How to make your Circle meetings a success

These tips are based on our own research and advice from Circles leaders on what works best. For more specific advice on hosting your first Circle meeting, see How to run a great first Circle meeting.

Circles are as different as the women who join them, but our top Circle leaders say these tips will help make your Circle meetings a success—no matter the group.

• Agree on a set of shared goals. After your first few Circle meetings, take time as a group to agree to some shared goals. They will help you choose relevant topics for discussion, gauge the success of your meetings, and generally stay on track.
• Simple preparation goes a long way. The monthly moderator should come prepared and provide structure for the meeting. This includes making sure they share with everyone ahead of time what they’ll cover at your upcoming meeting.
• Moderators should feel empowered to guide the discussion. The moderator needs to make sure the discussion stays on track, is inclusive of all members, and provides an actionable outcome. Moderating is a great opportunity to step up and lead.
• Make sure all members feel empowered to share. As a moderator, if you notice that some members are hesitant to speak up, encourage them to do so. Do your best to make sure everyone feels included.
• Decide on a “One Action” at the end of each meeting. We recommend you close every Circle meeting by committing to a “One Action”—one concrete thing you’re going to do before your next Circle meeting to step outside your comfort zone or practice a new skill. For example, if you talked about work-life balance, set a goal of leaving the office at 5 p.m. at least once every week. You’ll see a prompt for setting your One Action in each of our all-in-one meeting guides.