Give Your Great Designs Away.
Give Your Great Designs Away.
Many of the great designs I use, I learned from others. Sure, I tweak them, change them and make them my own, but when I actually think of where I learned the essence, I have been given most of them. I have also created a large number of designs that I freely offer to others. My sense is that people really need our work. They are trying so hard to get more done with less, make better decisions, reach consensus, and gain buy-in, that hoarding our group dynamic designs seems almost unethical.
Here’s a simple design that always works, We call it “Walk About,” named after Crocodile Dundee. Let’s say you have a group of twenty-four top managers with three sticky problems to solve. The first rule is that you divide the group into three groups of eight.
You can count off, or you can say to the group, go to the group where you feel you can make the greatest contribution.
Have the groups sit in the same room for these instructions.
1. In a few minutes, take a flip chart and markers and go to a separate place (break out rooms)
2. Pick a scribe, and a data manager. The scribe will write and draw with using the flip chart. Drawing is very important. Many times more can be accomplished with a simple drawing than many flip chart pages. The data manager will enter the essence of the conversation into a word processor on a lap top. The meeting facilitator will also take digital photos of all the drawings.
After 30 minutes, the data manager and the scribe will stay in their break outs, and the remaining members of each group will move to a different rooms e.g. the members of A-group move to B group, the Members of B-group move to C – group, and the members of C-group move to A. They work for 15 minutes. Their work consists of editing and adding the content. They do not have the right to remove any content completely. Repeat the change sequence – members move once again.
After the second move every member will have been in all three groups except the scribes and the data managers.
The data managers and the scribes conduct a summary of the three sessions noting the conclusions reached. This achieves a number of group goals. first the working in small groups gives more air time and more creativity. The times are kept short so that the groups have to focus. Each group receives input and feedback from the other members. Consensus builds. The final presentations are usually ready for a bit of polishing before being implemented. By-in is built in. This is an elegant and simple design. Use it!
