Groups

When working with people, it's easy to think, "Okay, all I have to do is figure out who is important, become intentional about those relationships, and all will be well, right?" That is better than nothing and, in fact, is how we started. But we soon burned out on that version of People Work. Why? Without a strategy, you don't see why you're doing what you're doing, and adding more and more people to the system feels like a chore.

The Four Groups

Groups help you solve this problem. In People Work there are four:

1. Align: these are the stakeholders who are critical to your success. These are people who will advocate for you when you're not in the room.
2. Partner: these are your peers, people who can relate to your problems and who can therefore help you solve them. This forms a community of other people playing the same game whom you can work with to achieve your broader goals.
3. Guide: these are people you need to coach or mentor, usually within a context that supports your overall vision. This keeps your approach grounded in reality.
4. Network: this is the rest of your network; most of your contacts end up here.

Start with ten to twenty contacts overall. As your network grows, keep each of the first three groups focused on no more than six to eight contacts and prioritize those relationships. That focus will go a long way.

Also, feel free to move people in and out of the groups. Remember, no one is watching this! No one's feelings will be hurt. Be ruthless about what works for you and your goals and which relationships offer mutual support.

Make the Groups Your Own

Finally, you don't have to take the names of these groups literally. My groups are:

1. Align (Customers): important customers who help me understand and advocate for a segment of my customer base.
2. Partner (Entrepreneurs): people, mostly in the Colorado Front Range, whom I can support and who can support me in my entrepreneurial journey.
3. Guide (Prospects): people who are interested in the app and whom I need to interview.
4. Everyone else.

These groups, at the time of this writing, fit what I need because I'm mostly focused on making this app usable and valuable to its customers as I work toward product-market fit. When that focus changes, I'll change the meaning of my groups, primarily by updating each group's context. Feel free to change yours over time, too.

From Contacts to Strategy

Identifying contacts and regularly interacting with them is one level. You reach another when you develop a strategy around your goals that allows you to focus on contacts who can create an exponential outcome for you and them. Groups are what make that possible.