Quantum Circles FAQs

I have a good network of personal and professional friends. Why should I also join a Quantum Circle? 

Many leaders are fortunate to have a trusted group of friends, family, and business colleagues who offer valuable advice and support. A Quantum Circle complements those relationships:

• The Circle includes people with whom you have no previous substantive relationship and no conflicts of interest. It thus provides a new and fresh perspective from peers who have faced similar challenges. 
• The structure and norms of Circle ensure you can efficiently and effectively address important issues, in a way that informal conversations may not allow.
• It’s on your calendar. The discipline of Circle ensures that you regularly step back and reflect on where you’ve been and where you are going.

Is Circle right for me?

A Quantum Circle can be a powerful, even transformative, experience for those who are:

• Interested in building meaningful relationships with fellow members.
• Ready to step outside of one’s comfort zone by being open and vulnerable, which are key to building connections and a foundation of trust.
• Open to change, with a genuine interest in learning and growth as a person.
• Willing and flexible to try new processes
• Willing to speak openly about concerns, but with a respect for the group’s decisions.

What about confidentiality?

Confidentiality is critical to building the trust that facilitates meaningful discussion in the Circle environment. Circle members agree to keep all matters discussed confidential and not to be shared with people outside the group. You are free to share your own learnings and takeaways from the Circle but not the experiences, stories, and challenges you heard about from your peers. 

How do you match people into Circles? 

We use the information from the Quantum Circles Signup Form and the personal interview to assemble a group that is likely to develop an effective Circle together. We aim to have a mix of people who face similar challenges but who also have diverse perspectives so that there’s a good exchange of ideas. The primary criteria include scope of responsibility, size of the organization, and geographic proximity. 

What happens during the orientation sessions? 

A Circle Guide leads the first two Circle meetings, typically both taking place within the first month. During these two meetings members learn the guiding principles of Circles, build the foundation of a group dynamic, and participate in the established peer-learning agenda meeting that will be used for the following meetings. Orientation sets the groundwork and structure for self-facilitated monthly meetings. 

What happens during a Circle meeting?

The first meeting is a unique agenda designed to connect the group and build the connection and process foundations for what’s to come. 

The following meetings follow the same ‘challenge exploration’ agenda. Here’s an example of what happens in a typical Circle meeting.

A sample agenda follows.

Where do Circle meetings take place?

No travel needed! Circles is an online platform custom-built for peer learning. You join from a laptop using video as it maximizes engagement and deepens relationships and trust. You can join from the convenience of your desk or home with the added benefit of saving time and eliminating travel costs and the environmental impact.

What happens if my Circle can’t answer my question? 

At the end of every meeting, a Circle Guide gets a summary as well as any outstanding questions or issues, including requesting a subject matter expert. The Guide will work with Quantum to identify a subject matter expert who could join the group in a future meeting to answer any open questions and share best practices. So when the group agrees it’s valuable to get this outside advice, the Guide will arrange for that.

How can I learn more? 

Email us at circles@quantam.flywheelsites.com. We also hold informational conference calls, designed to address the following: 

• Learn how being a member of a Quantum Circles will have an impact on your professional and personal life
• Hear what has made the peer-based forum approach so successful
• Be able to ask questions to better understand the benefits and membership commitments

The next Quantum Circles informational conference calls will be on XXXX. Register to receive the conference call information.