As organizations consider ongoing remote and hybrid working arrangements, a critical need exists to determine mechanisms which strengthen connection and wellbeing in the workplace. It is proposed that group coaching is one medium organizations can adopt to enhance wellbeing and a sense of belonging which ripples beyond the coachees (O’Connor & Cavanagh, 2013, 2017). Recent research demonstrates that coaching groups can be significant in increasing wellbeing (Nacif, 2021; McCarthy & Ertubey, 2021), where high-quality connections (Dutton & Heaphy, 2003), positivity resonance (Fredrickson, 2016), and therapeutic factors (Yalom & Leszcz, 2020) are instrumental facets of group coaching and help foster bonds across multiple domains.
The practice and advancement of group coaching is impacted by a lack of conceptual clarity, including diverse processes and methodologies utilized in extant research (O’Connor & Cavanagh, 2017), thus presenting difficulties for practitioners to implement interventions informed by empirical research.
This presentation will highlight how to structure and design group coaching interventions that create the conditions for connection and belonging to emerge. Design and interventions are independent of the focus and learning outcomes of the group coaching. Participants can expect to learn:
The presentation builds on the researcher’s graduate research exploring group coaching and positive relationships as well as extensive leadership development and coaching practice. The presenter will draw upon their experience running coaching groups among diverse populations in higher education, mixed-organization groups and, most recently, with senior leaders in healthcare.