4 Qs - The Shape of Collaborative Conversations

Quintessential Thought

Continuing in our series about facilitation, we’re turning our attention to facilitation in team conversations. When a team needs to work together to achieve a common goal - whether working on a piece of product development, addressing a process inefficiency, or deciding where to eat lunch - effective conversation is a key component of their collaboration.

And good collaborative conversations don’t happen by accident. There’s a shape to these conversations, a lightweight structure that can give you some guidelines as you help a team navigate collaboration:

• Context - Agree on the goal and need for collaboration

• Diverge - Explore the challenges and opportunities

• Converge - Narrow down the options

• Action - Select the next actions

Each of these phases has a distinct purpose and a set of tools that we’ll explore in the upcoming newsletters. Together, they increase the confidence and engagement of the team as they work toward their goal. Skipping or rushing any phase puts the overall goal at risk as the buy-in of team members wanes.

Remember the definition of facilitate: to make something easier to achieve. Recognizing and using these phases will help you facilitate (make it easier to achieve) the team’s next step and, ultimately, the goal.

Quotes

“In the hands of a competent facilitator, a well-designed process sets the stage and supports the group as it explores options, navigates conflict and reaches decisions.” — Beatrice Briggs

“The right questions for the right people at the right time are at the heart of…effective and dynamic facilitation.” — Dorothy Strachan

“Facilitation is an improvisatory act within an agreed and negotiated structure” — Dale Hunter

Quick Step

In the next collaborative conversation, observe where the four phases are happening or are skipped. What are the indicators? What is the effect?

Question

Which of the phases resonates with you the most?

Advanced Product Owner, Mar 3-6

Want to chat? Reach out to [email protected] so we can help you get Unstuck!

Also, subscribe to our YouTube channel or connect with us on LinkedIn, where we’re posting even more content than we have in this newsletter!