The Hot Seat: The Team Coaching Method You Didn’t Know You Needed

Team coaching is on the rise, but many sessions feel more like interesting conversations than real development. Leaders often tell me: “We want something practical. Something that actually shifts the way our teams think and work together.”
 

The Hot Seat invites one participant to share a real dilemma and receive curious questions, feedback, and advice from the group. At first it may sound simple, but what makes it powerful is the way the process is facilitated. Instead of rushing to give advice, the group slows down, listens carefully, and works through the complexity together.

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This approach builds patience, empathy, and curiosity. It also gives participants something rare: the opportunity to see beyond first impressions and discover insights that ordinary group conversations often miss.

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Originally introduced by educator Jeffrey Wilhelm, now widely used in leadership and team development.

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Step by Step: How the Hot Seat Works​

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1. Setting Expectations

At the start, we set the tone together.

For this process to work, everyone commits to a few simple principles:

• Take responsibility for your own learning and stay actively engaged.

• Share openly, knowing that your voice matters and your experience can help others.

• Remember that dilemmas rarely have one clear solution. The same challenge can look very different to different people.

• Maintain confidentiality. What is shared in the room stays in the room. This is not optional, it is a commitment we all make to one another.

• Leave judgment at the door. In this space we practice curiosity, patience, and respect.

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The role of the facilitator is to hold the process. That means making sure the group follows the structure, stopping when a “question” is really advice, and asking participants to reframe it with genuine curiosity.

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What makes a good dilemma?

​A dilemma is usually complex, without one obvious “right” answer. It often involves more than one perspective, and even if different approaches have been tried, the situation is still unresolved.

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These principles, together with the structure of the Hot Seat, create the safety and focus that allow the group to do its best work.

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2. Presenting the Challenge

Once expectations are clear, the facilitator invites participants to offer a dilemma. One person volunteers to step into the Hot Seat and share their situation with the group. ​At this stage, the facilitator checks that what is being shared truly is a dilemma, not a problem with a simple or intuitive fix.

For example:

• Too simple: An employee has not met targets for eight months, has received repeated support, and nothing has changed. The path forward is fairly clear.

• A true dilemma: An employee with a year of tenure shows inconsistent performance. Some projects go really well, others stall. Despite several conversations, the pattern has not shifted. Some stakeholders value working with them, while others avoid them.

 

The facilitator may step in with a clarifying question or two, just to make sure we are looking at a real dilemma. The person in the Hot Seat then shares the story, the challenge, what has already been tried, and what they would like support from the group to explore.

3. Clarification Questions

This is where the magic happens

At this point, the group begins asking questions. We go around in turns, and each participant asks just one clarifying question at a time to better understand the dilemma. In most cases, more than one round of questions is needed. The group continues until there are no more clarifying questions left. In each round, the facilitator may also step in with a clarifying question of their own.

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Why is this the magic stage?

Because at first, most participants think they already understand the dilemma and have a solution in mind. As the group goes deeper and keeps asking, something shifts. Participants realize the situation is more complex than they thought. The quick fix that seemed obvious at first is no longer enough once they understand the full picture.

 

The facilitator’s role is to make sure the questions stay genuine, not disguised suggestions or judgmental statements with a question mark at the end.

Good questions might sound like:

• In the feedback conversations you had, what was actually said?

• Are there differences between the projects where the employee succeeds and those where they struggle?

Not-so-good questions include:

• Have you tried telling them to…

• Why didn’t you just…

 

Once there are no more questions, the facilitator turns back to the person in the Hot Seat and asks if any insights have already surfaced. In most cases, the questions themselves spark several new insights before any solutions are even offered.

 

4. Proposal Round

Only now we move to suggested solutions.

At this stage, participants begin sharing their ideas and insights, one at a time. Each person offers just one suggestion per round. The group may go through several rounds until all perspectives are voiced. The facilitator, just like in the question rounds, may also contribute one suggestion per round if appropriate.

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The power of this stage is in the variety of viewpoints. Hearing multiple suggestions side by side helps the person in the Hot Seat see options they may not have considered on their own.

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The facilitator’s role here is to create space for every idea without judgment, making sure the conversation remains open and respectful.

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To prevent overwhelm, it is often helpful to assign one participant to take notes. That way, the person in the Hot Seat can stay fully present without worrying about remembering every detail.

 

5. Reflection

The session closes with reflection. The person in the Hot Seat shares their key takeaways: what they learned, what surprised them, and what next steps they plan to take to address the challenge.

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The facilitator then invites the rest of the group to reflect. Participants often share what they discovered about their own assumptions, how their listening skills were challenged, or what they noticed about asking better questions.

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This stage reinforces that the Hot Seat is not only about helping one person. The learning is collective. Everyone leaves with new insights, stronger skills in curiosity and patience, and a deeper sense of connection to the group.

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Why It Works

The Hot Seat is not just a way to solve problems. It changes the way teams think, listen, and work together.

• Participants practice slowing down instead of rushing to quick fixes.

• They see that their first conclusion is often incomplete or even wrong.

• They strengthen curiosity, empathy, and the ability to listen without judgment.

• They realize they are not alone- their challenges are shared by others.

 

After a few sessions, you begin to see the shift. The group becomes more comfortable with the slower pace and more skilled at both asking and receiving questions.

A typical Hot Seat with up to 15 participants takes about 45 minutes per dilemma.

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Where to Use It

The Hot Seat is a powerful fit for:

• Organic teams that want to deepen collaboration.

• Leadership development programs.

• Groups of people in similar roles who are spread across different teams, such as project managers, product managers, or HR business partners.

 

Keys to Success

To get the full impact from the Hot Seat, a few elements need to be in place:

• Psychological safety: Participants must feel confident that what is shared in the room stays in the room.

• No judgment: Questions and responses are approached with curiosity, never criticism.

• Shared learning: Growth does not belong only to the person in the Hot Seat. The entire group learns together.

• Strong facilitation skills: This is a complex method to facilitate. The facilitator needs to deeply understand both the method and the process, and bring the ability to create a safe space, show empathy, and set clear boundaries.

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Facilitating the Hot Seat is a learned skill. With the right preparation, managers, L&D practitioners, or professional facilitators can be trained to run it effectively.

 

Turning Insight Into Action

At its core, the Hot Seat is not about fixing one person’s challenge. It is about building collective capability. It creates a sense of community, builds stronger connections, and fosters belonging.

Teams leave with stronger collaboration muscles, and individuals walk away with insights they would never reach on their own.

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If you would like to explore bringing this kind of facilitation into your own teams, or if you are interested in a train-the-trainer program so your managers and facilitators can lead Hot Seat sessions themselves, let’s talk.

Book a free call with me to explore your needs and see if this approach is the right fit for your organization.

Or, keep exploring by reading more of my articles, like The 30-Seconds Feedback Framework and What It Really Takes to Shift Behavior in the Workplace.