Reflections on Launching the Lean Product Accelerator Coaching Group
A public retrospective on group coaching
As I wrap up the first-ever Lean Product Accelerator Coaching Collective, I can't help but feel a sense of accomplishment. What began as a hunch in January became a reality with a group of passionate product managers eager to learn and grow together. I thought 1:1 coaching could be enhanced with community support and it certainly did ✅.
So many fellow coaches and many clients are curious about the power of group coaching and so, in natural Jori form, a few reflections / a public retrospective to share for all those curious brains. 🧠
What surprised me
Maybe more powerful than 1:1 coaching is the power of having your current experiences and circumstances mirrored back to you. Sometimes you don’t need a solve. Sometimes all you need is deep empathy and to know other people are sitting in your boat. Here’s to hosting more boats for people to sit in together!
Building on that, it was inspiring to see the peer coaching that naturally evolved throughout our time together. While I facilitated and offered the container for the group, many PMs grew more and more comfortable supporting one another through peer coaching and offering support in appropriate and helpful ways. It was a joy to see.
In our post pandemic world, I was able to bring PMs together across 3 time zones & 2 continents. I was surprised I was able to make it happen and impressed with everyone for consistently showing up literally and mentally. It was really something to curate a space for people who NEVER would have met.
I spent a lot of time doing async coaching via voice notes and loom videos and I was amazed at how easy and connective it felt. One of my group members called her weekly voice notes a “podcast” and would update with the latest at work. It was a fun, lightweight way for both of us to stay connected in between sessions.
What disappointed me
Coaching lean team PMs in these circumstances confirmed what I felt…that many lean team PMs (solo or on tiny teams) are not set up for success. While we had group sessions, 1:1 time and async coaching, I felt I wasn’t always able to help PMs solve root cause issues. It’s something I hope to improve more in future cohorts.
What I would do differently
I shied away from giving PMs too much work to do outside of sessions because, well, they’re busy. I designed the program to be really light weight and additive to their work days but in hindsight and in feedback, PMs wanted more hands-on support working their way through the frameworks and tools I offered up as takeaways. In the future, I’m going to bake more of that into the program.
I’d take this even further and consider asking members to demo work for peer feedback. Giving PMs a safe space to be wrong and show work in progress was something everyone in the group was lacking and I think I dropped the ball on creating space for everyone to have their work reviewed. While I reviewed member’s work, I’m just one set of eyes!
What I would do again
Perhaps predictably, I would totally run this group again. This was my MVP and I know there’s a lot more I can do in this space to grow what I started here. If you’re interested drop me an application here so I can keep you in the loop for future cohorts I run.
Special thanks to my inaugural cohort. I feel honored to have helped you all through some of your lean team challenges and look forward to continuing to support you. ❤️