Universal Coaching Alliance
Three Seats
Practise Your Coaching. Experience It From Another Chair.
Coaches spend a great deal of time learning about coaching. UCA Three Seats gives you somewhere to actually practise it.
Each month, you will work in a small triad and experience the coaching conversation from three different perspectives: Coach. Coachee. Observer.
You will have space to experiment with your coaching, notice what happens in the conversation, receive developmental feedback and leave with something practical to take into your next coaching session.
There is no performance and no assessment. Three Seats is a Coaching Practice Lab – a place to practise, observe, reflect and grow.
Three Seats. Three Perspectives. One Coaching Conversation.
Everyone experiences all three seats. Each role gives you a different perspective on the coaching conversation – and a different opportunity to learn about your own practice.
What Will You Gain?
PRACTISE
Coach in a focused peer environment.
EXPERIENCE
the other chair.
OBSERVE
and notice what happens.
FEEDBACK
developmental feedback.
NOTICE
coaching interventions.
REFLECT
coaching practice.
How the Practice Lab Works
Each UCA Three Seats Practice Lab lasts 120 minutes.
You’ll work in a triad and rotate through all three seats, so everyone has the opportunity to coach, be coached and observe.
Feedback That Helps You Think – Not Tell You How to Coach
Three Seats uses the UCA PAUSE Reflective Feedback Process to keep feedback curious, developmental and useful.
The Observer’s role is not to assess the Coach or tell them what they should have done. Instead, PAUSE helps everyone explore what happened in the coaching conversation and what the Coach might want to take forward.
PAUSE before you interpret, advise or assess.
A Different Opportunity to Practise Each Month
The Three Seats structure stays familiar, while the practice focus changes, giving you different opportunities to experiment with your coaching and notice what happens.
OPEN
PRACTICE
Practise → Notice → Reflect
Notice how you naturally coach, without a prescribed model or technique to demonstrate.
MODEL IN PRACTICE
Structure → Adapt → Respond
Explore how to use a coaching model as a map rather than allowing the model to drive the conversation.
SKILL IN PRACTICE
Question → Challenge → Deepen
Focus more closely on an aspect of your coaching practice and notice its impact on the Coachee.
Who Is UCA Three Seats For?
UCA Three Seats is for coaches who want an opportunity to practise, experiment and reflect on their coaching alongside other coaches in a supportive and appropriately challenging environment.
Join us if you want to:
- practise rather than simply talk about coaching;
- experiment with how you coach;
- experience coaching from the Coachee’s perspective;
- learn by observing another Coach;
- give and receive developmental feedback;
- connect with fellow coaches; and
- take practical learning back into your coaching practice.
You don’t need to perform. You don’t need to prove anything. You simply need to be willing to practise, participate and reflect.
A Practice Lab – Not an Assessment
Three Seats is a space for practice, experimentation, reflection and learning.
It is not training, therapy, formal supervision or an assessment of your coaching competence.
We ask everyone taking part to:
- maintain confidentiality;
- respect different coaching approaches and perspectives;
- choose an appropriate topic for short peer-coaching practice;
- take responsibility for what they choose to disclose; and
- approach feedback with curiosity and respect.
The aim isn’t to demonstrate how good a Coach you are. It’s to discover more about how you coach.
What Do I Need to Bring?
Very little preparation is needed. Before joining your Three Seats Practice Lab:
- bring a real but appropriate topic that you are comfortable exploring when you are the Coachee;
- join from somewhere you can participate confidentially in your breakout-room conversation;
- have the UCA PAUSE Observer Feedback Sheet available; and
- bring your curiosity and willingness to experiment.
No coaching case preparation or presentation is required.
Ready to Take a Seat?
UCA Three Seats gives you dedicated time to practise your coaching, experience the conversation from different perspectives and learn alongside fellow coaches.
Each Practice Lab combines real coaching practice, structured developmental feedback and time to reflect on what you want to take forward.
Practise. Observe. Reflect. Grow.
Choose your next Practice Lab and take your seat.