If you are a business coach or a life coach, group coaching sessions can be a great way to work with a larger number of people at one time. Many coaches do so to help others and build communities of like minded professionals. But what they don’t look forward to is dealing with personality clashes, payment disputes and copyright issues, amongst others.

As the people who help coaches in these situations, we have become familiar with the common challenges that come up for coaches who offer group coaching or group programs. To help coaches offering group sessions, we have compiled a list of five essential tips to help you keep your time spent where you want it - on coaching, not solving problems!

1. Keep it confidential

Perhaps one of the reasons you have decided to offer group coaching is the potential for incredible learning, sharing of knowledge and professional growth that so often occurs in group settings. The networking opportunities are huge when you bring people together, particularly from a similar industry. Unfortunately, what can also happen is group members can share each other’s business information outside the group, with competitors or potential clients. This could be done maliciously or even incidentally, through conversation at networking events or social get togethers or posting online.

Group coaching is most effective when there’s open dialogue, active participation and openness to learning. So it follows that you want your sessions to foster that rather than people keeping it to themselves. We know you work hard to create an environment for your participants to grow in, so having protections in place for them, through some solid terms and conditions that all participants must agree to, will go a long way to assuring participants they can speak freely.

As the coach, you also need to make sure that if you become aware of anyone breaching the terms and conditions, that you are able to terminate a group member’s participation. Protecting your participants’ ability to speak freely in group coaching sessions through regularly reminding them but also backed up in the terms and conditions, will make managing these issues far easier. 

An additional consideration is to ensure you are protected if something like this occurs without your knowledge. A disclaimer can ensure participants can not place responsibility on you for another member’s behaviour, particularly when it occurs outside of the group coaching sessions.

2. Avoid timetabling tantrums

Running group coaching sessions is a great way to work with a large number of people at once, but getting everyone together at the same time isn’t always easy to coordinate, especially where you have people in different time zones. The last thing you want to do is find yourself in a situation where you are going round in circles having to find a suitable time for all members, an outcome that may not ever be possible. 

This challenge is one that comes at the beginning of the group relationship, when people are getting to know you and each other. Having clear parameters about how and when the sessions will work should be well communicated and that includes in your group coaching agreement (terms and conditions). This can go a long way in ensuring each group starts off on the right foot, especially important when building those early coaching relationships.

And of course, it is always good to offer a recording to counter any issues when people cannot attend a group coaching session for one reason or another.

3. Managing refund requests

Under Australian Consumer Laws, you are unable to have a blanket ‘no refund’ policy. Consumers must be able to get a refund if you are not providing what you said you would.

There are times when members of your coaching group may request a refund due to issues such as a personality clash such as one member not getting along with another. In fact there are many reasons someone may wish to request a refund from you that have little or nothing to do with your coaching sessions or your coaching style. It could happen before your coaching sessions begin, part way through the coaching sessions or even after the coaching relationship has ended.

Having clear conditions that participants agree to before your coaching sessions begin will mean that you are able to be clear about people’s financial options when leaving the group coaching sessions. You may wish to have them give you 30 or 60 days notice, for example.

4. Protecting intellectual property

One concern that we know business coaches have when working with members of their own industry, is the risk of intellectual property being taken and used elsewhere. This can take many forms. From stealing content to copying business plans, coaching strategies and lead magnets (free content in exchange for contact details).

The same fear can be experienced by those in your groups. As you well know, a coaching environment is best if all members are open, sharing and communicating. When a group member does not engage in sessions, for fear of others using their IP, they certainly can’t get the most out of your coaching. And, it can also impact other members of the group. Group morale can be impacted in your sessions if one or more members are present but not contributing.

To help put your members at ease, and to protect your own hard work and expertise, ensure that your group coaching agreement includes an intellectual property clause. Make sure it states you are the owner of all intellectual property in your course and on your website and that others are not to use the IP of others in the group.

5. Protect against wishful thinking

This tip might seem a bit crazy but there are people who will sign up for your coaching sessions and believe that is all they need to do to succeed. In fact, as you know, that is just the first step. As obvious as it may be to you, it is important to include a disclaimer that makes it clear for participants that signing up for your course does not come with a guarantee for success.

Participants may have been inspired by the success of people you have coached previously or perhaps they have seen testimonials about your excellent group coaching. While testimonials can be wonderful for bringing you business, all participants will need to acknowledge and agree that they are not guaranteed the same level of success. 

As you are aware, each person comes to your group coaching session from a different place in their life and business. Some may already have very successful businesses, others may come to you as beginners. Some will work tirelessly with great success on what you advise in your coaching sessions while others will not and expect outcomes to happen by osmosis. 

At the end of the day, as excellent a coach as you may be, having a disclaimer that ensures participants understand you are not guaranteeing success simply by signing up for your course, or even by attending all sessions, is essential.

Group business coaching sessions are an excellent way for you to share your knowledge with many individuals at one time, and increase your revenue and profitability. Having the terms and conditions clear for all members up front can eliminate potential future issues and create the right environment for you to build a community of learners. If anyone does not wish to agree to your group coaching terms, it does not have to mean the end of your coaching relationship with them. Instead, they can also engage you for one on one business coaching, for a higher fee. After all, group coaching is a way people get access to you for a more affordable price point.

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Why your life coaching agreement should be your business life raft

Ready to ensure your group coaching sessions are as trouble free as possible? Take a look at our group coaching contract template, or reach out if you have Assistant Coaches who need a similar agreement put in place. More specifically, if you’re a life coach, you may be interested in our Life Coaching Agreement template. You are invited to book in for a chat to discuss a customised agreement with Emma or Lianne here.