Keeping up with rapid changes can be challenging, especially if you look only within your firm for new ideas. Joining a peer community can push you beyond the limits of your four walls to introduce fresh perspectives.
Sometimes, discovering your firm is falling behind can be frustrating, but it’s rewarding to learn your firm is on the right path or even leading the way. It's the unknowns that cost the most time and money. A peer network is particularly powerful when navigating complicated decisions and strategies.
Benefits of a peer community
Stepping outside your firm and networking with leading CPA firms nationwide offers numerous benefits. Some of those benefits include:
Learning in a non-competitive environment
Receiving advice from peers with similar experiences
Gaining confidence in leadership, operational and technology decisions
Discovering new ideas and avoiding pitfalls
Accessing top experts and technology providers
Setting goals, planning for success and being held accountable
Building trusted personal and professional relationships
Benchmarking firm performance against leading firms
Strengthening alignment between operational leaders and the overall firm vision
Network effects
A network effect exists when a product becomes more valuable as its user base grows. Our Circle communities display positive network effects—the more firms get involved, the greater the value for the group and its members. The infusion of new ideas, experiences and perspectives is crucial for our members' success and their firms’ future readiness.
Including strategic business partners
Do your technology solution providers make the cut when listing your firm’s strategic business partners? If not, you might miss opportunities to leverage technology as a strategic asset.
Too often, firms view solution providers merely as salespeople, but this perspective creates a barrier. In our communities, members and sponsors approach these relationships as partnerships, tapping into shared knowledge and experience.
Hearing the same messages
When considering community membership, think about who should be included. For example, in our Boomer Technology Circles community, we recommend both a business and technology leader attend each meeting. This tandem approach ensures they hear the same message and reconcile different perspectives in real time, offering dedicated time to discuss strategy and apply new information while it’s fresh.
This month, our Boomer Circle Summit brought together members from all our Circle communities: The Boomer Technology Circles, Talent Circle, Managing Partner Circle, Operations Circle, CIO Circle, CAAS Circle, Process Circle, Marketing and Business Development Circle, and Learning and Development Circle. The power of getting leaders from each of these areas of your firm aligned on its strategic goals and rowing in the same direction was palpable, and everyone returned to their firms with renewed energy and excitement for the future.
Planning for the future
An annual strategic plan is a foundational requirement for successful firms. This plan guides your firm’s vital growth initiatives and operational decisions. If you don’t have one, start developing it. Involve your operational leaders and share the results across the firm.
Once you have a strategic plan, you can develop supporting plans for technology, talent, marketing and others. The firm strategy provides a reference point to ensure decisions and investments align with strategic objectives. Supporting plans should involve collaboration from partners and staff to ensure true alignment.
As your firm navigates complicated decisions and strategies, consider joining a peer group of thought-leading professionals connecting with solution providers. Without a peer group, your firm spends extra time and money going down the wrong path. You’ll accelerate your success by learning from the knowledge, experiences and insights of others.
Ready to transform your firm's future?
Discover the benefits of joining a peer community tailored to your firm's needs. Schedule a discovery call today to find out which Boomer Circle community is the perfect fit for your organization. Build trusted relationships, gain fresh perspectives and drive your firm’s success!
Jim Boomer, CEO of Boomer Consulting, Inc., is an expert on managing technology within an accounting firm. He serves as the director of the Boomer Technology Circles, The Advisor Circle and the CIO Circle. He also acts as a strategic planning and technology consultant and firm adviser to CPA firms across the country. Accounting Today called him a “thought leader who can help accountants create next-generation firms.” Jim is a prolific writer with a monthly column in The CPA Practice Advisor and has been published in a number of industry publications including Accounting Today, Accounting Web, the International Group of Accounting Firms and several state society publications.
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