Most mastermind groups last at least six months, and many last for years. But some prospective members have concerns about committing to a long-term mastermind group, especially if they’re new to a group. And sometimes you don’t need a group to last for six month or a year. After all, how long should your mastermind group live?

Here’s an antidote to the commitment problem: start your mastermind group and limit it to 90 days. In this way, members can get to know one another, mastermind and brainstorm together. It’s an opportunity to see if it’s a good “fit” for everyone. After the 90 days are up, the group can vote whether to continue or not.

90-day groups are also perfect when there is a specific goal for everyone in the group. For instance, I just finished designing a 90-day mastermind group that ran from May to July. We met every other week, so six meetings in a three-month period. Everyone’s focus was on designing and launching their individual marketing campaigns, so the 90-day period was the perfect amount of time for this intensive group who shared the same project and goal.

One mastermind group member wrote, “The concentrated group really helped me to look at my business differently and to attain a better approach to marketing and to fine-tune the services that I offer to my clients! Thanks for making it 90 days, perfect for me.” If your members are keen to get to their short-term goal, they’ll appreciate it when you design a group that supports the finish line.

Here are four key points to consider when designing this special type of mastermind group:

Pick a topic and goal

Typically, a mastermind group that meets for only 90-days is tied to a goal each member wants to achieve and has in common with the other members. Some ideas: design a marketing plan and/or launch one; get on a healthy diet; send your kids off to college; plan your budget for the coming year; study for an exam; find a new job and/or get a promotion; design your new business model.

How often you meet

Because you’re only meeting for 90 days, you have a shortened horizon for people to get to know, like and respect each other — to build the trust bonds of a strong mastermind group. Consider meeting every week or every two weeks during those 90 days so that people have the maximum exposure to one another and have a chance to connect as a group. Several years ago when I ran my Good Company mastermind group, we met every other week for three months.

Extreme commitment

Since your mastermind group will be of short duration, everyone must attend every meeting to get full value. You need written guidelines about the rules of mastermind group membership. Ask everyone to block those times out of their calendar in advance and commit to showing up. In this way, members are agreeing to participate fully in the group experience.

Length of meetings and Hot Seats

There’s always a toss-up between the value of shorter mastermind meetings versus longer ones. However, when you’re trying to provide great value in a short amount of time, consider lengthening the meeting time to longer than you might normally offer. A good rule of thumb: allow 15-30 minutes per Hot Seat, per month.

In my Good Company mastermind group, meetings were 90 minutes long and everyone rotated in the Hot Seat (most Hot Seats were 20 minutes). Each Good Company member got to be in the Hot Seat once a month. (In contrast, in my current Synergy Program, we meet monthly and meetings are two hours, so everyone gets a Hot Seat in every single meeting.) As you decide how long your meeting will run, be fair and make sure everyone gets an equal chance to be in the Hot Seat.

A 90-day mastermind group can kick-start your members, and help them gain rapid connection and get fast results. This keeps members coming back for more!

Want to learn how to start a mastermind group? Click here to get my free video tutorial on how to create a mastermind group of your own.