The First 10 Minutes of a Group Coaching Call
Arrival, pair share, today’s contract. Ban the 15-minute recap monologue.
Groups die in the first ten minutes when the coach becomes a radio station. Your job is the room, not the recap. The tools don’t fix a sloppy open.
The 10-Minute Arrival
- Minute 0–2 — cameras on, one-word weather, mute off. You’re taking attendance of presence.
- Minute 2–7 — pair share: “What did you actually try?” Two minutes each. You stay out.
- Minute 7–10 — harvest one sentence, then contract: “Today we will [one outcome]. Everything else waits.”
This is the 1:1-to-group shift in miniature: they do half the coaching.
How to Hold the Ten
Put the three beats in the chat before you unmute. When someone starts a recap, cut: “Pairs. Two minutes. What did you try?” You are the clock, not the radio.
The Lie Coaches Believe
“I owe them a summary of last week.” You don’t. They lived it. A 15-minute monologue trains them to sit back.
The 3-Minute Action
Write the pair-share prompt and the one-outcome contract for your next group call. Put them at the top of your run-of-show. Cut the recap slide.