Focused talk... or off on a tangent

The quick pic image at the left for you this week is a good reminder: notice when conversations, meetings and discussions are focused and on-topic or wandering off on a tangent. Conversations do spark people’s thinking. It’s no wonder we think of other things or want to raise what we see are important or related topics when we're right in the middle of another.

So be aware of how you encourage divergent and convergent thinking when you’re leading or participating in a meeting or discussion. 

Divergent – open it up, open up the conversation and the discussion.
Convergent – narrow it down, close it up, wind it up.
 
If the talk goes off-topic, rather than rolling your eyes with ‘here they go again’, say that it sounds like it might be on another topic. Then you have a choice: proceed along the existing path or take the new path. I like to note what that topic, question or comment is. You can come back to it if you choose not to take that path right now. It can help to ask: 'Do we need to go along this path?' 'Does it tie in to our topic today?'  'Is this related?' 'Is this the time/place to talk about it?' Notice these are closed questions. If you do go along this new path, then it's helpful to open it up (divergent) with open questions like 'How does this....', "What parts of that...' or 'Where do these points...'
 
In true divergent and convergent thinking, divergent is about many possible solutions. Convergent is about one.

In business, I often see leaders, managers and meeting facilitators hit speedbumps when a topic is about to be wound up and converged ... and (often unknowingly) they ask another open question. Wham! It's open again. More divergent thinking and talking. Of course if it needs discussing and deciding you do that. But make sure the questions you ask suit either opening things up or closing them down.  

Are we all done on this topic now? Is there anything else to add to this before we move to the next point? Do we need any more time on this topic?
 
Notice how you as the leader, manager, consultant or facilitator contribute to diverging or converging.

Getting to decision and action

You know when you're in a meeting or conversation and things don't seem to be getting anywhere, at the speed you'd like? You know the round and round thing? 'Didn't we just cover that?' 'OK, she said that before, let's move on!' 'When, if ever, will we decide on something?' 

I wanted to give you a valuable tool for meetings and conversations that helps you keep things moving, towards decisionmaking. I call it 'The Facilitator 4-Step'. It's simple, it's clear and you just need to signal with the group what stage of the meeting or conversation topic you're at. These four steps will help you everytime, if your meeting goes for five minutes or even for a full day. I've used it in team workshops, strategic planning days, community meetings, even one-on-one conversations. It was a part of some recent facilitation training I delivered for project management teams to help them move from talking about it, to acting on it!

Facilitator 4-Step
1. Facts and Evidence : what do we know? Deal with the facts first, whether you're reviewing what this is all about or you need to clarify the details. Hold back on opinions for now.
2. Discussion and Opinion : what do we think? Now you can let the discussion and opinions flow...! Identify common themes, capture thoughts and views. Hold off on solutions for now.
3. Ideas and Opportunity : what could we do? If you need to generate ideas and solutions, now is the time. Make sure you don't cycle back to opinion and discussion, unneccesarily. 
4. Actions and Commitments : what will we do? When there are decisions to be made, now is the time. The facts are out there, you've discussed thoroughly, come up with ideas, now act!

The Facilitator 4-Step is available here as a visual I created using Brushes on the ipad; you can save or print it. You can use the questions in blue to explain to the group where you're at. 

You can get to decision and stop the round and round. But make sure you capture views and opinions along the way too. No steamrolling ok? And if you're meeting to decide, decide to follow a process that will actually get you all somewhere...  phew!