At least 5 people minimum. Note that if you have more than 25 people, we recommend you have an experienced Facilitator run the discussion, or have additional facilitation support to better manage small group work and questions.
Have 5 flip chart stations around the room, one for each theme. Post the theme titles and text (one per station). Have sticky notes and markers available. (prepare print-outs of the 5 themes)
During a 3-hour discussion, participants will do the following:
Explore the five themes and rank order the importance of each for the movement, and explain why
For the most important 1-3 themes to your group, explore:
The impact on the world that this theme will have
What would make them stronger
Who could be potential partners
Discuss what we should stop doing in order to focus the work on the most important theme
Summarize your key findings to share out with the other organized groups and community
Timing: If you are a smaller group (5-10 people), you most likely can move through the agenda faster. If you only have 2 hours, we have noted where you can reduce time.
Here is a recommended agenda for the discussion. While you may choose to run the conversation differently, this has been designed for your use.
Helpful hints:
Depending on how many people are attending, you may want to break into multiple sub-groups. We have noted what parts lend themselves to this type of break out.
If the group is 5-9 people, we recommend you keep it whole group throughout
If the group is 10+ people, we recommend you use a mix of whole group and small group work. Small groups are generally best at 3-5 people each. This allows for deeper discussion followed by sharing with the whole group.
The Discussion Coordinator should identify a Facilitator BEFORE the session, so that the Facilitator can prepare and is ready to lead the discussion. (The Discussion Coordinator can also choose to be the Facilitator but this is not a requirement.) The other roles can also be identified beforehand, to save time, or at the beginning of the discussion. However, please try to be inclusive and ask for volunteers.
Time
Activity
PREWORK
Encourage all participants to do the following as prework:
Review the 5 themes
Rank order the 5 themes (1 is the most important, 5 is the least important for the movement)
Next to your top 3 choices, write why these three are the most important
Use the research to support your ideas
Next to the bottom 2 choices, write why these are the least important
Bring this to the session
15 min
Opening
Introductions
Share the Friendly space policy
Prepare for the discussion
Share the agenda
Share the goal of the meeting: We will work together to discuss the 5 themes, debate which ones are most important, and to prioritize them. Outcome is to understand which top 1-3 themes will have the most positive impact on the movement’s future.
15 min
Reflection (individual activity)
Group reviews the themes and silently answers these questions:
Rank order the 5 themes (1 is the most important, 5 is the least important for the movement)
Next to your top 3 choices, write why these three are the most important
Next to the bottom 2 choices, write why these are the least important
You will use this in the next activity
60 min
Exploring the 5 themes
5 min: Setup:
Have group split into 5 teams, one team per station.
Once teams are in place, give them the instruction.
50 min: 10 min per station, then rotate to next station:
Small groups shares their rankings verbally
Discusses major points of why it’s important, why it’s not important (add supporting facts)
Groups add notes to the flip chart papers as they rotate, reading the other groups’ notes and adding their own
10 min
Break
50 min
Prioritization and building arguments (rationales)
10 min: Ask people to walk around the room to review the themes. Consider initial rankings, then write down on your paper any adjustments based on the discussions
5 min: Ask everyone to stand next to the theme they feel is most important
Scan the room. Have everyone see which ones are more heavily represented.
If distribution of people is mainly in 2-3 themes, then ask others if they want to work independently or join another group.
35 min: Teams work together to create their argument or rationale about why this is the most important theme. They will then present a short summary paragraph to the whole groups. (fill in worksheet for summary)
Arguments should include:
What impact would we have on the world if we follow this theme?
How important is this theme relative to the other 4 themes? Why?
Who else will be working in this area and how might we partner with them?
Focus requires tradeoffs. If we increase our effort in this area in the next 15 years, is there anything we’re doing today that we would need to stop doing?
What else is important to add to this theme to make it stronger?
Add key facts to support the argument
For shareout, condense information into a summary paragraph about why this is the most important theme, and why.
15 min
Share out (3 min per)
Each team shares its summary about why this is the most important theme.
Action item: Give copies of all arguments to the Coordinator for the summary.
10 min
Rankings
Rank order of each theme (1-5): All individuals place their own rank next to each theme
Personal energy for this theme: Place high/med/low mark next to each theme
(while not official voting, this will give a sense of which themes are most important to each organized group)
5 min
Close
Facilitator thanks everyone for participating, and encourages them to continue the discussions internally and as individual contributors on their project-wiki.
Action items
Identify who will post notes to the project-wiki
Take a picture of the group to post on project-wiki and to submit with summary
