I started a new mastermind group on Tuesday afternoon with a group of small business owners who didn’t know each other. You’ll probably be in the same situation every time you begin a new group, so I’d like to give you some tips about how to approach the first meeting of a new group.

Building connections and trust

Know that the first meeting will be a little awkward. Members are just getting to know one another. They don’t know each other’s backgrounds, goals, or projects. This means the first few hot seats won’t go as deeply as they will in later meetings. And members miss subtle queues because they don’t have enough information about each other yet.

The more your members get to know one another, the more powerful the hot seats become because everyone can laser-focus on the most important elements. Your job as the facilitator is to prep each member for their hot seat so that it’s as focused as possible. Over time, members begin to do this automatically as they get into the rhythm of each other’s goal and project discussions.

Because members don’t know each other’s mindset, these first few hot seats might focus more on practical solutions rather than underlying reasons why a member is stuck. As members connect more deeply, they’re more willing to ask questions about motivation, stress, values, limiting beliefs, etc.

Getting to know you

Start off your meeting with introductions. Keep them short because you’re asking your members to take in a lot of new information all at once.

I like to pair introductions with some insights into each member’s goals, so I stick with this simple formula:

• Tell us your name
• Where you are located
• Who your target audience is (because they are all small business owners in my group)
• What your top two goals are for the next 90 days

You can also ask them to write a short biography to share before the first meeting. However, I have found that some people either don’t have the time to do this or don’t enjoy writing, so there is not 100% participation in this biography-sharing exercise. That’s why I like to do introductions verbally in the first meeting.

How does this group work?

Set a solid foundation about how the group will work so that members feel comfortable. Explain how the meeting agenda will flow, how often members get in the hot seat and an overview of the structure of a hot seat. In my case, some of the group members had been in previous mastermind groups with me. I wanted to make sure they understood the differences between the way our current group meetings would work compared to meetings they might have had in the past.

One big benefit of mastermind groups is getting support to create sound project plans and actually get things done. If accountability is a part of your mastermind group process, explain to them how it will work.

• Will they share their project plans during the meeting, or after each meeting?
• When and how often will they share what they’ve been able to accomplish?
• How often can they ask for help if they get stuck between meetings?

If you plan your first meeting with these ideas in mind, you’ll create a better experience for your new members. And your second meeting will be amazing!

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.