Moderation technique: How to collect and present the swarm knowledge of larger groups effectively and efficiently.
A few years ago, I gave lectures at the DHPol on the subject of Police & Science, each time to at least one study group, often to two combined groups, i.e. 25 to 50 students. However, I found it important to involve the "audience" in this very exciting and often controversial topic. For this reason, I came up with this method and it has become my favorite method for collecting opinions, ideas, etc. very efficiently, even in larger groups. It is also often very funny to implement - I'll explain why in a moment.
Procedure
1. The method works as follows: You ask a question and instruct the participants to write their answers or ideas on metaplan cards. IMPORTANT: Only one answer/idea per card. I have already modified this and, for example, dispensed with moderation cards. Instead, the participants just wrote their answers on a piece of paper and presented them orally. This also works, but of course it is difficult to secure the results.
2. When everyone has finished writing, the participants are asked to look at their answers again, rate them and prioritize them. The answer that they think is the best and that they really want to get rid of is given a 1, the second best a 2 and so on.
3. The participants are instructed that when it is their turn, they should read out their keyword with the number 1 and explain it in a maximum of 10 seconds. You can of course allow more time, depending on the topic. In my experience, however, the longer the period of time, the more likely it is that they will go overboard and digress. Once No. 1 has been explained, the next person can explain their No. 1. However, if this content has already been mentioned by someone else, then they must take No. 2, or No. 3, 4, etc. If everything has already been mentioned, then you can only say "Next".
The advantages of this method
- you get the The essence of swarm knowledge in the shortest possible time. You can have the keyword cards given to you after the respective explanation and use them for Securing results on a pinboard and cluster them if necessary. I then often use shooting patches (small round and colored stickers), with which the participants can then select the clusters that we want to deal with in more depth in the further course.
- the participants train the Elevator Pitch - I think this is an extremely important art that you should master. It is important to train yourself to be able to formulate your idea concisely and precisely to the point in the shortest possible time. The name of this method ("persuasion in an elevator") comes from the fact that bosses generally have little time. So if you have a good idea, but you don't normally have direct access to the boss, you simply pass him/her at the elevator and take a ride. As soon as the doors close, the clock starts ticking and you have to convince the boss until the doors open again.
- Man is forced toall good to listento reflect on what has been said and compare it with your own thoughts so that you can "tick off" your ideas. And this is where it often gets funny, because the fact that the rules have been moderated makes it seem socially appropriate for the group to groan when someone has not listened and wants to sell an idea that has already been put forward as their own. Or the participants take the mickey out of each other. Of course, it always depends on which groups of people you're doing this with and how good the people are. In my opinion, as a moderator, you also have to control these social interactions that you have initiated yourself. You should therefore make sure that the mutual build-up matches the overall mood of the group and that the person who is the focus of attention can take on board the group criticism accordingly. Otherwise, moderation is required.
- There is actually a person in almost every large group who indulges in the motto: "Everything has already been said, but not yet by me". Thanks to this method, they quickly lose interest. As a moderator, it is easy to slow them down with a polite reference to the rules. However, this is often not even necessary, as the group usually ensures that the rules are followed by interjections or similar. Unless it is the actual leader of the group who starts to ramble - then the moderator is called upon 😉
If anyone already knows this method and someone else has invented it, please tell me, I don't want to adorn myself with other people's feathers. It may well be that two crazy people in the universe had the same idea. Until then, I'll christen the method BEMM– Bürgis Efficient Mindstorming for Massen 😉
I look forward to suggestions or discussions! Further contributions to Soft skills can be found here.