One of the most frequently asked questions about coaching is what is the role of the coach?  I believe that this question is a great place to begin building an effective coaching structure…but it’s just the beginning.  Once you’ve determined in advance what the role of a coach is you’ll be ready to do the other things in the sequence that builds an effective structure.

Here’s the complete sequence:

1. Determine in advance what the role of a coach is.
2. Clarify what a win for a coach will be.
3. Build the job description that will ensure steps toward that win.
4. Recruit on the basis of this understanding.
5. Measure engagement.

In part one of this article we covered the first two steps in the sequence.  Here are the remaining three steps:

Building a Job Description

For me the job description includes some very specific details.  I start the job description with the one line win that I’ve clarified.  I also include some values that are threshold requirements (i.e., loyalty to the senior pastor, a proven gift of leadership, etc.).  Finally, I detail the specific actions I’m going to measure (i.e., meet with each of my leaders once a week by phone or in person, hold a huddle for my leaders every 6 to 8 weeks, etc.).

Recruit on the Basis of the Job Description

Since one of the temptations is to downplay the amount of engagement that will be required you’ll need to fight that by reviewing the job description as you’re recruiting each candidate.  If you’ve worked out the details of the description so that it describes the kind of high capacity leaders you hope to recruit and then carefully review the expectations as you’re recruiting…you’ll be far less likely to minimize.  And that is huge.

Measure Engagement

This is another important step.  It’s also the point that many small group coaching structures falter.  Once you’ve built the job description and recruited on the basis of it…you need to schedule a periodic opportunity to review performance.  Even if you only do this twice a year you’ll be ahead of the game.

A periodic review does a couple essential things:

1. a review evaluates fruitfulness
2. a review allows a conversation about fulfillment

Want to build an effective coaching structure?  These 5 steps will help you do it.  Need more?  Building an Effective Coaching Structure, my four part coaching program is designed to walk you through the process (complete with downloadable audio sessions and handouts).

Another very frequent question is what does a coach actually do?   Better, “What is the role of a coach?”   It’s a great question…and it’s actually where you should start in building an effective coaching structure.

Here’s the sequence:

1. Determine in advance what the role of a coach is.
2. Clarify what a win for a coach will be.
3. Build the job description that will ensure steps toward that win.
4. Recruit on the basis of this understanding.
5. Measure engagement.

What Is the Role of the Coach?

In my system the main role of the coach is to do to (and for) the leader whatever you want the leader to do to (and for) the member.  As I’ve pointed out, whatever you want to happen at the member level must happen first in the life of the leader.

Want the leader to actually do more than convene the meeting?  Want the leader to do more than turn on the DVD player?  Want the leader to do more than facilitate a discussion?  If you want the leader to actually provide care for the members, guide members toward maturity, laugh and weep with members…you need to understand that for that to happen the leader will need to experience it first.  And that’s where the coach comes in.

How’s a coach going to know how to do those things?  Someone is going to have to do to (and for) the coach whatever you want to happen in the life of the member.

To accomplish these things I train the coach to ask four questions that start a conversation when they’re beginning to work with a new leader.  I’ve detailed those questions right here.  As I’ve mentioned, when you’re retroactively assigning coaches to existing groups you need to start differently. I’ve detailed that right here.

And that’s the beginning.  At some point early in the relationship I’ll have the coach introduce the Purpose Driven Life Health Assessment and Plan and that will become the basis for an ongoing conversation. That conversation will be intentionally facilitated through one-on-ones and huddles with the coach and several new small group leaders.  The same conversation will be more casually facilitated through brief interactions in the lobby between services and other times.

Clarifying the Win for Coaches

You’ll have to work out this one line summary to fit your own culture. For me, it really is that a win for a coach is when they’re doing to (and for) the leaders what we want the members to experience (care, prayer, love, challenge, concern, warmth, etc.).

Want the rest of the article?  Be sure and come back tomorrow for What Is The Role of a Coach, Part 2 (or you can sign up to get the update right here).

