The Wallflower

Will only speak when asked directly

Limited responses

Ask often and probe initial response. Perhaps give them time to think and come back to them.

Reward every contribution with smiles, nods and thank-yous

Start with very simple or factual questions that they must know the answers to.

Use go-rounds starting with others in group

Ask them to comment on what other people have said and why they agree or disagree.  

The Volcano

Angry with company, local management or for reasons not given. The anger level may vary but the person and the group are not at ease.

Useful to be able to talk to this person one-to-one or at least find out what they are wound up about before the group starts.

Find out what is the issue and recognise the impact this is having on the person, e.g. I can see this is putting a lot of pressure on you.  You may be able to sympathise with the person but avoid agreeing with her or his perceptions if this may influence contributions later in the group.

If someone agrees that s/he is very upset, ask them if they feel they are able to take part in the group without getting more upset and without making the group feel uncomfortable.

Sit next to or as close to this person as you can. Your presence may inhibit some of their responses.

The Rambler

Talks off the topic or takes group away from it.  

Make a joke of it, e.g. But we digress!

Compliment on the range of issues being covered and point out the need you have to focus on particular topics.

Put up an issues list which can be returned to at the end of the required topics, if there is time.  

The Loudspeaker

Speaks first or loudest or longest or a combination of these.  

Say you want people to reflect on an issue for 15 seconds before speaking and you will signal when you are ready for responses. Choose other people to go first.

Point out when people are talking over or shouting down others and ask them to wait until people who have had less floor-time have contributed.

Explain to the person you value how much they are contributing but you have a responsibility to get everyone in the group to have their say. Ask them if they will come in towards the end of topic so as to help you.

Avoid eye-contact when person is talking or subtly signal impatience by, e.g., folded arms  

Clinically Depressed

Makes Leonard Cohen sound like a cheer-leader.

There is nothing worthwhile in any part of the organisation  

Point out you have listed several negatives and are there any benefits ?

Ask what is being done or could be done to improve things?.

Is anybody learning from this experience?  or  How might we learn from this experience?

Ask how company compares to other organisations in this respect and, later,  what factors make the company compare more or less favourably?  

The Expert

Wants to talk at length about what s/he knows (or thinks they know about).

Uses seniority,  functional expertise or other status to dominate / talk down to

Maintain self-esteem of experts as far as possible. Their need to perform may stem from being unsure about themselves.

Make limited use of them when an “expert” opinion is needed.

Remind them of people who haven’t spoken of have spoken relatively little. e.g. Kim can you hold that for now because we haven’t heard from Lee since the last topic?

Make clear that the group is not there to solve problems but to canvas opinions.  

The Presence

Is not shy but avoids being drawn in

Appears disdainful

May appear as brooding  

May not feel this is a good use of her/ his time. Emphasise how company can benefit from results of this research.

May feel s/he is above this kind of thing. Make them feel important by acknowledging how demanding their job is, how useful their perceptions might be.

May resent being “volunteered”.  Emphasise how the company seeks volunteers but relies on managers to identify people and make requests to them. Point out you would particularly like feedback on how they were selected when we get to the review section.  

Uneasy Rider

Challenges purpose of focus group in middle of topic

Repeated questions about why are we doing this?

Objects to structure used or wording of a topic  

Go back to what you said at beginning about the purpose and how output is used.

Emphasise the difficulty senior managers have in understanding how a cross-section of company people are thinking. E.g. Some individuals may speak their minds but may not be representative   and   There is more and more filtering and distorting of messages as they go up the line.

Ask them to suspend judgement until the end of the session and you will then record in full their opinion of the group and the whole company focus group process.

Explain benefits from previous focus groups.  

Point Scorer

Time wasted shooting down other people’s views  

Point out the focus group doesn’t have to reach a consensus and it is more useful to understand the thinking behind points of view rather than contrasting them.

Suggest people come back to their “discussion” during break or after Focus Group.

The facilitator needs to avoid getting into an argument with someone like this. Point out the need to use group time effectively and possibly offer a one-to-one discussion at a later stage. 

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Wendwell provide OD and HR consulting, including the design and running of focus groups, training of focus group leaders  and other facilitator training.