Photo by davisuko on Unsplash

Should you bring a new member into an already formed small or medium-sized group?  The answer, as always, is "it depends!" 

 We're not going to be talking about what (conversions) might make the most money in the short term... here. We're talking about the most value to the members, which of course, in turn, could correlate to referrals and testimonials and money in the long term. 

So let's get the obvious out of the way.  If you're forming an evergreen group, then, of course, you should find a way to keep adding new members... With a short-term group, though (say maybe up to around a dozen weeks long), it might be a little different... especially if your program is linear or builds week to week. 

The most powerful transformation happens if your Group is one where members interact and support each other and get support, So HOW you bring in new members and WHO you bring in matters a lot. You may want to NOT bring new members in the middle. 

One big reason: When you have a group program, creating and protecting the culture of the Group is perhaps the MOST important thing.   A highly positive and engaged group culture might be the MOST valuable thing to your group members.  Engaged members inspire other members!  And it means a lot less work for you.  

But even an engaged group can be affected by new members.   Here are some questions to ask yourself when you're going to invite a new member in: 

•  Will the person come with the mindset of wanting to support the whole Group instead of taking and getting benefits only for themselves? 
• Do they have shared aspirations with the rest of the Group? 
• Are they sufficiently advanced in their journey to be relevant to the progressions of others in the Group? 

If the answers above are positive, then you also might want to think about the mechanics... 

• How could you integrate this person into an already established group? 
• What reference points does this person need to come up to speed before they are permitted to join? 
• What does your Group need to hear about this member's joining? 
• How could you design your session so that this new person can quickly have a voice in the Group? 

And a BONUS question:  

Is this person ready to dig in and take action?  If they aren't, they might hold the Group back and perhaps eventually be unsatisfied. 

What else do you think about when bringing in group members?  Please reply and let us know! 

One way that we added a member who joined our SureFire Group Coaching System 6-week program is our Add-A-Member activity. 

In this instance, we added the member between Week 1 and Week 2, and we closed it down starting in Week 2.  We had an onboarding call to ensure that the member came up to speed and watched the entire recording of Week 1 before allowing them in and help them understand the culture of the Group. 

The Add-A-Member activity helps the member share key relevant info efficiently, ensures that everyone welcomes that member, and ensures that the agreed-upon culture is reinforced. We also shared with everyone that the new member had seen the recording.

After that, we stopped enrollments because the program builds from foundational concepts.  If you want to join us LIVE, we're intentionally having you wait until the next round (watch for that in October!)

That creates space by increasing the Group's safety, allowing more connections with the new member without slowing down the program much and keeping everyone aligned. 

These are just a few of dozens of questions and principles for small to medium-sized groups that you'll need to create a high-safety and positively oriented Group.  And that's the kind of Group you should start if you want to create exponentially more value in your Group Coaching. 

Sending you Virtual Hugs,  

Rob & Daniel  

 P.S.  If you know any coaches who want to create authentic and transformational group experiences for their members with world-class Group Coaching and design skills, they'll love you for forwarding this email to them!  If you've been forwarded this email, opt-in for more information HERE.  

P.P.P.S.  Our foundational program (The Surefire Group Coaching System) is a 6-Week LIVE training & coaching experience, but it's currently closed while we run it.  We expect to reopen in late October... so stay subscribed so you can find out the next time it opens again!  Reply with the word WAITLIST if you'd like to be notified when we reopen enrollment.