In this month’s Group Coaching Essentials newsletter I focused on Keeping the Conversation Going with clients as you are running a group or team coaching conversation. You can read the October 2019 Group and Team Coaching Ins and Outs newsletter here.

Coaching is a process of change. Changes take time and involve a series of ups and downs. Likewise, people are probably having lots of insights and AHAs in between our conversational touch points. What can we do to harness this? Community building for your groups. 

Earlier this year I focused on starting to launch the Conversation Sparker Zone on Mighty Networks. It’s a venue where coaches can come together to focus on and discuss what’s important to them around group coaching, team coaching, virtual conversations and business development. I hope you’ll join us! Be sure to check it out here.

In keeping the conversation going it can involve some pre-planning on your part. Consider some of these different strategies:

1. Hosting a Mighty Network feed
2. Putting out a poll to different people
3. Peer Coaching Rounds
4. Hosting a Facebook Live call
5. Creating an Instagram Series around your topic

What are the things you want to do to keep the focus alive for the people you are working with?

Best,
​Jennifer

​There is another solopreneur myth that many solopreneurs may find themselves falling into which is that “I need to be available all of the time”. Boundaries in business are a key part of efficiency and productivity. Being able to switch on and off throughout the day is key in keeping things focused and being able to get the work done.

There has been much written about business owners figuring out when they are working ON the business, or when they are working IN the business.

As a coach, activities around working IN the business might include:

• Coaching time
• Servicing clients
• Prepping for coaching time
• Leading programs

 
Working ON the business:

• Creating a Vision for your business
• Strategic planning
• Developing relationships with other
• Developing thought leadership and building reputational status – how are you being seen as a “go to” person in your industry?
• Program design

 
What is the balance of time you want to spend on working IN the business vs working ON the business?

In business, it can be important to leave enough time to continue working on the next inflection point. If we get too wrapped up on working in the business, even when we are established, we may find ourselves short of time and focus for sustainable growth.

Check out this past CBB Blog post from earlier this year – Boundaries in Business – read it here. What boundaries are important for you to put into place?

Best wishes,
​Jennifer

​Jennifer Britton, PCC, CPCC
Author of the Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner (2018), Effective Group Coaching (2010) and others
Potentials Realized
Phone: 416-996-8326
Join us during 2020 and the rest of this year to work ON your business with the Coaching Biz Growth Lab. WE meet bi-weekly for group calls on Friday from 3-4 pm ET. Group coaching, learning and lots of ACTION! Visit CoachingBizGrowthLAb.com to sign up.

This week's Solopreneur Myth gets you thinking about your boundaries around time and availability. The challenge for the solopreneur is to find the balance between being available, and also having time to do the work, and keep at your prime in terms of renewal and energy.

Many newer coaches feel that it's important to always be available. Discernment in this area can help you protect time for strategic thinking and action needed in your business, networking, and keeping yourself at peak performance.
​
Questions to consider:

• What times of day are you "at your best" for doing different types of work - think coaching calls, setting up new business, marketing, relationship building etc.
• What items are not getting done? What time do they need for completion? Ideally, when could they be completed?
• What are you doing to renew and/or keep at your prime? This might involve building in time for physical activity, renewal etc.
• What are you doing to not only "do the work" with your business, but move the business forward? This is one of the greatest challenges for business owners at all stages of their business. Business inflection points occur regularly throughout the entire life cycle of a business.
• What space are you leaving for other important parts of your life - i.e. family, relationships, etc?

While saying YES can be important, so can saying NO.

What are the boundaries you want to create to enhance your focus, traction and results?

Enjoy the reflection,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Coaching Business Builder | Group Coaching Essentials
Supporting coaches to grow their business and skills in the areas of group coaching
Recipient of the Prism Award for Excellence in Coaching (2016), and i4pL Award of Excellence - Curriculum Design (2017)
Contact Jennifer to set up a call to see how her 1-1 coaching or group coaching support can help you move towards your Q 4 and 2020 goals.
Phone: (416)996-8326

I’ve enjoyed exploring a number of solopreneur myths over the last half a dozen weeks here at the Coaching Business Builder blog. This week I’m sharing the last in this current series, as we'll start looking at year-end activities next week.
​
This week's solopreneur myth is that TIME SPENT = EFFICIENCY.

