Discovery Cafe: Focus Group Methodology for Organization Development and Organization Change

1. Discovery Cafe: Focus Group Methodology for Organization Development and Organization Change Presented by: Jillian R Schenck New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, Bureau of Human Resources, Organization Development and Training Services NSDTA 2015 Session Presentation JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

2. Session DescriptionDiscovery Cafe: Focus Group Sessions for Organization Development and Organization Change Opportunities for meaningful discussions about our organizations are invaluable for vibrant, relevant work to be accomplished. Meaningful discussions are also difficult to accomplish in our complicated, busy work cultures. We'll explore how focus group discussions work, some research behind the use of them, examine steps to organize and facilitate, capturing useful data and ideas to utilize the data. The work is based on 'Discovery Cafe', a focus group process used within the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services to help management see and explore how employees really feel and what they are really seeing in the organization and develop steps to address concerns revealed. JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

3. What if a conversation begun today could ripple out and create new possibilities? What if Conversation is how things get done? JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

4. NH DHHS Discovery Cafe Exploring how employees see their work world Developing strategies to create desirable change in the workplace JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

5. NH DHHS Culture – SWOT Analysis • Strength • Leadership wants to hear employee voice • 2700 employees • Weakness • Trust issues at all levels • 2700 employees • Opportunity • ‘Permission’ to conduct listening sessions • Threat • Suspicion of usefulness of listening sessions JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

6. NH DHHS Culture – Discovery Cafe Events • Discovery Cafe events • Groups of less than 20 • Held at community college sites (neutral sites that provided regional event locations) • 2 hour sessions • Groups selected randomly from employee listings sorted geographically & by supervisor / non-supervisor • Information gathered, recorded JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

7. Discovery Cafe 2010 & 2012 • 2010: “Exploring Opportunities and Challenges in the Work Environment” • Provided perspective on the current workforce climate • 2012: “Putting Our Conversations to Work” • Encouraged participation in Department-wide initiatives • Both events focused largely on exposing and discussing issues; initiatives primarily focused on systems and work environment changes • Themes that emerged: Operations, Workforce Development, Leadership Development, and Community JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

8. Outcomes • Operations • HR Employee Entrance and Exit • Mandatory supervisor training • Redesign of DHHS New Employee Orientation • Department-wide staff recognition program • DHHS electronic timesheet • Workforce Development • Office Safety Protocol • Compassion Fatigue: Front Line Support & Training • Internship Process Improvement • Employee wellness education sessions JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

9. Outcomes (continued) • Leadership Development • Performance Management & Appraisal Training • Increase supervisor training and development opportunities • Community • Increased development and attention to • Public Education of HHS mission and functions • Pro-active sharing with media and public relations regarding DHHS JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

10. NH DHHS Discovery Cafe - Reporting the Results • Reporting back from Discovery Cafe events • Information gathered, recorded by event • Emergent themes noted • Information combined under themes where possible • Report with overview of insights, ideas and initiatives provided back to employees • Initiatives targeted, action plans developed & implemented JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

11. DHHS Discovery Cafe Sample Document JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

12. DHHS Discovery Cafe Sample Document JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

13. DHHS Discovery Cafe Sample Document JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

14. DHHS Discovery Cafe Sample Document JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

15. DHHS Discovery Cafe Sample Document JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

16. Discovery Cafe 2015 • “A Stronger Future Together” • Building on strengths present in the workforce to develop actionable ideas to further strengthen the organizational culture and climate of DHHS • Intended to engage the workforce across the department in day-to-day actions & behavior changes to influence culture change JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

17. Cafe Conversations:Philosophy & Design Based on “The World Cafe: Shaping Our Futures Through Conversations That Matter” Not your typical Focus Group methodology Opens up a large topic for exploration JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

18. What is the World Cafe? • The World Café is a simple yet powerful method for large and small groups of people to: • foster collaborative dialogue • share and create new knowledge • build community • inspire collective action JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

19. World Café DESIGN PRINCIPLES (powerful when used together!) JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

20. The World Café model is especially useful when you have: • A limited amount of time • A lot of people • Questions that matter to the people gathered • The intention to build community, strengthen relationships and engage everyone's unique contribution • Desire to access collective intelligence that come from the intentional rapid  cross-pollination of diverse perspectives and ideas JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

21. Purpose • Generate input, share knowledge, stimulate innovative thinking, explore action possibilities • Create a dense web of connections in a short period of time as threads of conversation reveal new patterns JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

22. Cafe Outcomes • Communication Across Silos • Broad Engagement on Strategic Initiatives • Create Shared Direction, Momentum for Action • Cross Pollinate Learning, Generate New Insight • Build Community and Trust • Uncovering Deeper Issues JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

23. Collective insight evolves from… The knowledge and wisdom we need is already present and accessible Noticing new possibilities Honoring unique contributions Listening into the center Connecting ideas Intelligence emerges as the system connects to itself in creative ways CAFÉ ASSUMPTIONS JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

24. Outcomes Are Better When Informed By. . . • Diversity of Perspectives • Cross Pollination of Ideas • Attention to Meta Level Themes & Patterns • Questions that Matter to People • And when we acknowledge: • We have the capacity, creativity and wisdom to address our most challenging issues! JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

