Making Decisions with Large Groups

Many business managers assume that they can't involve everyone who has a stake in an issue or useful information to contribute. They fear that the issue at hand is too complex or that there won't be enough time to engage everyone. Other organizations are committed to broad involvement, but they bog down in reaching decisions.

Traditional decision processes that rely on one person speaking at a time break down when large numbers of people become involved. First, it takes too much time. If you wanted to hear from each of 300 people and gave each three minutes to talk, it would take fifteen hours just to get their input.

Second, public speaking isn't everyone's forte. In fact, it ranks as one of people's most dreaded activities, right up there with getting a cavity filled, firing someone, or even losing a family member. No wonder only a few people are willing to speak before large groups, and many of them show visible signs of agitation and fear.

Finally, speaking isn't the only way, or even the most effective way, of communicating and learning. Nearly equal percentages of the population prefer written communication or some active (kinesthetic) method of learning. (See the discussion in Step #4.) Thus, the public hearing approach with individual speakers bores or frustrates more than half of the participants. Is it any surprise that such large meetings fail to build understanding, bridge differences, and resolve tough issues?

The trick to working with large numbers of people is moving back and forth between all participants and a smaller group of representatives. Think of this as analogous to playing the accordion. An accordion player makes music by moving the bellows in and out while playing the keys; the in-and-out movement provides the energy. Similarly, you can move in and out among larger and smaller groups to engage everyone's ideas and energy while following the steps and resolving the tough issue that your group faces.

Resolving Issues with 50 to 300 Participants

There are three important meetings when you work with large groups in the accordion style of play. (See Figure 17.) The A meeting includes all participants to complete Steps #1 through #4 and legitimizes a smaller working group to go forward. The B meeting reviews the options and information presented by the smaller working group(s) in Steps #5 and #6 to ensure that they reflect a balanced and complete set of perspectives. The C meeting reviews the recommendations from the smaller working group(s) in Steps #7 through #9 and concludes with a celebration in Step #10.

Figure 17: Play accordion style to work with large groups.

Preparing for and Conducting the First Large Meeting (A)

1. Create a Base of Ownership and Involvement

Before you conduct a large meeting, assemble a few people who represent the interests in the large group to serve as an ad hoc working group. Involve them in identifying all the different interests and potential sources of information to address the topic. Employ Step #1 to get the people involved. Ascertain how you can reach them, find appropriate locations for meetings, and determine convenient meeting times. Building shared ownership with the ad hoc working group is an important factor in the success of the large meeting.

Next, invite the ad hoc working group to use Step #2 to discover the shared hopes of its members. This is the point at which participants develop a feeling for the spirit of the process. They also obtain experience at this stage, so they can guide other participants in the large meeting. They can relay their shared hopes through the announcements for the large meeting, which informs those invited to the large meeting of its purpose and goals.

Then the ad hoc working group can follow Step #3 to clarify the issue or issues that need resolution. This provides focus for the large meeting and further develops the list of stakeholders and information providers who need to participate in it.

Finally, the ad hoc group encourages people to attend the large meeting, conveying a sincere desire for those with varying interests and relevant information to attend. The ad hoc group members distribute notices, talk with people they know, and obtain commitments from them to attend. The success of the large group meeting depends upon the diversity of interests present, not just the number of participants.

2. Add Participants and Complete Steps #1 Through #4 (Let Hopes, Issues, and Options Surface)

Bringing everyone together in the first large meeting accomplishes Step #1. At the end of the meeting, after you have discussed the issues, confirm that the relevant interests are present and identify any others that should be contacted.

Step #2 scales easily to any size group. For example, all the employees of a fifty-person engineering and construction firm wrote their hopes for the company's future on 8 1/2- by 11-inch sheets of paper and paired off with the person they knew least well to discuss these hopes. Each partner asked the other why each particular hope was important and wrote the response on the partner's sheet. This strengthened personal connections and ensured that someone really heard what each person felt most strongly about. Participants discovered that they had more in common with each other than they had thought. When they finished, participants reported their partners' most compelling hopes. The facilitator wrote all their comments on a flip chart until they covered all of the major themes.

The meeting of 300 people to discuss the school overcrowding issue (see the "Tough Issue" described in Step #5) followed a slightly different approach. After the exchange of hopes among partners, participants posted their written hopes on a long wall. They positioned their most compelling hopes (which they starred) above the others. Then they read what others wrote and moved the pages around to cluster similar ideas together. Volunteers from the smaller working group helped to identify key themes and announced the results to the full assembly.

