Hosting Conversations about Questions that Matter
So I finally have the opportunity to host a World Cafe. The question is around developing a community of practice in a professional services firm- what does a community of practice look like? 40 participants- 2 hours.
My query is about ways to harvest and present the collective wisdom of the participants. I was thinking that after three rounds of sharing, participants would return to the table from which they had launched on their voyage of inquiry. There they would craft, with the host, a narrative, a story from the drawings, doodles and writings as well as the host's recollections of the conversations at the table. Each of the eight tables would present their narratives in 2 minutes or less using one flip chart panel for illustration.
Once the narratives had been presented participants would be asked to pick out common and diverse themes that appeared in the stories. These themes would be used as criteria for actionable initiatives ( captured in an affinity diagram) to carry forward the next steps in the development of a community of practice.
My concern here is the amount of time available to do this. I am looking for feedback on this approach and any other suggestions that experienced hosts may wish to share. My appreciative Thank You in advance.
My query is about ways to harvest and present the collective wisdom of the participants. I was thinking that after three rounds of sharing, participants would return to the table from which they had launched on their voyage of inquiry. There they would craft, with the host, a narrative, a story from the drawings, doodles and writings as well as the host's recollections of the conversations at the table. Each of the eight tables would present their narratives in 2 minutes or less using one flip chart panel for illustration.
Once the narratives had been presented participants would be asked to pick out common and diverse themes that appeared in the stories. These themes would be used as criteria for actionable initiatives ( captured in an affinity diagram) to carry forward the next steps in the development of a community of practice.
My concern here is the amount of time available to do this. I am looking for feedback on this approach and any other suggestions that experienced hosts may wish to share. My appreciative Thank You in advance.
Replies to This Conversation
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Permalink Reply by Amy Lenzo on -
Hi Mel,
Great questions, and congratulations on the opportunity to make a difference with this professional services firm. I look forward to hearing how it goes and wish you the best of luck.
One thought I have in listening to your story is that you already have a little less time than is ideal for the full 3 rounds of a World Cafe, so I'm wondering if there is a simpler harvesting process you might do that would get the results you're looking for and also leave you a bit more spaciousness.
You might, for example, just use the collective harvest to invite your participants to share the most important or promising themes or ideas that appeared in their conversations, and have your graphic professional group these according to affinity in a harvest graphic as material that could be used as criteria for next steps.
Or, after the 3rd round you could pass out large post-its and ask everyone to write down one (or more) key insights or qualities of a community of practice they would most want to be part of. They could then either read them out loud so your graphic professional could create an affinity diagram from them, or the participants themselves could cluster their post-its on a sheet of paper on the wall.
I look forward to hearing what other more experienced hosts would suggest, and again wish you fun and success in your Cafe. Be sure to share what happens with us!
Amy
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Amy:
Thank you for your timely response. I appreciate your suggestions, especially using the post-its. Using a graphic professional is something I would love to do but may be outside the budget of this organization.
I submitted a proposal in with a 3 hour design as the person who invited me to do this suggested I could do this. I am wondering whether it will be accepted as it is some distance from the conventional "team building" retreat that many organizations expect. As I have mentioned to some of my friends these team building approaches rarely build sustainable teams.
regards
Mel
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