One of the most frequent questions is, “Do you have to have led a small group before you can be a coach?”  It’s a fair question.  But I think it’s really part of a larger question.  “What are the essential ingredients of an effective coach?” is a much better question.  Here’s what I’ve found to be the essentials:

First, effective small group coaches have a vibrant and growing relationship with Christ.  Especially in an environment where a lower bar of small group leadership exists, it is essential that your coaches be able to model a level of maturity that is a few steps ahead.   Whatever you want to happen at the member level will have to be experienced first by the leader of the group.   For that to happen it almost always starts with the coach.

Second, effective small group coaches have a passion for community.  Can you be a coach without having the experience of leading a group?  I think the answer is yes.  They do need to have a passion for community; a genuine love of group life that only comes from being in a group.  But since most effective groups have multiple members who play a leadership role…it’s actually likely that some potential coaches are in groups but not the formal leader.

Third, effective small group coaches have a relational bent to their personality.  They don’t need to be highly extroverted, but so much of what you need your coaches to do requires them to interact with the leaders in their care that they’ve got to be relational.  Coaching happens in the course of daily life.  It’s not a classroom experience.  It’s about communication.  It’s a conversation.  That said, coaches without a relational bent will always struggle to make it work.

Fourth, effective small group coaches are higher capacity leaders.  Don’t miss this point.  In the sense that there are thirty, sixty, and hundred-fold leaders (see my article for more on this idea), it is essential that your coaches are able to lead leaders.  When you recruit coaches you need to be looking for people that your leaders will actually follow.

Finally, effective small group coaches are in it for the long haul.  The temptation is to simply fill org charts or plug gaps.  And it is possible to jump start coaching with the plan to move to a more enduring structure.  Finding people who are fruitful (very effective) and fulfilled (find satisfaction in their effort) is the goal.

There may be other ingredients, but to me these are the five essentials.  One of the keys to building an effective coaching structure is not settling for available…what Don Cousins used to call warm and willing.  You really need to find hot and qualified…leaders with passion and skill…the essential ingredients of an effective coach.

Yesterday we talked about the trouble many of us have when trying to add coaching retroactively to an existing small group system.  What to Do When Your Leaders Don’t Want Coaches offers a simple three step approach to that issue.

Today I want to talk about the flip side of that predicament: How to jump start coaching when you are just starting groups (or when you’re adding a significant number of groups). Whether you’re using a church-wide campaign or you’re using a small group connection to launch groups (or for that matter, whether you’re using the Activate method or the sermon-based method or the Free Market approach), it really doesn’t matter.  If you’re starting a number of new groups, you’ll want to start them out with a coach who can provide encouragement and just-in-time training that often makes the difference between a good experience with a sustainable group and a bad experience with a group that just doesn’t stick.

Here are a few keys to jump starting coaching:

• Develop a simple job description that details what you want the coach to do.  Specify a short-term commitment (I frequently use a 10 to 13 week season).  This allows you to gauge their fruitfulness and their fulfillment (one or the other is not enough).  Upon completion of the task you will have the opportunity to ask for further commitment from the best candidates and graciously thank those that just didn’t work out.
• Develop a calendar that shows everything they are committing to.  Start with any training events and conclude with an exit interview.  Include as much detail as you can.
• Hold out for hundred-fold players who really are the best candidates.  Get your senior pastor engaged in helping to recruit the ideal candidates.  I look for relational leader types that have good follow-through and a track record of success.  I need them to value community.  It’s important that they are in a group.  If they’re leading a group it’s a plus, but it’s not essential.
• When you’re recruiting them, don’t do it on the fly.  Look for opportunities to sit down and go over the vision for the launch, the job description and the calendar.  When you ask for a commitment, hold out for full commitment.  Give them time to talk with their spouse and pray about committing.  If you give them a couple days to think it over, call them back when you tell them you will.
• “People do what you inspect, not what you expect.”  Make sure you are following up on their interaction with the leaders to which they are assigned.  More importantly, make sure that you are investing in the coaches that you recruit.  Remember, whatever you want to happen at the member level will have to happen to the leaders first.  It just follows that whatever you want to happen to the leaders in your system will have to be experienced by your coaches first.

I’m often asked how to get coaching started in established small group ministries.  I answer that here in What To Do When Your Leaders Don’t Want Coaching?

