A mastermind accountability group takes the best of two worlds. That being a mastermind group that revolves around the mantra, ‘more heads are better than one,’ when accomplishing a goal, and an accountability group that believes feedback leads to changes in behavior. To understand what a mastermind accountability group is, we need to understand what benefits a mastermind group can bring, in comparison, to what benefits come with an accountability group.
Mastermind groups are effective for people that want to expand their expertise in a particular field. It allows people to bounce ideas off one another and come back to their industry with new ideas to try out. Whereas, an accountability group focuses more on building good habits and implementing consistency to ensure that everyone in the group achieves their goals through feedback rather than judgment.
A mastermind accountability group takes both aspects. It allows people to build effective habits, so they are always in the best possible mindset to tackle new ideas that can potentially grow their business. Whether that is getting up early to exercise to create a clear mind for the impending word day or completing mental exercises to help facilitate your long-term business goals, it revolves around like-minded individuals who focus on consistency and creating long-lasting habits that ensure you can see your projects through to completion.
To learn how to build the perfect mastermind accountability group, keep scrolling.
Five Essential Rules to Building a Mastermind Accountability Group
When building your mastermind accountability group, there are five essential rules you must follow.
Choose Your Members Wisely
You need members to get a group together. A group will have three or more members. When selecting individuals to join your team, you must choose wisely. Adding the wrong person can cause internal problems, or in worst cases, disband the group. When choosing your members, keep these things in mind:
They must relate to you on a personal level.
- Do you guys have similar tastes?
- Can you joke around?
- Do you feel comfortable around them?
- Is it easy to communicate with each other?
- Do you share the same goals?
They must have a similar experience.
- Do their past experiences match yours?
- Can you guys relate to each other’s experiences?
- Do you work in the same field?
- Can you relate to each other’s views?
They cannot be your competitors.
- Are you directly competing with them for customers or relationships?
- Is there a conflict of interest when it comes to goals?
- Would accomplishing your goals hinder other members from achieving theirs?
- Can you trust the feedback you are getting?
Set Ground Rules Immediately
Just like any team or group, you need to set the ground rules so everyone knows what is acceptable. These ground rules should include meeting fees, meeting times and days, acceptable behavior, the number of strikes a person can have before forfeiting their membership and other regulations that will keep the peace within your group.
Every group will have a different set of rules, but you can research online for basic regulations. From there, you can add or adapt to what fits best with your members. You need to ensure that each member benefits from the group; otherwise, the balance of how much each member is benefiting will tilt, which results in members straying away or leaving the group.
Have a Clear Agenda and Structure for Each Meeting
If you want your meetings to go smoothly and have members ready for each meet-up, then you need to have a clear agenda and structure for each meeting. You want to be sure that each member walks away from the meeting with a clear action that they want to move forward with. The majority of mastermind meetings occur typically once a month, but the frequency of these meetings is completely up to the members.
Decide Upon a Group Leader
Every great, successful group needs a leader to keep the group on track. The leader must remain impartial. The goal of a mastermind accountability group is to give constructive feedback to encourage effective habits. To accomplish this, there can be no judgment. The best way to keep things fair is to vote for a new group leader every year. This way, you can have a variety of perspectives as being the head as well.
Share Evenly
As a mastermind accountability group, you must give every person a task or something they are in charge of. This allows each member to hold each other accountable while creating a net benefit for every member. While accomplishing all your goals in a fast and timely manner sounds amazing, you need to remember that you are a beacon of support for other members of the group as well.
Just as much as your team listens and contributes to accomplishing your goals, you need to reciprocate that selflessly for the group to function as designed. Things are bound to go wrong here and there, but as long as you can keep every member engaged in each other’s goals and walk away from each meeting with the confidence needed to complete said goals, your group should meet success.
What are the Benefits of a Mastermind Accountability Group?
Many benefits come from joining or starting a mastermind accountability group. Here are just a few:
Mutual Support
One of the best benefits you can get from a mastermind group is mutual support. These people are experiencing the same things you are. So, if anyone knows how you are feeling, it is them. Some of the best ways to offer mutual support are through holding each other accountable for your future goals, whether they are business-oriented or personal goals. This aspect appears through different means such as 30-day challenges to meet goals, offering feedback on performance and methods of achieving a goal.
