A men's group is one of the most impactful things you can do for your personal growth. This is a simple breakdown of the techniques, rules and communication frameworks that will help you to start one.
Thank you for this guide. I couldn’t agree more with your sentiment; our group has been going strong in LA for 4+ years and there has been no bigger catalyst for growth or support in my life. I thought I’d also share a few tools that have been helpful for us.
I created an attendance planner years ago that has helped us manage and track attendance and cycle weekly leads evenly. Here is a sample template: https://rb.gy/eei170
We also created an inquiry guide to taking men deeper into their shares: https://rb.gy/8nvp21
I am always curious about what other groups are using to stay organized. Especially when it comes to tracking weekly stretch goals our current system is not functioning well. Does anyone have a solid system for this?
This is a helpful resource you shared. I'm curious why you track attendance. What purpose does it serve for your group? Also, when you say "stretch goals" can you please further clarify. Thank you so much!
Hi Brandon, great question. When you are doing a men's group, everyone in the group will typically be busy in their own way... work, family and social life. As soon as people start missing for unexcused absences (i.e. being busy) an energy naturally emerges where the guys who are prioritizing group (not missing) perceived the other guys are not taking the commitment as seriously. When there is a disparity in how committed people are to the group, the intimacy and trust in the group starts to break down.
I will also say, that there are "open" groups where you can just drop in and come when you want in a lot of places. I thinkthose are great and have there place, but it is not even close to the intimacy and growth that we can achieve with a well-defined and committed group of people.
+1 on everything Andrew shared. Accountability creates safety. This is also a means of staying organized on who is leading each group and how many guys we have planned to attend. We also move our location each week so this serves as our meeting location tracker as well.
http://www.globalsisterhood.com domain is now for sale, so if your friends are still doing their great work with women’s groups, they might have a new website/domain.
In the meantime: +1 on everything you’ve shared here Andrew! I have some experience with men’s groups and have been wanting to start one for the last couple years — and will be crafting my invitation letter and sending it out in the next couple months. (So I may reach out to you again for some more advice…) 😊👍👍
Thank you for sharing this Andrew. I just co-led a Men's Group in SF and reviewing the initial experience your insight really resonates with me. I am curious from your experience if the fines were effective as a deterrent or pushed people out the door.
I think they were helpful in getting people to take the agreements more seriously. We just used all that fine money on the retreats and group adventures so it was making group more awesome for the guys who were participating.
You have to be willing to risk the group to keep the group. The guys who don’t consistently follow agreements will make it much more difficult for everyone else to take it seriously
Super helpful, mind if I add this to the guide?
Happy to contribute! This was a super helpful post.
Thank you for this guide. I couldn’t agree more with your sentiment; our group has been going strong in LA for 4+ years and there has been no bigger catalyst for growth or support in my life. I thought I’d also share a few tools that have been helpful for us.
I created an attendance planner years ago that has helped us manage and track attendance and cycle weekly leads evenly. Here is a sample template: https://rb.gy/eei170
We also created an inquiry guide to taking men deeper into their shares: https://rb.gy/8nvp21
I am always curious about what other groups are using to stay organized. Especially when it comes to tracking weekly stretch goals our current system is not functioning well. Does anyone have a solid system for this?
Thanks again Andrew.
This is a helpful resource you shared. I'm curious why you track attendance. What purpose does it serve for your group? Also, when you say "stretch goals" can you please further clarify. Thank you so much!
Hi Brandon, great question. When you are doing a men's group, everyone in the group will typically be busy in their own way... work, family and social life. As soon as people start missing for unexcused absences (i.e. being busy) an energy naturally emerges where the guys who are prioritizing group (not missing) perceived the other guys are not taking the commitment as seriously. When there is a disparity in how committed people are to the group, the intimacy and trust in the group starts to break down.
I will also say, that there are "open" groups where you can just drop in and come when you want in a lot of places. I thinkthose are great and have there place, but it is not even close to the intimacy and growth that we can achieve with a well-defined and committed group of people.
So the tracking is really to encourage attendance. There's no consequence for x meetings being missed.
+1 on everything Andrew shared. Accountability creates safety. This is also a means of staying organized on who is leading each group and how many guys we have planned to attend. We also move our location each week so this serves as our meeting location tracker as well.
http://www.globalsisterhood.com domain is now for sale, so if your friends are still doing their great work with women’s groups, they might have a new website/domain.
In the meantime: +1 on everything you’ve shared here Andrew! I have some experience with men’s groups and have been wanting to start one for the last couple years — and will be crafting my invitation letter and sending it out in the next couple months. (So I may reach out to you again for some more advice…) 😊👍👍
whoops - it is a .org
Thank you for sharing this Andrew. I just co-led a Men's Group in SF and reviewing the initial experience your insight really resonates with me. I am curious from your experience if the fines were effective as a deterrent or pushed people out the door.
I think they were helpful in getting people to take the agreements more seriously. We just used all that fine money on the retreats and group adventures so it was making group more awesome for the guys who were participating.
You have to be willing to risk the group to keep the group. The guys who don’t consistently follow agreements will make it much more difficult for everyone else to take it seriously