One of the most frequent observations (nice word for ‘complaints’) is that coaching doesn’t work because existing group leaders almost always reject retroactively assigned coaches.  If that’s an observation you’ve made…you’re not alone.  If not a no-brainer, it is a fact of small group life.  I often point out that it’s a form of survival of the fittest.  If a group is still meeting beyond about 12 meetings, if they’ve made it this far without a coach, they won’t easily accept a coach after the fact.  After all, if coaching was essential…they wouldn’t have made it this far!  See the logic?

What is not intuitive to many group leaders is that while the optimum environment for life-change is a group, it is the life-on-life component that makes that true.  I believe that whatever you want to happen at the member level needs to be experienced first in the life of the leader.  I also believe that a healthy coaching structure is the most effective delivery system to accomplish that.  So what do you do when you have existing groups but don’t yet have coaching?  Here’s a three step approach:

1. Commit to connecting new leaders to a coach.  Start immediately building an effective coaching structure that will help new group leaders start off with a coach.  I explain how to do it in my four part series right here.
2. Begin building in a mutual care component to your small group leader meetings.  Do it strategically.  As your grouping your existing leaders, put the groups together in a way that makes sense at least for the next 12 to 18 months.  Your groupings may be life-stage, geographic, or type of group.  Give them a worksheet that includes a few questions (What’s working (in your group)?, What’s not working?  What will you do next?  How can we pray for you?  If you do this a few times with the same groupings you will begin to notice that some of your leaders will become more than peers.  They’ll begin to stand a little taller.  This simple step can often lead to a natural coaching arrangement where the title follows much later (if at all).
3. Add the Purpose Driven Life Health Assessment and Health Plan as part of the way your groups operate.  Once you’ve added this component it will be easy to implement the idea that all of us need a shepherd?  From there it is a short step to establish a more formal coaching arrangement among a few.

Have a question about coaching?  Use the comments to ask it!  Or you can check out my Top 10 Articles on Small Group Coaching right here.

Over the last several years I’ve written a number of articles on small group coaching, an essential but challenging grouplife building block.  Here are my top 10 articles on coaching:

1. How to Build an Effective Coaching Structure (part 1)
2. How to Build an Effective Coaching Structure (part 2)
3. How to Build an Effective Coaching Structure (part 3)
4. How to Build an Effective Coaching Structure (part 4)
5. Where Can I Find New Coaches?
6. Who Makes the Best Coach?
7. Making Coaching Work
8. How to Implement Coaching for Existing Leaders
9. Diagnosis: The Coaches in Your System
10. Recruiting Coaches: When Not to Compromise

FYI: I’ve also developed a down-loadable four session coaching program called Building an Effective Coaching System  that includes mp3 audio and outlines.  Click here to find out more about it.

I noticed a tweet the other day that asked for recommendations on coaching resources…specifically skills and development.  Here are a few that I’ve found very helpful:

A must have for every small group ministry library is Coaching Life-Changing Small Group Leaders: A Practical Guide for Those Who Lead and Shepherd Small Group Leaders by Bill Donahue and Greg Bowman.  Pulling from years of practical experience at actually building an extensive coaching structure and equipping coaches for practical ministry, this is a great place for you to start your thinking as you develop coaching in your small group ministry.

Making Small Groups Work by Henry Cloud and John Townsend is another very important resource for both small group coaches and leaders.  Packed from cover to cover with an extensive overview of how to handle individual issues, this is a great book for leaders and coaches to read together or at a minimum, for the coach to have in their bag of tricks.  Very practical and definitely worth picking up.

Growing Small Group Leaders by Mac Lake is packed with some very good plug and play coaching ideas, tips and an overview of a very workable structure.  The one drawback to this resource is the price.  At $69, it’s a little pricey to use as a manual for each coach.  Instead, I think it makes a very practical addition to your coaching library.

Nine Keys to Effective Small Group Leadership: How Lay Leaders Can Establish Dynamic and Healthy Cells, Classes, or Teams by Carl George is an important resource for your coaching library.  Although it’s really focused on keys to effective small group leadership, it can easily be used to equip coaches for the work of guiding small group leaders.

