Meeting techniques and formats
Generating ideas about a topic
Finding the range of feelings
Working with people in distress
Summarizing
Calling for consensus
Generating ideas about an issue
Brainstorming
Brainstorming is a
method of group creative thinking designed to produce new ideas on any given
topic. It is a quick approach and gets
the creative juices flowing and in a short time you can generate lots of ideas.
This can also be a liability, as you find yourself with a huge set of ideas
which have to be sort through. So a follow-up process such as the quick
priorities will help organize a large set of ideas.
The most common form of brainstorming is called
popcorn, where people speak out ideas
as they occur. One or more scribes writes down the ideas for all to see on a easel pad. The group continues speaking out ideas
until the flow of ideas comes to a
natural stop.
The key element to
making this work well is to have a well formulated question. If your question
or topic is too vague you might go off on unproductive tangents. However, if
your question is too focused it might unnecessarily limit the thinking of the
participants.
There are four rules to
making brainstorming work well:
No judging or commenting
negatively on ideas.
Free-wheeling is welcome:
Wild longshot even silly stuff can spark a creative moment.
Quanity is wanted, the
more ideas the better
Combing and adding ideas
to existing ones is wanted.
Scribing well requires
readable handwriting and a good ability to summarize.
Use one scribe for every 10 people, this will keep the scribes
from getting too bogged down.
Keep the words to the
bare minimum, this requires summary and feedback.If the idea is a long and
rambling, capture the essence of the idea in a sentence, then feedback, does this cover it?
If you want to
categorize or prioritize ideas leave a
gap at the left edge of the easel paper so you can assign a category code or
make priority marks for each idea.
Use different colored pens
for each line of ideas so the participants can see them easily.
Write clearly and large
so the ideas can be read by the participants.
Write the ideas on
sticky pads or paper with tape so they
can be clustered easily.
Once the flow of ideas
has stopped let the silence sit for at least two minutes. Lulls and pauses are
a natural part of the process and so don’t assume that a pause is an ending
point. Sometimes the very best stuff comes after assimilating the ideas which
can take some time.
If the group seems
bogged down some simple tricks can get them flowing again. Some questions you
might pose to the group:
Can you add anything to
something listed?
Can you subtract
something from something listed.
Who else, what else, where
else, when else? Ask a variation of situation questions
Can you think of opposites or alikes to the things listed?
What about if the
question was reversed?
Another technique for
helping a blocked group is simply getting them moving. Have them stand up, move
to another chair, or walk around the perimeter of the chairs then sit in a new
place.
Yet another is to divide
them into small teams and have the smaller groups work on coming up with
additional creations.
Another technique, which
can be combined with the popcorn technique is to have the participants
write down their ideas first on paper.
Then you can have them submit their ideas on sticky paper. The advantage of
this is that it is self scribing. Once the list is generating, a popcorn style
can be added to fill in any gaps. This can also be done ahead of a meeting so
participants have done some thinking before they arrive. It can also be used to
get ideas from distant participants. Email works well for this situation.
Working with the
ideas
Now that you have this
huge list, now what? You will need to weed through the ideas to find out which
ones offer potential solutions and which ones can be discarded. This is
somewhat tricky because you want to narrow down the list but be careful not to
prematurely dismiss an unpopular but possibly good idea.
If the group is less
than about 50 people a simple way to do this is to call for an activity break.
Give people a ten minute break with the assignment that sometime during the
break to look at the lists and make a keep, don’t keep mark for the ideas. For
example, a red mark next to the idea means discard and a green mark means keep.
If an idea has both marks we keep it
and work on it further. Usually in this method, a handful of people will make
the first set of marks and those that come later will review that and maybe
change a few.
Another way is to give
each participant stickers equal to 20% of the total of the list and have them
place stickers on the ideas they most want to explore. You can allow them to
place as many stickers on an idea or only one per idea. The many stickers
option allows one person who really believes in an idea to keep it in front of
the group. The ideas with the most stickers
are explored in descending order. You can set up a minimum number of stickers
an idea has to get in order to be considered by the group.
As you look at the list
you might be able to create categories of ideas and group them accordingly. First
come up with the categories then in the margin next to each idea mark what category it
belongs with. If you have one big list, once you have categorized them,
assign a team for each category and have the teams rewrite the ideas for their
category. Each team can then process the ideas further based on whatever
outcome is desired.
<^> See the
discussion chapter for other group discussion techniques
Shelter scale
The shelter scale is a
technique which quickly assesses how people feel or stand on an issue and also
provides anonymity to participants so they can communicate how they really feel
without feeling pressured or influenced by others.The basic process is to write
up the issue, create a 1-10 scale which expresses a range of feelings about the
issue, have the participants record on paper their feelings relative to the
scale, and then enter all the participants information on the written scale for
review and analysis.
To setup the process you
will need:
Several small pieces of
paper
Pencils for each
participant
A whiteboard or easel
and pad or poster board to write on
There are four steps to
the process:
1. Define the issue by
writing it down for all to see.
2. Write a 1-10 scale
and define it for the participants
3. Collect and record
the participants input on the scale
4. Analyze the input and
debrief the group.
To get started you need
to define the issue and write it down. The clearer you can be in defining the
issue the easier it will be for the participants. For example, you might define
the issue as: How I feel about my work contribution to the group this month.
Note that this is different than how I feel about work expectations, or how I
feel about other peoples contributions.
The next step is to define
a one to ten scale which covers the range of potential feelings about the
issue. So for example, you might tell the group that if you are satisfied with
your work contribution you are a 5 on the scale. If you feel like you are doing
too much work you are a number greater than 5, and if you feel you could
contribute more you are a number less than five. If you are a 1-2 you feel very
strongly that you are not doing enough and feel badly. If you are a 9-10 you
feel very strongly that you are doing way too much and feel badly.
