Circl.es Platform Updates

The Circles Team is excited to share about some of the awesome stuff that we’ve been working on. Read on to find out about the new features that we know you’re going to love.

One Circle to go, please!

Don’t want to miss your Circl.es session while you’re out and about? The CircleSpace Mobile/Tablet App allows you to connect from anywhere (with video!), while still enjoying the features that make for a powerful small group learning experience.

More Circles, More Learning!

Ever wish you could group into smaller circles to have a more focused or intimate conversation? Now you can: Breakout CircleSpaces multiply the power of your circle by creating additional spaces within sessions.

Track Your Progress

Gather new insights and learn more about your circles through the data in our improved dashboard and analytics sections.

Be There Or Be Square(d)

Maintain focus during sessions by engaging visual full-screen mode and blocking out background sounds with noise reduction.

For those who lose their keys

We’ve made logging in easier than ever; Single Sign-on (SSO) allows new users to sign up with Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Microsoft & Okta.

What’s next?

Our community is growing and we’re offering more ways than ever for you to stay in the loop as we expand. Check out our latest blog post, and connect with us on LinkedInInstagram and Facebook #circlesnotrows. We’re excited about these updates, and as always we welcome your feedback. 

Please feel free to reach out with any questions or comments: experience@circl.esor call us at +1 (866) 303-4255.

Circles X-Factor

Meredith Moore launched Interesting Women Leaders in ATL Virtual Circles Luncheon so women could connect and have “bigger conversations.” The owner of Atlanta based Artisan Financial Services, Meredith surveyed the small group landscape and couldn’t find the right senior leadership group for women. She shared: “I wanted to create a space where people could have authentic conversations.”

A YPO client suggested Meredith try Circl.es after the client’s Forum gathered on the platform. The initial luncheon took place during the pandemic, and Meredith has continued hosting one every few weeks, inviting different leaders each time. She sparks conversation by asking three simple discovery questions, and says she’s blown away by the transparent way the women engage. Their vulnerability seems to flow from a combination of facilitated questions and the Circl.es platform design. “I don’t know exactly why Circles works, but something about it leads to open conversations.”

She’s referring to the X-factor that our team at Circl.es finds hard to put into words: the magic that groups experience when meeting on the platform. Meredith describes it this way: “I’m a financial advisor–not a psychologist. But these circles are like therapy.”

After gaining permission from each attendee, Meredith posts a screenshot on LinkedIn and tags participants as a way of connecting the women together, resulting in a curated community of females in corporate leadership. 

To gather women for each luncheon, she asks alum from the last circle to replace themselves. “There’s so many women who want to attend now; I think there’s a sense of luncheon FOMO.” As the world slowly opens back up, Meredith finds herself hesitant to convert the virtual luncheons into live events, saying “I’m fascinated by the amount that gets disclosed on the platform. I don’t know if people would feel comfortable sharing the same things face-to-face.”

Is this the kind of space you’re looking to attend or create? Let’s talk!

Beyond the Ropes Course: Create Community in Your Organization

I recall fondly my reaction when invited to my first ‘team-building’ day. The invite promised a day in the woods, navigating a precipitously-high ropes course, to build trust and teamwork. My response: “A day out of the office!”

I’m sure everyone meant well.

My bosses likely wanted to create a sense of belonging, loyalty, and collaboration–complete with matching t-shirts and bug spray–but the camaraderie faded faster than the bug bites. What remained, though, was the feeling that I’d been exposed, perhaps more than I’d anticipated. Not only was I in shorts in front of my colleagues, but they were asking me to perform a physical feat.

More than belonging and safety, I felt vulnerable, and not in the best way.

Responding to our customers’ eagerness to create community within their organizations, at Circl.es we’ve transposed the idea of a team on a ropes course to our CircleSpace. One customer put it like this: “As we wondered how we could connect people and make sure everyone was heard, Circl.es ended up being the platform we didn’t know we could have.” The space more safely replicates the vulnerability felt on a ropes course, allowing peers to draw out the best in each other while exploring the core challenges that impair success.

In over 19,000 participant debriefs, we’ve discovered that the #1 job we do is powerfully connect participants beyond their titles, departments, or pay grades. Connection alone isn’t enough, but we find it helps set the stage for growth. Why is that? Because healthy growth–however defined–happens when unsaid feelings have space to be shared, when unconscious patterns come to light.  When raw edges are exposed and support is given and received. 

“Connection doesn’t exist without giving and receiving.”–Brene Brown, Sociologist

We talk a lot about the call to openness.  Does that mean forcing everyone to share? What about inclusion: respecting each person’s journey, allowing them to process and share on their own terms? It’s hard to know how much time each person needs before they’re ready for a trust fall. Whether someone opens up quickly, slowly, or not at all, we’ve found the common theme is candor and authenticity, not necessarily disclosure. Vulnerability is a hard, deeply authentic place, and it’s in those moments that connection and growth are born.

Though we have 19,000 reasons to hang our hat on connecting people, it’s not enough to stop there. Those that love and care for me the most don’t stop at merely feeling connected; they also provide accountability, the cornerstone of growth.  They act as a mirror, reflecting back how I tend to show up, and my impact on them and others. Peers hold each other to the flame, acting with a fierce love that sees what’s possible, and challenging one another to rise to the moment, whether that’s stepping up to a professional opportunity or tackling a personal crisis. This is how we grow.

True growth happens when we’re watered and fed by those tending to us. Openness plus accountability creates bonds among colleagues, and collective leadership from peers.

And, unlike the ropes course, the view from the top is a lot less scary.