So you’re ready to run a mastermind group meeting huh? Well there are 3 stages to running a successful meeting—before, during, and after—and I’m going to address each one here. The success of your first meeting will set the tone for entire group so it’s important to prepare. Unlike work meetings you can’t just wing it. You are responsible for creating, holding, and leading the space.

Before You Run A Mastermind Group Meeting

1. Venue

The moment you put money down on the venue, your meeting is already set in motion. This is a goal setting principle I use for everything. It’s called The First Domino. This simple action triggers everything else. You can handle the food logistics with the venue later. The most important thing is that the event is happening now. Your venue is one of many costs that affect your pricing, but it is probably your most significant action you can take to get your group going.

2. Invitations & RSVPs

Now that you have the venue, you can send out RSVPs to those who have completed your mastermind group membership application. If people don’t RSVP immediately, it’s up to you to follow-up with them to ensure maximum attendance. Start with the RSVP email. Follow up with another email. And then call if you have to.

3. Agenda & Printing

The bulk of your time will be spent creating an amazing experience for members and your agenda and the activities you choose will shape that space. A one-page agenda looks like it could have been put together in 5 minutes to the person receiving it, but it takes a lot of thought to sequence agenda items, consider transitions, and prepare the content that supports the agenda. In most cases, edits last until the day before. Once you are done editing the agenda and PowerPoint, then you need to print the agenda, slides, and other materials for each member.

While You Run A Mastermind Group Meeting

Most mastermind groups flow as follows:

1. Welcome & Announcements
2. Teaching
3. Half of hot seats
4. Break/Lunch
5. Other half of hot seats
6. Recap/Takeaways/Insights
7. Questions, Reminders, & Close

The only problem with that strategy is that member members leave with a whole bunch of strategies and no defined action that they can be held accountability for. Despite most mastermind groups promoting accountability, if there is no time to set and share goals, then there is nothing to hold members accountable to.

Here is how I structure my mastermind group agenda.

1. Welcome & Announcements
2. Celebration of Successes (since last meeting)
3. Teaching/Inspiration/Activity
4. Half of hot seats
5. Break/Lunch
6. Other half of hot seats
7. Break
8. Goal setting (using Guaranteed Goal Setter)
9. Goal sharing, support requests, and offers
10. Recap/Takeaways/Insights
11. Questions, Reminders, & Close

The amount of time depends on the number of group members. This sequence of events can be used for a 2-hour, half-day, or full-day agenda.

After You Run A Mastermind Group Meeting

1. Group Follow-Up

Within 24 hours of the meeting’s end, you have to send follow-up materials, the next meeting date and location, and any additional assignments.

2. Individual Follow-Up

If questions came up during the group that you couldn’t answer in the moment or promised to follow-up, now is the time to do that. This could mean answering a question, emailing a document, or making a connection.

If someone was absent that you didn’t expect to be absent, reach out to them to show that you care and find out what’s up.

If someone wasn’t fully present in the group, call them to see what’s going on and see how you can help.

3. Evaluate Yourself

Take a moment to write down what worked, what didn’t work, what you want to do better, what you forgot to do, and what you plan to change for next time. This will help you as you start planning the next meeting. Some things you may write include:

• Be willing to scrap the agenda if the group is being led in a different direction.
• Do lunch a little earlier.
• Add a 5 minute break before goal setting.
• Test the audio the night before.
• Bring 3 extra copies of everything.
• Tell members to bring business cards for networking.
• Use a timer for hot seats to make sure everyone gets their time.
• Ask people not to leave the venue during lunch so we can start on time.