Group coaching for management teams
Past thirty or so people, estimating, operations and the office start pulling in different directions, and each one blames the other when a job goes sideways. The fix sits with the managers in the middle, and with whatever they’re carrying — a merger nobody has finished digesting, a downsizing the people who stayed are still feeling, a morale problem everyone can see and nobody’s naming, or a change the company needs them to lead. For those companies I run in-person group coaching for the management team, designed from scratch around your people and what they’re going through. It isn’t only for contractors — engineering firms and other project-based businesses go through the same things.
Who it’s for
Group coaching is for management teams of roughly five to thirty people — the GM, the project managers, the estimators, the superintendents and the office leads, all in one room. It’s built for construction and trades companies first, because that’s the world I come from, but engineering firms and other project-based companies have managers carrying the same load, and it works for them too.
I run it in person, anywhere in Canada, at your office or wherever suits the team, and travel is billed at cost. So far the companies that have asked me about it have had twenty or more managers, which is usually about the size where that starts to show. It’s priced by proposal, once I know who’s in the room and what they’re dealing with.
What companies bring me in for
Every program is built around what your team is going through right now. These are the usual reasons — and if yours isn’t here, we build it.
- Morale and trust. Finding out why it’s slipping, and what your managers can actually do about it
- Leading through change. Helping people through a new structure, new systems, or a new direction without losing the good ones
- Mergers and acquisitions. Bringing two companies, two cultures, and two ways of doing things together into one team
- Downsizing and restructuring. Communicating it honestly, and steadying the people who stay
- From expert to manager. For people promoted for their technical skill who now have to lead people
- Communication up and down. Getting leadership, managers, and the front line hearing the same thing
- Accountability without micromanaging. Clear roles, clear decisions, and follow-through
- Keeping good people. Why they leave, and the part of that a manager controls
How it works
- I get to know your team first. A call with leadership, a short questionnaire for each manager, and a look at the numbers and the org chart that show how the company actually runs. I do a lot of this homework before anyone sits down in a room.
- I build the program for you. The topics, the examples, and the exercises all come from your company and your projects. Nothing comes off a shelf.
- We run it in person. Usually a full day with the whole management group. Everyone leaves with the tools we worked through and a short written list of what they’re changing on Monday.
- Follow-up sessions, if you want them. Ongoing sessions to keep the changes moving — as many or as few as the team needs, built the same way as the first day.
Every program is custom, so every price is too.
Tell me about your company and your management team, and I’ll come back with a proposal. It’s not a motivational speech, and it’s not a canned leadership seminar.
What a day looks like
A typical session is one full day with a management team of ten to twenty people. The morning is about how your jobs actually run. We work from your own jobs and your own numbers — a recent project that went well, one that didn’t, and what happened in between — not from slides about somebody else’s company. It’s the quickest way I know to get a room full of managers looking at the same picture, and it’s usually where the real problems come out, because they’re talking about work they did themselves.
The afternoon is about what changes. Out of everything that came up in the morning, the team picks the two or three things they agree to fix first, and we work out who owns each one, what it looks like when it’s done, and when we’ll check on it. Two or three is on purpose. A list of twelve gets written on the day and forgotten by the next month, and I’d rather your managers finish three things than start twelve.
After the session I send a written summary: what we worked through, the changes the team agreed to, who owns each one and the date it’s due. If you’ve booked follow-up sessions, that summary is where the next one starts.
Common questions.
How many people can take part?
Most groups are a management team of somewhere between five and thirty people. There’s no hard cap; the proposal sets the numbers once I know who needs to be in the room.
How long is a session?
Usually one full day with the whole management group. Follow-up sessions are optional, and you can book as many or as few as the team needs.
Where does it happen?
In person, at your company or a place that suits your team, anywhere in Canada. Travel is billed at cost. It’s the one thing I don’t run over Google Meet, because it works best with everyone in the same room.
What does it cost?
It’s priced by proposal. Every program is built around your team, so I’ll come back with a written proposal that covers the scope, the format and the fee. Prices are in CAD, plus GST.
When a company’s problem is in the numbers rather than the team, that’s management consulting — here’s what one of those engagements looked like.
Reading for management teams
Tell me about your team.
Tell me about your company and your management team. I’ll tell you honestly whether group coaching, management consulting, or something else is the right move.