Differing Perspectives
To truly learn from others, you need to have a group of individuals who have differing perspectives on some subjects. It is important to keep in mind that to advance your own goals, you not only need to learn new things but make the things you already learned more effective. In other words, learn how to execute what you already know but faster and with more emphasis on being time-efficient. By getting varying perspectives, you open your mind to new resources and knowledge that you can use to improve your own projects.
Resources
Since multiple people are joining your group, each person arrives with at least three resources. These resources include their connections, their expertise and their experiences. To get anywhere in the business world, you need to have not only the right information or examples but the right connections as well. You can only get so far with your expertise, so having a reliable group to back you up and give you additional help will get you further along in your business goal. Plus, you will also provide valuable resources that can help other people in your group.
Accountability
Accountability is one of the words in a mastermind accountability group. You joined this group to not only become a mastermind but also be accountable for everything you do. Each member will have a task that they are in charge of. The leader of your mastermind group will check in periodically or once a meeting to make sure you are following through with your job. This is a great aspect, especially if you are trying to become a more accountable person or need accountability advice for your own business.
How do I Run a Mastermind Accountability Group?
Now that you have your group members, it is time to start running your meetings and the logistics.
Meet Regularly and Precisely
Just like if you were on a sports team, you have to meet with your group regularly to become a stronger group. Every group is different when it comes to scheduling. To know what works best for your members, collect a schedule from them that explains their availability and responsibilities. Accountability is very important when it comes to these meetings, so make sure you value each member’s time and be punctual.
Give Each Member Equal Time
Depending on how big your group is, you may be spending a good chunk of time listening to every member talk. Some members talk more than others, which can cause uneven speaking times and not getting to everyone. To keep everything fair and every one content, you need to give each member equal speaking or presenting time. When creating your ground rules, place a limit for talking.
Don’t Interrupt
One of the worst things you can do in any meeting is interrupt anyone who has the floor. Plus, the impression you will give off to the other members is rude or self-centered. And who wants to do that? It is very important to remember that the whole point of the group is to include the feedback of every member to ensure that you can grow from each other’s input. If you talk over other members and only care about your own goals, this can lead to people leaving the group or potentially creating more conflict than benefit.
Decide if You Need an Agenda
While you want a clear overarching agenda, not every group has a plan for each meeting. And if that is how your group functions, then there is no issue. It will only become a problem if chaos takes over, and it causes more negative outcomes than positive ones. When distributing high-level positions, discuss if someone needs to have a coordinating or agenda-creating task to keep things flowing smoothly.
Decide on Whether You Need a Facilitator
Many people confuse a leader and a facilitator. A leader is a person who is the head of a group. They create the goals, pass out responsibilities and keep basic order. But some groups may have strong-minded and well-spoken members that may cause conflict within the team.
To keep the peace between everyone and keep things flowing smoothly during a meeting, you may need a facilitator. The best way to know if you do is to have a group vote and look into each member’s personality.
An alternative to choosing only one leader would be to have team leads instead, with each lead having particular expertise on the subject which everyone is trying to grow. An expert or a business coach can also facilitate a mastermind group for a price.
Capture
Your mastermind accountability group will continue to flourish if you not only capture your members’ and potential members’ attention but also capture your goals. Keep the group lively, exciting, informative and helpful. You should also keep track of your ambitions, how you are currently achieving them and what you should do to improve. Do not forget to share your findings with the entire group.
Additional Helpful Recommendations
Here are a couple more things you need to keep in mind when building your mastermind accountability group:
How much do mastermind groups cost?
The cost varies for joining a mastermind group. On average, the group collectively will spend about $300 per month. But larger or more well-known groups may cost $1,500 a month. Each member splits the cost. So, if you join a big enough sector, you could be spending $20 to $50 per month on the group. While some groups can be pricier ranging from $5000 to $10,000 per month, you should be more than happy to know that many mastermind groups are free of charge.
How often do mastermind groups meet?
The amount of times your group meets depends on everyone’s schedule and the group’s overall goals. Typically, groups meet either weekly, bi-weekly, monthly or bi-monthly. You want to meet at least once every 60 days to stay on top of everyone in the group and the team’s goals. Always communicate with all the members to see what fits best with everyone’s schedule.
By following the guide above, you can create a successful mastermind accountability group that will not only help you and your business but other people as well. Want more interesting articles or facts about other industries? Then, subscribe to our blog today.