not difficult. Your job is to keep the time fair for everyone without making them feel told off.
  Use the structure before you use yourself. Times and rounds agreed on the first call are group rules, so keeping to them doesn't feel personal. When someone runs long, thank them, name the time and pass the turn: "Thanks, that's useful. We have five minutes left in this block, so let's hear from someone who hasn't spoken yet. Maria?" If they keep bringing their own case to every topic, point them to their hot seat week: "That's a good one for your hot seat on the 14th. Can you bring it then?"
  If it keeps happening, talk to them one-to-one, outside the call. Ask how the group is working for them. Often the answer is that they need more individual time than a group can give, and you can offer that separately.
- Worksheet: Your words for the hard moments
  1. Who in this group tends to stay quiet? Write one way you'll make room for each of them in this call.
  2. Where in the call will you ask people to write before they speak, and what's the question?
  3. Write how you'll warn a quiet person that you'd like to hear from them next.
  4. Who in this group tends to talk the most? Write, word for word, how you'll thank them, name the time and pass the turn.
  5. If someone keeps bringing their own case, what will you say to point them to their hot seat?
  6. Is there someone you should talk to one-to-one outside the call? What will you ask them?

Day 5: Close with commitments
- Lesson: End with what each person will do
  The last ten minutes decide whether anything happens after the call. A call that ends with "Great session, see you next week" leaves each person with good intentions. A call that ends with each person saying one action out loud leaves them with something they'll be asked about next week.
  Start the close on time, even when the discussion is good. Ask everyone, in a round, for one action they'll take before the next call. Make each one specific enough to report on: what they'll do and by when. "Work on my marketing" isn't an action; "Write two versions of my workshop invitation and send one to five past clients by Thursday" is. If an answer is vague, ask one question: "What will you do first, and when?"
  Write each commitment down as people say it, in their words. You'll send the list after the call, and you'll read it out in next week's recap. People keep commitments more easily when they know someone will ask.
  End with one short round to close: "One word for how you're leaving today." Then end on time.
- Worksheet: Your close
  1. At what time will you start the close, and what will you say to move the group into it?
  2. Write the question you'll ask in the commitments round.
  3. Write the follow-up question you'll ask when a commitment is too vague.
  4. Where will you write down each person's commitment during the call?
  5. Write your closing round question.
- Task list: Before the call
  - Send the pre-call questions to the group
  - Send the hot seat questions to the person on the hot seat
  - Put your call plan, opening and close where you can see them during the call
  - Write the breakout instructions where you can paste them into the call chat
  - Have last week's commitments ready for the recap
  - Hold the call

Day 6: Follow up after the call
- Lesson: Send the follow-up within a day
  The follow-up turns a good call into a week of action. Send it within 24 hours, while people still remember what they said. Keep it short enough to read in a minute.
  A good follow-up has four parts: one or two sentences on the main idea of the call, each person's commitment in their own words, what to bring to the next call (the date, the time and who's on the hot seat), and one question to answer during the week where the group talks between calls.
  Then check in with anyone who needs it. If someone was quiet all call, or left looking stuck, send them a short personal message: "I noticed you were quiet today. How are you doing with your action?" A one-line message from the coach often matters more than anything said on the call.
  Last, look back at the call while it's fresh. Every call teaches you something about this group, and writing it down is how the next call gets better.
- Task list: Follow-up within 24 hours
  - Send the group the follow-up: the main idea, each person's commitment, the next call and the question for the week
  - Send a personal message to anyone who was quiet or seemed stuck
  - Confirm who's on the hot seat next call
  - Put the commitments where you'll find them for next week's recap
- Worksheet: Call reflection
  1. Did the group reach the outcome you planned? Fully, partly or not yet: what did you see that tells you?
  2. How did the opening round go, and what would you change?
  3. How did the hot seat and the breakout go? What will you keep, and what will you change?
  4. Who spoke least, and who spoke most? What will you do differently for each of them next time?
  5. How many people left with a specific commitment? What would get the rest there next time?
  6. What's the one change you'll make to your next group call?
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