When this large meeting reached Step #3, participants wrote each of their issues on a sheet of 8.5- by 11-inch paper. Participants posted these on a separate wall and clustered them into themes or categories. Working group members guided participants from their prior experience with Step #3 and the categories that arose from their exercise.

Using this process, everyone aired issues or concerns efficiently and effectively. People didn't hold back out of fear of how they'd appear before the large group of people. All participants expressed their concerns at the same time without having to wait for a turn to talk. This prevented the typical meeting scenario, where a few people monopolize the group's time. Participants quickly recognized common interests and concerns without time-consuming discussion or divisive debate. A local elected official enthused, "This is the first time in years that this community has met on a tough issue without shouting matches. It makes me proud to see people working together for a change."

KEY WAYS TO SCALE STEPS #2 AND #3 FOR LARGE GROUPS

1. Ask participants to write each hope, issue, or option on a separate sheet of paper.

2. Invite them to tape their sheets of paper on a wall so that everyone sees the results.

3. Encourage them to organize the sheets of paper into common themes.

4. Summarize the results to confirm the themes.

All of these techniques adapt readily to large groups of people, and they are self-organizing. Participants do the work of clustering and reviewing the information. You can multiply the number of participants with only a modest increase in organizational resources—usually requiring a few volunteers from the ad hoc working group.

After participants identify and organize the issues, invite them to offer options for resolving the issues, either verbally or in writing, according to the Step #4 procedure. Record all the options on a flip chart. Explain that the working group will evaluate these and others as it proceeds.

3. Check the Results

Now discuss whether there are additional stakeholder interests or sources of information the working group needs to consider in order to address the issues and options identified. If there are, note these interests and then ask the group who might best represent them. Specify what interests, perspectives, or groups need representation before picking the specific people to represent them. Also confirm that you've got a complete set of issues, concerns, and options.

4. Deputize the Working Group to Proceed

At this point you need to underscore that the smaller working group's job is to serve the hopes and address the concerns of the larger group—not follow their individual agendas. This confirms and legitimizes the group to go forward on behalf of the larger group and the shared hopes of all participants.

The members of the working group serve as fact finders and option evaluators at this stage, not decision makers. In order to be credible to the larger group, each working group member must agree to set aside his or her biases and suspend advocacy of a particular position until the group completes its work together.

Preparing for and Conducting the Second Large Meeting (B)

1. Complete Steps #5 and #6 with the Working Group

The working group now finishes gathering information and noting the negatives and positives for each option. It follows the directions for Steps #5 and #6.

2. Review Information About Options with the Large Group

Share what you've learned with members of the large group. Demonstrate that the working group sought out and gathered the relevant information.

As you review the information, display the negatives and positives you've identified for each option. Confirm that all of the issues and options that members of the large group offered received consideration. Then determine whether the large group agrees with what the working group identified as the relevant negatives and positives for the options. Perhaps the larger audience knows of additional information that the working group didn't receive. Maybe there are other negatives or positives to consider for some of the options. Record this information for further consideration. Following the guidelines for Step #6, don't debate the perspectives people offer. All you need to do at this point is note the information that they provide.

If new ideas or combinations arise—which they often do when participants see everything laid out—welcome these creative ideas and identify the negatives and positives for each.

This second large meeting is critical to the credibility of the overall process. It demonstrates to all participants that working group members serve on behalf of all interests and willingly share the information they are considering before drawing conclusions.

Preparing for and Conducting the Third Large Meeting (C)

1. Complete Steps #7 Through #9 with the Working Group

After considering all the information, the working group members write down their choices (Step #7), map potential solutions (Step #8), and identify a desired course of action and acceptable alternatives (Step #9). Since the working group has tracked all of the information and done its homework, it has an in-depth level of understanding from which to make recommendations. The group members' work isn't done, however, until they bring the results back to the large group.

2. Review and Celebrate the Results with the Large Group

The way in which you communicate the results is important. Be sure to link the conclusions with the shared hopes that surfaced in the first large meeting. Describe how the working group sorted through the issues and options from the large group. Underscore the broad support for the results. Celebrate what you've accomplished (Step #10).