Setting your Forum up for a year of high takeaway value for all members starts with creating a strong Annual Forum Plan. This plan, of course, involves picking dates and locations for your monthly meetings and annual retreat, but there are so many more valuable steps to consider.
Your Annual Forum Plan will help all of your members understand where they’re at, where they want to be, and how they can get there—and it starts with completing an in-depth Forum Alignment Exercise.
Complete a Forum Alignment Exercise
Each year, your Forum can take advantage of a resource such as the Forum 2.0® Forum Alignment worksheet, also known as the 3 B’s. This exercise helps each member prioritize what they’re hoping to gain from their Forum experience in the coming year, and focuses on three main areas:
- A member wants to grow their company and seeks their Forum mates’ wisdom and experiences for guidance.
- Perhaps a member is searching for a healthier work-life balance and knows their Forum can provide helpful and holistic input.
- Forums don’t only provide professional value—they also foster close friendships and long-lasting interpersonal relationships, and a member might prioritize this in their Forum experience.
The worksheet guides each member to look forward to the coming year through the lens of what they can offer to the Forum and what they hope to provide to the rest of the group. Once everyone has completed the exercise, it’s helpful to allocate part of an upcoming meeting’s agenda to an open discussion about each member’s answers.
Take a Forum Health Survey
A lot of Forums may seem healthy on the surface, but the strongest Forums take an in-depth look to understand how healthy they actually are. Taking a Forum Health Survey can offer a glimpse into how each member truly feels.
These surveys are ideal for Forums that want to reach the next level together. They require honesty and the ability to work through potential conflict. Gaining a thorough understanding of each individual’s feelings, hopes, and hesitations brings members together, deepens connections, and helps the Forum thrive as a group.
Review and Update the Forum Norms/Constitution
Not all Forums take the time to annually review and update their Norms/Constitutions. Unfortunately, this means that some agreements (such as in-person meeting attendance, financial obligations, group size, meeting length, and meeting frequency) likely aren’t being upheld.
Your Annual Forum Plan should include a thorough read-through of your Norms/Constitution. Members may request changes that the group can vote on, and everyone should re-sign the document every 12 months. This will help ensure that the entire Forum is aligned and can move forward into planning a year’s worth of meetings and events that will provide maximum takeaway value to each member.
Assign Member Roles
Whatever schedule your Forum operates on (calendar year, fiscal year, or a unique calendar), part of your annual planning should involve assigning roles to members. This keeps all members involved in the healthy operations of the Forum and helps to share some of the Moderator’s responsibilities. Roles include:
- Moderator
- Moderator Elect
- Treasurer
- Retreat Planner(s)
- Parking Lot Attendant
- Social Chair
- Technology/Administrative
- Other roles unique to your Forum
Some Forums choose their roles through elections, rotations, or other methods. However your Forum operates, make sure you have the roles assigned early so each person understands what’s expected of them throughout the coming year.
Create Your Annual Meeting Calendar
Part of your Annual Forum Plan involves the monthly meeting logistics. In addition to identifying the date, time, and location, there are a few more details to consider, including the ice breaker exercise you’ll use to kick off each meeting and choosing the Presenter and Coach.
Most Forums use one of these three methods to create their meeting calendar for the year:
- Pick a certain consistent day, such as the second Tuesday of each month.
- Open your calendars and schedule the entire year based on members’ availability.
- If members don’t know their schedules in advance, the meetings can be scheduled one at a time throughout the year.
Any of these methods is perfectly fine, as long as the entire Forum is aligned on the process.
Review and Update Your Parking Lot
Having a strong Parking Lot strengthens your Forum by leading to deeper conversations and increasing takeaway value for everyone. When your Parking Lot is full of interesting topics that provide impact for each Presenter and the other members, the entire Forum will look forward to the monthly meetings as opportunities to learn from each other and support each other.
Ensure that each member will have the opportunity to present and consider ramping up their presentations with alternative formats and the Forum 2.0® Q2 Parking Lot Builder. In addition to individual topics, include a list of group Parking Lot topics that the entire Forum wants to learn about to foster continued growth, engagement, and value for all members.
Begin Planning the Forum Retreat
Don’t procrastinate on planning your out-of-town events. Equip yourself with our Annual Forum Retreat Planning Checklist and start thinking about dates, locations, and activities for your retreat. Since your Retreat Planner(s) will be assigned as part of your Annual Forum Plan, they can begin right away.
For the best possible retreat experience, our ForumSherpa Certified Facilitators recommend that Forums begin their retreat planning process at least six months in advance.
Optional: Set Annual Goals
Many Forums choose to set shared goals as part of their Annual Forum Plan. Here are a few ideas:
- Attend one Chapter Event in the coming year
- Increase the meeting takeaway value from a 7.5 rating to 9 or above
- Read a book about AI or cybersecurity and hold a discussion about it
- Organize a summertime event with all members’ spouses and kids
Some Forums also like to set individual goals for the members to hold each other accountable. Similar to the group goals, these can be personal or professional. For example, a member might want the Forum to hold them accountable for an annual goal such as:
- Hiring a VP of Operations
- Achieving a better work/life balance by spending less than 50 hours per week at the office
- Establishing a college fund for children or grandchildren
- Running a marathon in a different country
Regardless of whether the goals are Forum-oriented or individual, they should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound). SMART goals will help the Forum stay on track so they can best support each other.
If your Forum decides to incorporate goals into your Annual Plan, be sure to dedicate part of each meeting’s agenda to a brief check-in where each member can provide an update. Even ten minutes per meeting can help the group—and each individual—remain focused throughout the year.
Optional: Discuss & Decide on an Annual Theme
One way to keep things fresh and interesting—especially if your Forum has been together for a number of years—is to focus on an Annual Theme. The Forum chooses a theme based on mutual interest, and members work both individually and as a group throughout the year toward achieving the theme’s goals.
The possibilities for an Annual Theme are endless. Topics can focus on business, personal life, technology, education, and other facets of life. The timing can also be flexible: although each theme typically spans a 12-month period, you can launch them anytime. Different Forums might choose to begin with the calendar year, a change in Moderator, or at the Annual Retreat.
Need a Hand With Your Annual Forum Plan? Our Certified Facilitators Can Help.
An effective Annual Forum Plan serves as a solid foundation for your Forum and all of its members—and we’re here to help set you up for success. Our ForumSherpa Certified Facilitators have decades of personal experience in peer group Forums and can help you build a plan that maximizes impact and takeaway value.
Tell us about your Forum today, and we’ll help you plan a Forum meeting, retreat, or boost that focuses on creating a great Annual Plan!