Success Squad | Lisa Anderson Shaffer and Sarah Deragon
What do you do once you’ve carved out a niche for your small business? Lisa and I think that you need to get some perspective! Having people that you trust outside of your inner circle of friends that knew you before you started being an entrepreneur is critical to success.
One of the best things we’ve done for ourselves is becoming a part of an incredible group of women who own small creative businesses called the Success Squad. In the beginning, we met once a month and shared what we've accomplished and then we plot out our aspirational goals for the next 30 days. We hold each other accountable and cheer each other on through Facebook likes, blog comments, repining on Pinterest, emails and text messages. Knowing that this group of lady entrepreneurs have your back is awesome! We gave each other advice; encouragement, necessary ass kickings, suggestions, recommendations and referrals are part of being in the group. In 2013, we started facilitating a monthly Success Squad at the Makeshift Society and we shook up the structure to reflect the various disciplines and schedules of members. We currently run the group drop in style, which has many advantages when it comes to encouraging creativity and innovative ideas. We will dive deeper into the psych behind the concept at our talk on November 19th.
So, if you wanted to start your own Success Squad what do you do? Here's the recipe!
1. Find a cool name - you can totally use the Success Squad!
2. Invite a core group of people- we started out with 10 women and with people's schedules and such we usually have about 6 people there. I've found that the fewer people there - the more in depth the conversation is.
3. Start a Google Group and add everyone to the group.
4. Collect everyone's information and send it out to the group. I chose to collect people's names, email, Facebook, Pinterest, blog, website, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn profile. Lots of ways to be connected these days, whoa!
5. Communicate your expectations about attendance; we had a rule in the beginning that you couldn’t miss more than 3 meetings. Is this harsh? Perhaps, but it is hard to build rapport and have honest conversations if different members are there each time. The current group at Makeshift Society works on a drop in basis and has a very different vibe, but works really well at creating a fertile environment for innovative ideas. We will talk more on this at Strategy TNT.
6. Set time limits on how long people can talk. Five minutes each works for us when there are multiple presenters. We allow follow up questions to each member once they're done talking. I like this time limit because it ensures that everyone gets to talk and keeps us on task. With one presenter we allow 20 minutes and 30 for follow up.
7. Have someone take notes. I'm the official note taker; mostly because I know what information I want collected/shared. Can you task this out to other members? Hell yes, but the quality of the notes might not be what you want. I'm kind of controlling like that - I know what I want, so I write the notes. Folks can add to them later on in case I missed a tidbit of wisdom. I always welcome additions to the notes.
8. Pick a spot to meet where there are large tables. This is easy in San Francisco because we have so many wonderful coffee shops. Some of our locations have been better than others due to noise, but just don't grab the table by the espresso machine and you should be fine.
9. Have a different discussion topic each time you meet for the second half of the meeting. The last two meetings we've had one of our members has suggested the topic and I love that. Not everything you suggest will be accepted or even considered by the group and don't take it too personally. I wanted everyone to look at this work style profile thing I'd done at my day job and no one was really into it. We talked about marketing and branding instead and that's totally fine.
10. Encourage everyone to collaborate with one another outside of the group. This has been my absolute favorite thing about being the leader of the Success Squad! The group participants have worked together in so many different ways and it warms my heart. Collaboration is one of my favorite things about watching creative people work together....we do it so so differently and so so well.
11. Remember that the group you're forming is dynamic and there's an ebb and flow to how things will work/not work. Thank everyone for coming, be his or her biggest cheerleader and remember that this space you've created is special and wonderful and only temporary. I wish that the Success Squad we have now will be able to meet forever, but that simply isn't possible, so I cherish each email, each member and each meeting. Without this sharing of ideas and support, I wouldn't be as fearless as I am today.
12. Lead by example. Share your ideas, behind the scenes info about your business and be open and encouraging of collaboration. No one is going to want to share his or her challenges or ideas in a forum that doesn’t feel supportive and safe. Take charge and let your participants know you are a leader and will support and contain the group. Also, be sure to take the time to present your own challenges and ideas on occasion. Let participants know you have similar successes and failures. It’s all about putting our heads together to create new ideas together!
Join us on November 19 for a more in depth look at Success Squad. We will be talking about the benefits, challenges, and a little good old fashioned psychology regarding getting a group of peers together for a constructive feedback group. Can’t wait to see you there!