Taking Shape | The Belonging Guy

Overview

The ERG Journey Map

Stage 1: Taking Shape

Your ERG program is still taking shape—and that’s exactly where so many powerful beginnings live. You’re building trust, exploring your purpose, and starting to put structure around the energy and care that already exist. Things might feel a little undefined, but the foundation is forming—and it matters more than you think.

What’s Working

You’ve identified an opportunity to serve your people and you’re beginning to shape something that matters.
You’ve found a core group of people who are excited about the vision and committed to helping get things off the ground.
You have a leader or executive sponsor who believes in the vision, has helped secure some budget, and is eager to help you break new ground.
You’re listening and learning how your people want to connect, share, and feel seen.
Early events or meetings have sparked engagement and you’ve seen glimpses of what this program can grow into.
You are starting to implement a plan for tracking what matters so your efforts have focus and a foundation to build on.

Common Challenges

There’s passion and purpose, but clarity is still a work in progress. It can be hard to define the group’s mission when everything feels important and so much of it has never been done before.
You’ve got a small group driving the vision but now you need more people to help bring it to life. Without a wider base of engaged members, the group can become too reliant on one or two people and risk stalling if someone moves on.
Everything feels (and is) important, but you can’t take it all on at once. Prioritizing where to focus your resources and energy is tough, especially when you want to make a real impact. It’s a delicate balance: choosing what matters most without overextending a volunteer group that’s still finding its footing.
You’re entering a crowded landscape of employee communications, events, and initiatives. The challenge is finding the sweet spot of helping people who are looking for your community feel informed and included, without overcommunicating or overwhelming the rest.
You want executive support without losing the grassroots spirit that makes the group feel personal and community-led. Working with senior leaders can accelerate your progress, particularly as you learn how to navigate their expectations and help them champion your efforts in meaningful ways.
You’re trying to stay responsive to what your members want, but the infrastructure for gathering insights is still taking shape. Survey fatigue is real, and so is the need for feedback. The challenge is finding ways to listen with intention and show that you’re acting on what you hear, without overwhelming people with constant asks.

Questions to Explore with Your Team

Who’s currently involved in building this group, and are we starting to identify others who are excited to support, contribute, or lead as we grow? Have we clearly defined what involvement looks like for members and for leaders? How are we holding ourselves accountable to those expectations, and adjusting them when necessary?
In what ways are we making space for employee perspectives about what they need from this group at the start and throughout the process of defining who we are and what we stand for? What have we added or changed as a result of hearing from our employees?
Of all the meaningful areas we could focus on, what have we chosen to tackle first and why? What are we intentionally setting aside for now to avoid taking on too much, too soon?
What have been our tangible and specific asks of our executive sponsor? Do we have a clearly defined role we’d like them to play in supporting and advocating for us? What is our set cadence for communication?
What metrics are we tracking at this stage to help us understand engagement, impact, and momentum? What are the challenges we're finding with gathering data, and what is our game plan to get past those hurdles?
What’s quietly draining our energy right now, even if the impact isn’t obvious yet?

Stage 1 Elements:

Every stage brings different opportunities and different questions. If you’re ready to go further, I’d love to help you figure out what comes next.