Every Forum has a different communication rhythm between meetings. Some email and group chat frequently, which is a best practice, while others only email what I call “The Essential Five.”
For your Forum, if nothing else, make sure these essential five emails go out to the group between meetings.
1) Pre-Forum Prep – This email should be sent out one week prior to the next meeting by the Moderator to give everyone ample time to prep everything needed for the meeting. Here’s a template for the email:
SUBJECT: Forum Prep Email for [DATE]
Hi Team, [insert something personal here].
Here’s everything you need to be ready to rock and roll:
Date: [DAY-OF-WEEK / DATE]
Time: [TIME]
Location: [ADDRESS/VIDEO LINK]
Dinner: [TBD]
Agenda: [AGENDA-URL]
Monthly Update: [MONTHLY-UPDATE-URL]
Forum Folder: [FORUM-FOLDER-URL]
When done right, a monthly update should take you around 45 mins to fill in and reflect on the past 30 days. So don’t cheat yourself from the real value by quickly filling this out right before the meeting. A great update is one you’ve written out ahead of time and could even pass your update to someone else in the group to read for you because you’ve put that much thought into it.
That’s it for now, see you all soon!
2) Post-Forum Wrap Up – This email should be sent out right after the Forum meeting by the Moderator as a way to recap important information and action steps from the meeting. Here’s a template for the email:
SUBJECT: Forum [DATE] – Forum Follow Up Email
Hi Team, [insert something personal].Here are a few things to help wrap-up our Forum Meeting:
NEXT MEETING: [DATE]
PRESENTER/COACH: [PRESENTER-NAME] coached by [COACH-NAME]
NEEDS: Everyone follows up as needed.
GOALS: [GOALS-KEEPER-NAME] will update this in the Goals Doc and send out an email to everyone right away, as well
as a reminder email closer to the next Forum meeting.
FINES/PENALTIES: [INPUT IF NEEDED]
FORUM FOLDER > [FORUM-FOLDER-URL]
That’s it for now! Cheers.
3) Immediate Goals Reminder – This email should be sent out right away after the Forum meeting by the Goals-Keeper as a way to remind everyone of the goals they committed to in the Forum for next month. Here’s a template for the email:
SUBJECT: Forum [DATE] – Goals Follow Up Email
Hi Team, [say something personal here]
Just a quick reminder that here are the goals you committed to at the meeting for next time. Let’s push each other to get all greens this time!
[PASTE GOALS HERE]
4) Final Goals Reminder – This email should be sent out one week prior to the next meeting by the Goals-Keeper as a way to give everyone one final reminder to achieve all their goals prior to the next meeting. Here’s a template for the email:
SUBJECT: Forum Goals Reminder
Hi Team, [say something personal here]
Our next Forum is just a few days away and so I’m giving you one last reminder about your goals in hopes that you complete them.[PASTE GOALS HERE]
5) Presentation/Coach Prep – This email should be sent out within two weeks after the Forum meeting by the PRESENTER to the COACH as a way to set up a coaching meeting prior to the next Forum. Here’s a template for the email:
SUBJECT: Forum Coach/Presentation Prep
Hi [COACH NAME],
It’s time to get this coaching for my presentation going! The first step is to lock in a date for us to meet. Email me some 1-hour time blocks that work for you coming up and I’ll pick one.
Prior to that meeting, I’ll fill out a “Presenter Pre-Worksheet” and email it to you.
Everything we need for the coaching session is uploaded to this Google Folder > [PRESENTATION-FOLDER-URL]
Before that meeting, I’ll fill out a “Presenter Pre-Worksheet” and email it to you.