I’ve written a lot about coaching.  You can see quite a few articles right here.  Today I want to warn you about something you might find surprising given my reputation for advocating a “lowered bar” approach for group leaders.  I want to really encourage you not to compromise or lower the bar in terms of who you recruit as coaches and what you expect of them.  Let’s talk about those two subjects:

Who To Recruit As Coaches

In an earlier article I wrote about the kind of person that makes the best coach.  The short version is that your candidate needs to be passionate about grouplife and they need to be at least a 60 fold person.  I’m referring to Jesus’ use of the 30, 60 and 100 fold idea in Mark 4 and other places.  It only makes sense that you can’t expect a 30 fold person to lead (or coach) and 60 fold person.

In addition to their competence, another very important qualifier is that the coaching candidate be in agreement with your small group philosophy.  You need to be on your guard on this issue because it’s one of the places we’re most likely to compromise.  For example, if you are trying to build a small group ministry on the idea that by lowering the bar in terms of who can lead and one of your coaches is constantly fretting over whether you’re allowing the wrong people to lead…you’re going to have problems.  Make sure that your coaching candidates are in philosophical agreement and do it before you invite them onto the team.

I’ve listed a whole set of recruiting ideas right here.

What To Expect of a Coach

Developing and communicating expectations is another place where compromise will definitely come back to haunt you.  Developing a job description is an important step.  A periodic review that measures the coach’s activity is essential.  If you inspect what you expect, a lot more will end up happening.

Summary

This may sound like an oversimplification, but developing expectations (both in terms of philosophy and performance) on the front end and then sticking to them will go a long way toward producing a coaching structure that works.  Will it be perfect?  Not hardly!  But it doesn’t need to be perfect.  Don’t compromise on these two things and it will be more than good enough.

In yesterday’s article on How To Build An Annual GroupLife Calendar I made the statement that “although the idea of a monthly leadership community has been the model for some churches, I’ve rarely found that to be a workable idea.”  This statement prompted a reader to ask, “Why isn’t a monthly gathering workable?”

First, that’s a great question!  After all, the idea of a monthly leadership community has long been a theoretical aspiration for small group ministry practitioners (going back even earlier than Carl George’s foundational Prepare Your Church for the Future).  Long time Willow Creek watchers will remember that the transition to a MetaChurch style group ministry included a monthly Leadership Community.  But it’s been a long time since that was on the calendar at Willow.

Here’s why I wrote what I wrote:

Idealism vs. Pragmatism

First, let’s get a key question or two out of the way.  Many will ask, “Isn’t it important that we invest in developing small group leaders?  Don’t they need more frequent encouragement and training?”  Yes and yes.  But it’s important to keep the lifestyles of a volunteer clearly in view when you’re setting  expectations.

When you’re building an annual calendar, keep in mind that this is a calendar for volunteers.  In fact, it’s a calendar for volunteers who are already giving 2 to 3 hours a week (or twice a month, depending on how often they meet) just for the small group meeting.  Add preparation time, contacting members who miss a meeting, and offline social gatherings with group members and you have a good picture of a healthy time commitment to a good project.

Now, take those same volunteers and add in a normal life.  That will often mean commuting to work, kids activities, school involvement, and important social opportunities with family, friends and neighbors.

When you add it all up, the average volunteer leads a very busy life.  It’s against that backdrop that we’re trying to build a calendar that will serve the volunteer base for small group ministry and get across the board participation.  And it’s against that backdrop that we’re pragmatic about what attending one 90 minute meeting at the church actually means because for most people you have to add the commute to and from the meeting.  A 90 minute meeting quickly becomes a 2 1/2 to 3 hour commitment.

A More Reasonable Alternative

Remember, I do think the development of small group leaders is important.  I just think a monthly centralized meeting isn’t workable in most communities.  On the other hand, a decentralized huddle with a coach that is geographically assigned can make a lot of sense.  Follow along:

Weekly Check-In

The assignment/job description of every coach ought to include frequent contact.  A weekly check-in by phone or in person is not an unreasonable expectation.  It can be a 5 to 10 minute phone call.  It can be a cup of coffee in between services or before work.  It can be convenient for both the leader and the coach…if the assignment makes geographical sense.

Monthly Huddle

The assignment/job description of every coach ought to include a periodic group huddle with the assigned leaders.  Again, if the assignment makes sense geographically, this can be a once a month breakfast together before work or dessert and coffee in the evening.

