A great way to increase the effectiveness of the Goals/Aims section of a Forum meeting is to set up accountability partners who meet between meetings. In a prior post, I shared the process of setting up these partners, so I’ll use this post to share a simple template you can use to run these meetings.
Of course, an in-person meeting is always the best, but it is usually not possible, so the second best is a video call that happens once a week between the Forum meeting. Here’s an outline for 15-30 mins.
Example Agenda
Opening and Check-in (2-3 minutes)
- Quick personal updates.
- Purpose review.
Review Previous Month’s Goals (8-10 minutes)
- Participant 1 reviews goals and progress.
- Participant 2 provides feedback.
- Switch roles.
Evaluate and Set New Monthly Goals (8-10 minutes)
- Participant 1 reflects and sets new goals.
- Participant 2 provides feedback.
- Switch roles.
Action Plan and Commitment (2-3 minutes)
- Summarize goals and action plans.
- Verbal commitment to support.
Closing (1-2 minutes)
- Express gratitude.
- Final thoughts.
- Positive closing.
A couple of notes on setting new goals:
- Set SMART Goals: Make sure the goals are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound).
- Make It Measurable: If a higher level goal can’t be measured (e.g., Being closer to your spouse.), then focus on the actions that you know will lead to the higher level goal and can be measured (e.g., going on one date night per week).
- Don’t Be Vague: Avoid using hard-to-measure words like “more, better, higher,” as these can be vague and subjective. Instead, opt for precise and quantifiable terms. For example:
- Instead of “exercise more,” specify “exercise for 30 minutes, five times a week.”
- Instead of “improve sales,” specify “increase sales by 10%.”
- Instead of “read more books,” specify “read one book per week.”
- Break Down Larger Goals: If a goal seems too large or overwhelming, break it down into smaller, more manageable tasks with milestones. For example, if the goal is to “launch a new product,” break it down into smaller steps like “complete market research,” “design the product,” and “create a marketing plan.”
- Align Goals with Values: Ensure your goals align with your core values and long-term objectives. This alignment provides motivation and a sense of purpose, making it easier to stay committed.
- Avoid Everyday Goals: Don’t make your goal require you to do something every day. It’s bound to fail. In fact, I’ve never seen it work. Life will happen and get in the way. Instead, pick something like four out of seven days.
- Push Yourself: Most Forums only allow space for three goals to be shared, so don’t pick goals that are already going to happen. Instead, choose goals that won’t necessarily happen without your group’s accountability.
- Don’t Pick Too Many: Some people want to list six goals for the month. The reality is that everyone has more than three goals for the month, but there is value in saying that out of everything that you have to do, these 3 are the MOST IMPORTANT goals. So, challenge yourself to choose only three goals.
Don’t Stack Your Goals: Some people want to put three goals into one space on their goals sheet. Avoid this habit for the same reasons as the prior point. But also, if you only get two out of the three goals done, then technically, it should get marked as “not done.”