The coach has key skills in behaviour change but does not advise or dictate the course of action for the individuals within the group, thus empowering them to achieve their own goals.  The coaching goals each participant makes will be unique to them and their own work-home circumstances, and the group coaching format is inclusive and supportive of the needs and circumstances of every individual. 

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Evidence for group coaching

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The evidence base for coaching of all kinds has been steadily building over the past decade, with several RCTs now emerging, mainly from health and executive coaching. These studies show promising evidence that coaching groups gain a number of benefits over control groups. These include:​

 

• Improved productivity, quality of work, and resilience at work;

• Increased wellbeing and motivation, with higher rates of return to work and job retention; and

• Self-rated benefits around goal commitment and achievement leading to increased positivity, hope and wellbeing with an overall reduction in stress.

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For further information on the evidence base, a good synopsis can be found in What works in executive coaching by Erik de Haan. A recent Times Higher Education article by Prof Mark Reed also looks at why coaching rather than mentoring is more relevant for researchers and academic staff when looking at creating compassionate, creative and impactful cultures.

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Contents of the programme

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Format: The programme starts with Health Resilience training, which provides a summary of cutting-edge health and wellbeing evidence.  This course has a specific focus on how to become a healthier and more resilient researcher.  This 4-hour session introduces key concepts for discussion around work-life balance and self-care, allowing lots of time for discussion, breakout rooms and development of personal goals, to get started.  As an introductory session the training format provides a safe and familiar opportunity for group members to get to know each other as they learn foundational concepts, and moves participants from contemplating change towards taking action.  This is followed by eight monthly group coaching sessions which take participants on a deeper journey into key areas of life in academia, which when tackled intentionally can lead to huge increases in resilience.

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The eight follow-up sessions are 2 hours long taking a more in depth look at each area covered.  These involve a learning session interspersed with group discussion, individual exercises, an active break and a breath work session (that is, taking a movement snack and learning a breathing technique together). This is followed by a discussion to reach the session goals, which participants take away to work on between sessions.  All group sessions will be conducted via Zoom, and all dates and times will be arranged up front in order that people have ample notice of the timings of sessions.   ​

Participants and resources: Up to 30 participants from your company can sign up for the initial 4 hour Health Resilience session, then from this session 15 can sign up for the full Resilient Researcher coaching programme.

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You will receive 30 copies of the manual and also the coaching group will have access to all the resources we use during the session.  All participants will get pdf copies of the self-help dairy and reading list.

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The group coaching sessions cover the following topics:

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