You might say, “What’s the difference between this and a monthly centralized meeting for all leaders?”  Easy.  If it’s just a coach and their 4 to 6 leaders and the huddle is near where they live or work…it eliminates the commute and focuses on the important element: connecting as a group with their coach.

One of the most important steps in diagnosing your small group ministry is to accurately assess the health of your coaching system.  Much like your physical body, having a respiratory system is essential…but it has to be a working respiratory system.  Here are what I think are the most important diagnosis questions about coaches:

• Have you developed a job description for the coaches in your system? This is a prerequisite step.  It will be very hard to diagnose without a set of expectations.
• Do you have coaches in name only? They may have the title, but they’re really only place-holders.  You learn that you need one coach for every five small group leaders…so you recruit a few “coaches” but they’re not the right people and they really don’t do anything.  Expectations are very low and their work is never seriously inspected.  Symptoms: Small group leaders don’t know who their coach is or can’t remember the last time they talked.
• Do you have 30-Folds in the place of 100-Folds? This is a very common mistake.  It is a great temptation to use “warm and willing” instead of “hot and qualified,” but it is a huge mistake.  I’m using Jesus’ “30, 60, and 100 fold” to describe the relative capacity of people.  When you put a 30-fold into a slot you need to realize that they’re not going to be able to influence even another 30-fold.  Don’t let idealism get in the way of reality.  Symptoms: Leaders aren’t drawn to their coach.  No zip to the relationship.
• Do you have 100-folds wearing multiple hats? This is also very common.  You get the right people on the team but don’t help them clear their calendar.  Bandwidth is a precious thing.  If you’ve openly declared small group ministry to be a key to your strategy, you’ll need the full attention of these key players focused on this one responsibility.  Symptoms: Coaches aren’t clear on what to prioritize.  Leaders don’t feel prioritized.
• Do your coaches have clear objectives? This works both ways.  Coaches are often unclear about what their role is.  This results in their defaulting to a kind of accountant, checking on whether the group meets, who is in the group, etc.  The flip side is that leaders are also unclear about the role of their coach.  Their most common comment is that they don’t need a coach. Symptoms: Leaders don’t look forward to connecting with their coach.  It’s a chore for both parties.
• Fo you have unrealistic expectations for your coaches? This also works both ways.  Many times a new coach is recruited and released into action without anyone preparing the leader.  Because first impressions are so important this results in an unexpected call and results in an insurmountable barrier between the new coach and the leader.  On the flipside, the leader is introduced to their coach but poorly prepared for the coach’s involvement.   Thinking that the coach is a watchdog or an accountant when they could be a mentor.  Symptoms: “Who are you?  Why are you calling me?”
• Poor matches between coaches and leaders? This may be the second most common problem with the whole coaching idea.  I refer to it as “the arbitrary assignment” issue.  Here’s the situation: I’ve got 20 groups and I want to develop a healthy span of care so I recruit 4 coaches and deal out my leaders.  Five for Bob.  Five for Steve.  Five for Joe.  And five for Debbie.  And we’re done.  The problem is that it’s tough to make a meaningful assignment that way.  It’s arbitrary.  Symptoms: The start-up energy is too great and takes too long before actually paying off and seeming like a good investment to either coach or leader.  It’s a formality.
• Was there a time lag between the group’s beginning and assigning the coach? This is the number one problem and the main reason coaching fails.  Without question the easiest time to assign a coach is at the very beginning.  Any time after that only increases the likelihood that the graft won’t take.  Once a group has made it through their first 6 to 12 meetings they’ve figured out most of the very basic coaching issues (how to engage Sue’s husband, how to help Bob and Carol to come on time, how to help Bill not dominate, etc.).  The groups that couldn’t figure out the basics are dead anyway.  They often don’t make it through this season.  The leaders of the groups that do make it have legitimate questions about why they need a coach.  Symptoms: “Why do I need a coach?”

Coaching is an essential element of an effective small group ministry.  These questions should help you diagnose your current coaching solution.  For more information on building an effective coaching structure, take a look at my four part series.

You can read the next article in this series, Diagnosing Senior Pastor Buy-In, right here.