How to choose your Mastermind Group Meeting place and time.

Guest Contributor: Reg Gupton
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Now that you have created a group, invited some like-minded individuals and agreed upon your meeting format, you need to decide on the meeting place and time.

Your selection of meeting place and time is as critical as any other decision that you will make in the formation of your Mastermind Group. It provides the context and a safe environment for the miracle of creativity that will blossom at your periodic meetings. Without the proper space, tools and setting the group will suffer mightily.

Frankly I am surprised to notice the impact that the setting (and tools) have on the process and value of the group. My experience tells me that larger groups function better and seem to require a more formal space. Conference rooms or private meeting rooms in some restaurants can work very well.

When our group was larger, we met in a member's conference room with a whiteboard and flipchart. Better for taking notes, making commitments and enhancing creativity. That worked very, very well.

We have tried almost every possible combination of time and location. We have met in restaurants, homes and offices. We have met in the morning, mid-morning, noon, mid-afternoon and evening. Our meeting time and place has changed as we have learned and to meet the needs of the constantly changing group. Each location and time has its benefits and detriments

For the past several years when my Mastermind Group has been smaller we have chosen to meet for breakfast at a local restaurant. We decided on early so nothing can get in the way. We feel that we are more in control of our time if all we have to do is our morning routine, get in the car and get to the meeting on time. We do not have a whiteboard nor a flipchart. My group is small enough for each of us to take notes make the creative lists described in another post.

We found that any time other than first thing in the morning caused problems as certain members have challenges in being prompt for appointments. They are either late or need to leave early for their next appointment/meeting.

Take this post to your group and allow them to participate in the decision on meeting time and place. You will be pleased with your new group and home.

Secrets to a successful Mastermind Group meeting format

Guest Contributor: Reg Gupton
Reg's Posts - Reg's Blog


Once you have decided to create a Mastermind Group, you need a plan for how to conduct your meetings to gain the full power of the synergy of like minds.

The format of my Group meeting has evolved over time. We started with no plan and struggled for some time as you might expect. We didn't know how to use the intellectual power we each believed was in the room. There was no structure. Lots of talking and banter. No solutions.

We put the power of the Group to work to solve the question "what is the best structure our sessions?" We brainstormed, tested and found the plan outlined below works very, very well and has for many years.

The meeting begins with 2-3 minutes per person during which each reports on successes they have had since the last meeting. It gives us a chance to be acknowledged and encouraged as we make progress toward our stated goals.

Then we negotiate for time in the rest of the meeting. Each person brings a challenge if they have one. We simply divide of the remaining meeting time among the members with a question. Not all participants will have things to talk about at each meeting. Some questions have more urgency than others. We learned that we can work with different priorities.

The member with the question moves to the front of the room and writes down their question on a flipchart. We often spend a few minutes making sure that we are focused on the "correct" question. It is surprising how many times we assist by refining/reframing the question. Often the member lacks insight into the nature of their true problem.

It is critical that the question is succinct and properly worded. If we frame the question incorrectly, we will not provide the help that is requested.

Once the question is framed, it is written on the top of a flipchart page. Then the member numbers down the left side from 1 to 21.

We then begin brainstorming, offering solutions to the problem as stated or actions to be taken. The member with the questions only job at this point is to act as a scribe and write the solutions offered. We continue brainstorming until we have completed the full list of 21 solutions.

As you might expect the first dozen or so are too easy. When it gets difficult the creativity really begins. The best solutions generally happen after solution #16 or so. When the contributing members have to really think and dig, the breakthroughs occur.

The person at the board then chooses 2-4 items to complete or work on over the next several days or weeks.

Use this structure for your meetings and watch the productivity soar. I guarantee it.

Setting ground rules

Guest Contributor: Kirsten Harrell
Kirsten's Posts - Kirsten's Blog

It is important to set up ground rules when you start a Mastermind group. Having ground rules in place before the group starts is a good way to minimize or avoid trouble down the road. The Mastermind group (7 members) that I started has the following ground rules that we all agreed to before we began our first meeting.

Ground Rules
- Start meetings on time. In the interest of keeping our calls to 75- 90 minutes, we won't backtrack to fill in a member who is late. If someone knows they will be late, they will inform the group or group leader.

- End meetings on time. We are all very busy and time is precious. In order to keep the meetings to 75-90 minutes we will need to keep to a time schedule (10 minutes per person) so that we can end the meetings on time.

- Absences - Notify the group if you will miss a meeting.

- Time limits. Each group member will have 10 minutes at each meeting. We will need to have a timekeeper at each meeting to keep us on track. If someone needs more time at a particular meeting it is possible to ask for another person's time.

- Confidentiality. We will all agree to keep the details of each meeting confidential. If we choose to share our own experiences in the group we can; however, we are not allowed to share details about another member's experience.

- Order of participation. We will rotate alphabetically the order of participation to make sure we are clear about who's turn it is.

- Respect. Only one person talking at a time. We will respect the person talking by listening and not interrupting.

- Leaving the group. If a group member wants to quit the MM group he/she will let the group know ahead of time.

- Terminating membership. If the group feels that a member is not participating, the group can decide to terminate the person's membership.

- Adding members. Before adding any new members, the group must unanimously agree to do so.

Meeting format
Each person will have a turn to share and get feedback at every meeting. We will each have 10 minutes of mastermind time. During our ten minutes we will 1) update the group on our wins/progress, 2) ask for assistance/answers/support, and 3) announce our new goals. We will stick to 10 minutes per person.

These ground rules are just one example ground rules for a Mastermind group. You may want to use something similar or create your own from scratch. The important thing is that everyone in the group agrees to the ground rules. If you started your group without ground rules, it's not too late... you can create the ground rules and implement them now.