Not all of the time spent on projects and tasks is the most efficient use of our time. Think about your own scheduling — when are you at your prime? When can you complete tasks quickly and with focus, minus interruptions?
​
It may be useful to track your own efficiency for the course of a few days or weeks to notice what patterns emerge.

While the notion of circadian rhythms has been around for decades, the field of chronobiology is expanding it's data set to help us understand our natural rhythms.
Some of us are early birds, others night owls. I know in my own work that much easier to get writing projects completed first thing in the morning, before I open email or get distracted with other projects. The writing I also undertake on a weekly basis from one of my local libraries, usually is more focused and plentiful than writing done from my office later in the day.

Activity:
Think about some of the recent tasks you have completed. What do you notice about speed? Quality? Efficiency?
​
Consider tracking your work output for several days in several locations and/or at different times of the day. This will work if your tasks are similar but may be harder if they are not. As you look at your work output, and time spent, what do you notice?

Enjoy the exploration!
Jennifer

The landscape of business and communication has changed so significantly in the last ten to fifteen years, due to the change in our technology, devices and also communication channels. Think about your work and what is possible now that you couldn't do a decade ago.
​
One of the areas that I continue to see many solopreneurs and business professionals struggle with is the amount of time and focus on social media. Consider your time spent in the last week or two. How much time was dedicated to social media? What did you do? Did you surf? Have connections? Follow a trail that maybe took you into a rabbit's hole?

While social media can be a great ecosystem to spend time in and has leveled the playing field for many of us that are "one person businesses" it does not always mean that social media may be your most important channel.

Relationships are important to cultivate in all their varieties. While social media may be a great connector, it may not be the best place to have detailed conversations or make deeper connections.

I love social media as an enhancement to face-to-face events — people who I have met at conferences, or when I have been speaking.
 
As much as my own business is virtual, after all these years I've found that the face-to-face connection still yields an important return I can't find in the social media space.
 
Questions to consider as you think about this myth for yourself:

• How does your time spent on social media translate to business results?
• What is important for you as a business?
• What connections are you looking to cultivate?
• What blend do you want to have with social media and other channels?
• What is the role of social media in your work — marketing, programming, programming support etc.?
• Are there certain social media channels you want to invest your time in? If so, how much time? Which ones?
• Where are your folk/community?
• What's important to note for yourself going forward?

Enjoy your exploration,
Jennifer

It's October 1st and the start of a new month which also means we turn the page to focus on a new month in the 1BizStepADay series.  This month's focus is on client outreach. Clients are at the heart of a coaching business. Our coaching conversations require deep levels of trust, which means that deep relationships are at the heart of it. What are you doing to build new relationships with your clients (current and prospective)?
​The 1BizStepADay series includes a daily prompt to get you taking action on a different aspect of your business. Each month has a different theme. We've explored systems check (August), developing your signature program (June), major projects (September) and this month we turn our attention to client outreach. What is your focus on client outreach in this last quarter of the year? I hope that you will join us for some daily steps this month with the daily prompts.
You can download this month's 1BizStepaDay list here at 1_biz_step_a_day_october_2019_client_outreach.pdf

Enjoy the focus this month! What else is on your daily focus list for the last quarter of the month (and decade)? Still 3 months to go to achieve the goals you set out earlier this year!

Best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Coaching Business Builder | Group Coaching Essentials
Supporting coaches to grow their business and skills in the areas of group coaching
Recipient of the Prism Award for Excellence in Coaching (2016), and i4pL Award of Excellence - Curriculum Design (2017)
Contact Jennifer to set up a call to see how her 1-1 coaching or group coaching support can help you move towards your Q 4 and 2020 goals.
Phone: (416)996-8326