What becomes possible for us as coaches when we move beyond the privacy of one to one conversations and begin working with the energy, complexity, and potential of groups and teams?

In this episode of The Coaching Crowd podcast, we explored why so many coaches are choosing to train in group and team coaching, and why this area of coaching practice feels increasingly relevant in today's professional landscape.

We wanted to bring this conversation to the podcast because coaching is no longer limited to one to one development conversations. More organisations, leaders, teams, and individuals are seeking collective development experiences. They want spaces where people can learn together, reflect together, challenge one another, and feel part of something more connected.

That matters because so many people are experiencing disconnection, pressure, and exhaustion. Group coaching and team coaching can create powerful spaces where people feel seen, heard, and supported by others who may be facing similar questions or challenges. In a professional context, this also gives coaches the opportunity to work more systemically, supporting culture, communication, leadership development, and organisational change at scale.

During the conversation, we reflected on the size of the opportunity for coaches. Group and team coaching are not new, but more coaches are now asking how they can broaden their work, move into organisations, support teams, run development programmes, and offer more than individual coaching sessions. For coaches who have mainly worked one to one, this shift can feel exciting, but also intimidating.

We spoke about how group dynamics and team dynamics are far more complex than individual coaching. When you move into a one to many setting, there are more relationships, expectations, emotions, roles, and patterns in the room. This means coaches need more than confidence. They need structure, skill, presence, and an understanding of the psychodynamics that can emerge when people come together.

One of the key reflections from this episode was that training in group and team coaching can benefit you even when you are not yet sure whether you want to specialise in this area. It develops your systemic thinking. It helps you see your one to one coaching clients as part of wider systems, including families, teams, organisations, communities, and cultures. That naturally expands the quality of the questions you ask and the way you support clients to understand themselves.

We also explored how training in this area can open doors. Many coaches begin with one to one coaching in an organisation and then get asked whether they can support a team, design a programme, facilitate a workshop, or help with a leadership development initiative. Those moments can be exciting, but they can also create doubt. Having training behind you can give you the confidence, credibility, and practical tools to say yes to those opportunities.

Another important theme was the need for coaches to think strategically about their business. Group and team coaching can help create more scalable offers, more variety, and more routes into organisational contracts. It can sit alongside one to one coaching, leadership development programmes, workshops, internal coaching roles, and wider organisational development work.

We also reflected on the human nature of this work. Modern coaching is not only about performance. It is relational, emotionally intelligent, and systemic. In a world where artificial intelligence is changing how people work, human relationships are becoming even more important. Knowledge may be increasingly available, but connection, trust, culture, and shared understanding still require human presence.

That is why group and team coaching feels so valuable. It supports people to understand how they relate, communicate, collaborate, and make progress together. It also gives coaches the chance to engage with the living, breathing reality of organisational culture and human behaviour.

In the episode, we also shared more about our Group and Team Coaching programme, including the five phases that sit at the heart of the course:

Grounding and Gathering, where we explore how to set the work up for success and orientate people into the coaching experience.

Roles and Responsibilities, where we consider the role of the coach and the roles that people naturally take up in groups and teams.

Options and Opportunity, where we explore coaching methodologies, practical activities, and ways to work creatively with groups and teams.

Union and Understanding, where we look at group dynamics and the complexity of human behaviour in collective spaces.

Presence and Progress, where we focus on closure, endings, progress, sustainability, and how groups and teams recognise and carry forward change.

We also discussed the mindset of a group and team coach, because this is emotional work. How we resource ourselves, what we believe about groups, and how we manage our own presence will shape the quality of the work we offer.

This episode is for coaches who are curious about expanding their practice, leaders and HR professionals who already work with groups and teams, and anyone who wants to build more confidence in facilitating meaningful collective development.

Ultimately, group and team coaching is not an either or choice. It can sit beautifully alongside one to one coaching. It can widen your impact, strengthen your coaching practice, create new business opportunities, and help you work with the rich complexity of people, culture, and systems.

Timestamps:

00:00: Welcome to The Coaching Crowd podcast 00:06: Why so many coaches are training in group and team coaching 00:38: Five reasons to consider group and team coaching 01:58: The size of the opportunity for coaches 03:59: How group and team coaching enhances one to one coaching 05:52: Building confidence to pitch group and team coaching work 06:56: Organisational contracts, leadership development, and scalable offers 08:22: Why group and team coaching requires specific training 09:36: The relational, emotional, and systemic nature of modern coaching 10:02: How AI and changing workplaces are influencing team dynamics 10:44: Overview of the Group and Team Coaching programme 11:10: Grounding and Gathering 11:45: Roles and Responsibilities 12:16: Options and Opportunity 12:46: Union and Understanding 13:06: Presence and Progress 14:00: Mindset and business development for group and team coaches 15:16: Why group and team coaching can be energising and valuable 16:13: Facilitated programme structure and how to join

Key Lessons Learned:

• Group and team coaching allows coaches to create impact beyond one to one conversations by working with collective learning, shared reflection, and systemic change.

• Training in group and team coaching can strengthen your one to one coaching because it helps you see clients within the wider systems they belong to.

• Group dynamics and team dynamics are more complex than individual coaching, so coaches need specific skills, structure, and confidence to work well in these spaces.

• Organisations are increasingly investing in collective development because workplace culture, relationships, communication, and leadership are changing rapidly.

• Group and team coaching can open doors to organisational contracts, leadership development programmes, workshops, internal coaching roles, and more scalable coaching offers.

• Effective onboarding is crucial because how a group or team enters the coaching experience shapes the safety, clarity, and outcomes of the work.

• Human presence, emotional intelligence, and relational skill remain essential in group and team coaching, especially as AI continues to reshape how people work.

• Group and team coaching can bring more variety, energy, and strategic growth into a coaching business.

• The work is not only for qualified one to one coaches. It can also support leaders, HR professionals, learning and development practitioners, and organisational development specialists.

• Group and team coaching is not a replacement for one to one coaching. It can sit alongside it as a powerful extension of your coaching practice.

Keywords:

group coaching, team coaching, group and team coaching, coaching training, coach training, coaching CPD, one to one coaching, coaching skills, systemic coaching, organisational coaching, leadership development, team development, group dynamics, team dynamics, ,coaching practice, coaching business, coaching programme, emotional intelligence in coaching, workplace coaching, coaching for organisations,

Links & Resources

Group and Team Coaching course: https://igcompany.com/group