The faciliator then
passes out slips of paper and instructs the participants to write a number on a
slip of paper that represents, as best as they can, how they feel about the
issue. You may have to clarify some of the elements of the scale or issue.
You then collect the
numbers and then you write up a one to ten line and enter each participants
input on the chart so everyone can see it. When you are done it might look like
this.
Picture of scale.
After everyone has a chance
to look at the range you can then guide the group to analyze and think about
what the scale tells the group. For example, if there is only one person who
has a strong reaction to the scale, you might organize a brainstorm to generate
ideas for how to remedy that persons isolation.
The strength of this
process is that individuals feelings are completely sheltered. If a few
people’s feelings are far outside the rest of the group, they are not
stigmatized and the issues their feelings represent can be brought forward and
worked on without their having to expose themselves to the group. A variation
on this is to have people own their feelings by putting their names on the back of the slips and posting
the slips of paper directly on the scale. It also keeps responses as honest as
they can be because people are not influenced by other members of the group.
This process takes only
a few minutes and generates a lot of information for the group to work on. For
example, this process might be useful prior to starting a discussion about an
issue, just to see if there is much of a range of feelings, or if the group
feels mostly the same. You can do several different scales on variations of a
topic to flesh out areas where there are gaps in the group and then prioritize
which issues to work on based on those that have the widest variation in
responses.
You can also use this
for almost any topic you want to get quick feedback on. For example, it is
commonly used in groups to get individuals to identify their personal
characteristics. So you can make a scale that has a range of personality types
such as leader, follower or self
directed/want direction from others.
Pretty much any issue you can lay out on a scale is useful, and since it
takes so little time to run, if your question is fuzzy, you can easily redo it
by refining the question and seeing how the result changes.
COUNCIL PROCESS (Talking
Circle)
Purpose: To bring out all pieces of the
Truth. Each council
member
brings a piece of the truth to the circle --
essential, but only a part of the whole. The truth of
council is to uncover greater
understanding. It can be
used in large or small groups for: finding
all the
voices, conflict resolution, storytelling,
brainstorming,
co-visioning. It is *not* a decision-making structure.
Qualities: Derived from a Native American format:
We must consider
the impact of our truths today unto seven
generations.
Interactive
meditation; deep, mindful listening; heart
speaking; all are one.
Form: All sit in a circle. The Council Chief opens and closes
the circle, and reminds the group of the
guidelines as
needed.
The talking stick is used to entitle one person
to speak at a time; it is returned to the
central
"children's fire" between
speakers. The children's fire
serves as a reminder of the generations to
come and the
future repercussions of our words (a physical
manifestation is important; candles can
represent the
fire in the absence of a central hearth).
Guidelines: Speak honestly from the heart to the
perspective of the
children's fire. Never cross the children's fire (no
interrupting, responding, negating), except
to say "ho"
with deep agreement or when someone's words
have
expressed your heart. Be brief.
Listen from the heart
-- planning ahead what to say in response
hinders the
weaving of the council's magic thread. Pause between
speakers -- hear the truth in silence. Complete
confidentiality is maintained outside the
circle, as the
truth is in what each person's heart hears
for itself
(retelling it biases it by the teller's
filters).
Council
Process may also be done with each person
assigned to represent a specific perspective
(e.g., the
land, the architect, the developer next door,
the
children, etc.).
EXTENDED CHECK-IN
Purpose: Answers the questions "how are
you doing?" or "what is up
for you right now?" An opportunity for each person to
express what is going on in his or her life
(not
restricted to cohousing).
Qualities: Re-connecting, deeper knowing of each
other.
Form: Flows more smoothly to go around
the circle, but
popcorn-style is okay.
Guidelines: No interruptions, and allow each person
to finish. May
have time limit per person.
OPEN SPACE MEETING
Purpose: To provide a flexible structure for
creative thinking and
risk-taking action.
Qualities: Adaptive, self-driven, encouraging and
requiring personal
responsibility. Suited for community time, not regular
business meetings.
Form: Each person brings whatever
topics they want to for the
agenda, and participates in whatever small
group
discussions that interest them. The first time Open
Space is used, it is best to dedicate a full
day to it;
when the group becomes more practiced, less
time may be
needed.
Also for the first time, an outside facilitator
is recommended. For further information: _Riding the
Tiger_ by Harrison Owen (1991, Abbott
Publishing).
Guidelines: The basic elements are a Theme (determined
ahead of time
by the whole group, can be as simple as
"What's Up?"),
Start and Stop Times, the Community Bulletin
Board, and
the Village Market Place. The Four Principles: whoever
comes are the right people; whatever happens
is the only
thing that could have; whenever it starts is
the right
time; when it's over, it's over. The Law of Two Feet:
everybody has them, and is responsible for
their use;
there is a time to talk and a time to walk.
When consensus on a
proposal is sought, test for agreement as soon
as a decision seems to be emerging.
State the tentative consensus in
question form: "Do we all
agree that ..." and/or, "Is there anyone who does not agree that ..." and insist
upon a response. Using fingers or cards to show acceptance or non-acceptance is a fast visual way to
capture the issue. If the group is small enough to do a round robin, go around
the room asking each person
individually for support or reservation.
On the questions to
bring to the group when you define your
process is whether silence/non
participation means consent. It is
best if participants affirm the decision that they are making with one another,
and often later problems may arise if people not present do not agree with the
decision but did not participate..
When the proposal does
not have consensus the next step is to ask for amendments and test for agreement on these amendments
individually, then when all amendments
are agreed upon, state the amended proposal and test for consensus on the whole proposal. A finger or
card process can be used to help identify those that can not agree with the
proposal, and so you can focus the question for amendments on those participants.
<^> for more information about finger and card processes