Newsletter-March2006

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

One of the main goals of a group discussion is to allow all team members the opportunity to express their opinions and share their concerns in an honest, but safe environment. As the leader or facilitator of that discussion, it is your job to protect the "environment" so that people will feel secure in sharing their thoughts with the group. It is also your job to "direct traffic" and ensure that everyone has an opportunity to participate and contribute.

Here are some tips to keep in mind:

	Use open-ended questions to get conversations going. These are questions that cannot be answered by a simple yes or no response.
	Use closed-ended questions to check for clarification and understanding.
	Continually scan the group for signs from individuals that they would like to contribute - they may raise a hand or make eye-contact with you to indicate that they would like to participate. If the group is large and the comments are long, it may be helpful to write their names down as you acknowledge them so that you don't forget who's turn is next.
	If someone has taken a lot of air time, paraphrase or summarize his/her comments before moving on to the next contributor. This will help to refocus everyone in the group.
	Use a flip chart or white board to keep track of key points during the discussion. These valuable tools are widely under-utilized in today's meeting rooms.