25. Key Principles: Shaping our futures through conversations that matter • Context • Welcoming Environment • Genuine questions that matter • Encourage full participation • Cross-pollinate conversations • Collaboration and innovation from listening • Insights and patterns from reflection • Gather and share to identify action priorities JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

26. Utilizing Appreciative Inquiry • Values what is • Envisions what might be • Engages in dialogue about what should be • Develops strategies to bring about what will be JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

27. Appreciative Assumptions • Systems move toward what we focus on • The language we use helps to create our reality • Confidence and comfort to journey to the future (the unknown) comes from carrying forward the best parts of the past (the known). JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

28. Problem Solving vs. Appreciative Inquiry • Define the Problem • Fix what’s broken • Focus on the decay • What problems are you having? • Search for Solutions that may already exist • Amplify & replicate what is working • Focus on life giving forces • What is working well? JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

29. Outcomes of Appreciative Inquiry • Recognition and affirmation of the organization’s strengths, values and core competencies • Deep understanding of the factors that contribute to individual and organization success • Strategies to build on individual and organizational success JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

30. How does a Cafe Conversation Work? Paper on tables to create a visual memory Relax & enjoy! Harvest Collective Insight & Learning Connect to Next Steps Rounds of conversation at different tables Different question for each round Each Conversation builds on the previous Look for themes & connections JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

31. Sample Event Agenda Overview(2 Hour Event) • Arrival & welcome (5 min) • Cafe context, process, etiquette (10 min) • Conversation, Round 1 (30 min) • Conversation, Round 2 (30 min) • Conversation, Round 3 (15 min) • Personal Reflection & break (10 min) • Insights & Sharing (Harvest) (10 min) • Next Steps (5 min) • Request for Feedback (5 min) • Adjourn JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

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33. DHHS Discovery Cafe Sample Document JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

34. Café Round 1 • Say hello  • Begin the conversation with Question 1 What if listening together reveals a deeper intelligence? Café Round 2 • Table Host shares major ideas from Round 1 • Conversations continue, using Question 2 to develop deeper ideas & themes JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

35. Café Travelling Instructions… • One person stays as host • Others move to different tables • Host welcomes new people Hosting is an attitude as much as an activity What if intelligence emerges as the system connects to itself in diverse and creative ways? JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

36. Café Round 3: • Host shares one nugget or theme from Round 2 • Explore the conversation: what themes, connections and insights are you seeing from your first two rounds? • Consider: • What happened? • What made the conversation possible? • What happened after? • What made it meaningful for you? JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

37. Discovery Cafe 2010Questions Based on the request from the DHHS Commissioner to ‘find out how people are feeling about working for DHHS’ JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

38. Discovery Cafe 2012Questions Based on the request from the DHHS Commissioner to find out Are employees aware /impacted by the initiatives since 2010, and How are they doing now? JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

39. What if the harvest provides nourishment for further exploration and action? Harvesting our Collective Wisdom Identify patterns, collective knowledge and new possibilities; themes, connections, insights, new questions or ideas… JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

40. Innovation & Discovery in Collaborative Conversations • Understand complexity • Explore the views of all stake-holders • Test ideas and assumptions together • Build new knowledge collectively • Generate innovative solutions JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

41. Discovery Cafe Harvest:Individual Reflection & Group Sharing • What 3 wishes do you have for changing the organization? • What about this organization makes you glad you work here? • Describe one or two situations in which you felt most valued by this organization. • What would you do with this information if you could? JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

42. Considerations & Strengths of this Process This process creates a movement from the traditional view that talk and action are separate to an understanding of conversation as a core process for re-creating our world JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

43. When Designing a Café, Consider… • What is my Purpose and Intention? • How can I invite people so that the purpose and intention come through? • Who needs to be in the room? • Who will you partner with? • to design the Café questions • to “make it happen” • What are the questions that matter? JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

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45. A Change of Pace & Style • Informal, relaxed • Frame- breaking • Highly interactive • All-inclusive • Collaborative talking • Connects • Knowledge is in the room • Innovative thinking • Connect different perspectives JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

46. The Importance of Questions Questions are intrinsically related to action, they spark and direct attention, perception, energy and effort… Creativity requires asking genuine questions, those to which an answer is not already known. Questions function as open-handed invitations to creativity, calling forth that which doesn’t yet exist. -Marilee Goldberg Adams The Art of the Question JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

47. Listen together for insights and deeper questions. Focus on what matters Link and connect ideas. Collaborative dialogue A picture is worth a thousand words. Opportunity to meet new people Connect diverse perspectives JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

48. References Brown, J., The World Café, San Francisco, CA, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2005 Cooperrider, D.L. & Whitney, D., Appreciative Inquiry, A Positive Revolution in Change, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2005 JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

49. Appendix Additional Quotes Appreciative Inquiry information DHHS Discovery Cafe sample documents JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe

50. JSchenck NH DHHS Discovery Cafe “Conversation is at the heart of the new inquiry. It is perhaps the core human capacity for dealing with the tremendous challenges we face. To engage in great civilization we need to ask questions that matter. We cannot afford to spend our time on issues that can’t hold our attention, that don’t touch our hearts. The culture of conversation is a different culture, one that could make a difference in the future of our world.” -Institute for the Future In Good Company: Innovation at the Intersection of Technology and Sustainability