There is an increasing number of Mastermind Groups starting online. I personally haven't ventured online with my Mastermind Groups because I question how to get the same value and keep the commitment level high as with a face to face group. I'm still, however, curious as to the various ways people are using Mastermind Groups to grow their businesses.
An example I came across recently was to have an open group in the form of a Forum where each participant would post their thoughts and follow the following structure:
1) Once a week, someone starts a thread in the Business forum, entitled (Name) Business Discussion - John's Business Discussion, Neil's Business Discussion, etc.
2) That thread is to focus on ONE aspect, or one problem, or one concern that person has for their business. The only discussion in that thread - in John's Business Discussion thread, for example - will be helping John achieve, or overcome, or answer matters concerning John's business.
3) Every week a new thread begins on another member's business and special topic.
4) Each thread may continue as long as it has life, and as long as it remains on topic.
5.a) This will alleviate any leadership problems 5.b) This will allow everyone to post when convenient, thereby overcoming time differences 5.c) The discussion can go on as long as required (weeks, months), and is not limited by time in a chat session 5.d) Goals could be discussed, set, encouraged, followed up and adjusted over time
6) For those who enjoy and feel they can get something out of a chat session could call for a chat meeting as part of their discussion thread, and the thread used to report on, and discuss further the points raised in chat.
I'm curious to see if this gets off the ground and how it works out. It sounds great on paper - the challenge is getting people to commit.
KayleenReusser is a writer and keeps a regular blog to discuss her business and thoughts. She recently uploaded a post on Mastermind Groups that caught my eye.
After hearing about Mastermind Groups from a Toastmaster member who discussed Napoleon Hill's famous book "Think and Grow Rich", Kayleen picked up a copy and immediately set up her own group.
Getting together with people like that on a regular basis to share dreams and work towards them together, offering encouragement and advice, should help your goals be reached, according to Mr. Hill. Plus, the group will hold us to be accountable to striving toward our goals.
She founded a group with a few members of a local writer's workshop she attended.
We're meeting about once a week for a few weeks to share notes and information we've found about goal-setting, then we'll settle into a monthly meeting.
She's looking to build the group to a maximum of 8 people (also the maximum we use for our groups).
I would encourage new Mastermind Group founders like Kayleen to put some structure behind the groups. What is the weekly / monthly agenda? How long are the meetings? What is expected from each member? Who will facilitate the meetings?
Making sure you have a set structure in place will keep the group on track and allow it to keep going once the novelty of the idea has worn off.
Marisa Ladd is a real estate agent based in Springfield, MO. She's recently put together a Mastermind Group at her office with some of the other agents.
The group will consist of seven RE/MAX agents from my office, each with a different offering to bring to the table. I'm thrilled at the opportunity to learn from some very talented and successful agents, as well as share some of my own ideas.
They are taking a more structured approach where meetings are held once a month for one hour. Monthly mailings are discussed for 15 minutes. Then they will spend 30 minutes on 2 special topics every month which will vary. For example, in the first meeting Marisa will discuss the topic of blogging while another agent will share tax tips.
From my experience, it's important to have structure in the meetings. It makes sure that people show up on time and get value from the session. Unstructured meetings can frequently end up in long discussions on unrelated topics, uncertainty in what is expected of each member and can often lead to a group falling apart.
At the same time you need to do your research and change the structure as needed. When we first started our Mastermind Groups we looked at the various successful ones out there to learn what they did so well. We incorporated those ideas for our first meeting. As the groups grew we always take the feedback of our members to make the meetings even better each time around. The structure changes slightly as we make improvements but we do keep a strict structure so that everyone knows what to expect and gets value from the meetings.
EvanCarmichael.com is the world's #1 website for small business motivation and strategies. Evan also runs a series of successful Mastermind Groups in Toronto for entrepreneurs.
