Quint's Column: Making large and small groups work


  • December 3, 2018
  • /   Quint Studer
  • /   quint-studer
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It is a good sign when employees want to be provided input into a company’s operation. It is also great when citizens are very engaged and want to provide input into actions, they feel will make the community better.

In the workplace I often hear from people they want a place at the table. What they mean is they want to be included and have influence. Same goes in a community.

Like even the best of things have unintended consequences. What are these when it comes to big groups? It is often very hard with a large group to get the scope of work to a doable point as well as prioritization. Every organization does not want to have people feel they are not included and there are so many benefits of having many people involved. More and different ideas and perspectives come from when more people involved. It also creates more buy-in on actions taken.

The downside is that the groups can be so large the actions to be taken are not decided upon. So little gets accomplished.

So maybe the answer it smaller groups.  Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO, of Amazon, famously talked about his two-pizza rule. By this, he meant that if two pizzas can’t feed the team, that the team is too big to be effective. Over the years I have heard many suggestions on the optimal size of a group, team and or board. The size suggested usually is from 5-12.

The advantages of a small group are easier to scope to work for better execution and can move faster. Unintended consequences are due to fewer people fewer ideas, fewer perspectives and less buy-in. Seeing many readers are with small companies, just having small group meetings may be fine.

So, what to do if you want lots of input yes also want to make sure the something gets accomplished and fast.  Below are some suggestions to accomplish that as well as tips if you only have a small team.

Here is an example that will work for you and meet the goal of input and perspectives as well as scope and priorities.

I was asked to come to a county to discuss how to create a vibrant community. Prior to my arrival, the local newspaper conducted a survey for community members to take. Day one I met with a large group of community members to share the results and then break into groups. One group, for example, was what events could be held. Another one was what could be downtown to increase shopping. Another one was what could be done to get young people to stay in the community and several other topics. While no decisions were made on scope or priorities there was a lot of input as well as different perspectives. Day two was not a whole day but a scheduled two-hour session.

In reviewing day one material it seemed the material that was most pressing could be put into about 7 actions. It had been decided for this two-hour session a few representatives for each day one group would attend. Thus, a lot fewer people. The smaller group reviewed the summary and the 7 items. Gave more thought on priorities. And quickly narrowed to scope to 3 actions that could be accomplished over the next 90 days and settled on a communication to the day one attendees and the community at large.  More decisions were made in 2 hours of day one than in 8 hours of day 1. Does that mean day two was a better day?

The answer is no. Day 2 worked so well due to the hard work of many from day 1. If only a small group met both days, we would have missed lots of ideas and perspectives. These made is possible to provide a summary for day 2 session. If a large group had met for both days, I doubt we would have gotten to three action items in 2 hours of day two.

A common term to describe this was the best of both worlds.

Some tips.

 Trust the process.  What happens is what seems like a few ideas will expand to the point that it will feel like little will be accomplished. However, as time goes by, the scope of what needs to be done narrows. It is a narrow, wide, narrow process. Don’t panic mid-way through the big group.

— Prioritize. When going to the small group, come prepared with a summary of day one actions and suggested actions understanding that still more culling is needed. Because the group is smaller day two, and still had the benefit of day one, let the group prioritize the next steps. A nominal voting process works well.

— Explain that just because an item did not make top 3, it will not be missed. It is about sequencing. By taking less action items I find more not less gets completed which builds trust and confidence. Then bring back group to select next items or now way to even make first three better will come about.

Communication plan and responsibilities. After tip 4, it is easy to feel good and leave the session. Don’t. Take time to create who will own each action and develop a communication plan to the larger group who attended day one and any others who need to be communicated with.

This of course is if you have a large company, organization or community. There are skills needed to get the most out of large group work as well as small group work. Over the next two weeks I will share tips on how to facilitate large groups and then smaller groups.


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