WORLD CAFE DISCUSSION
March 31, 2012
THE FACILITATOR
As president of the Chatham Marketplace board of directors, Bob has taken an active role in assessing the options for our local grocery Coop which has been struggling in a tough economy. On this day, he facilitates a progressive discussion between dedicated owners, board members and investors.
ROUND ONE
The world cafe model works like this: after listening to an introduction with a proposed problem to address, people break into groups of three and four and address the issue. In this case, our goal was to find answers to the question “What options exist that will provide our new GM, our Staff and our Store with the resources needed to create a profitable business that serves the needs of our community?
SECOND ROUND
After twenty minutes, each table retained one spokesperson for the first round while the others moved over to other tables. Betsy had put a different flavor of chocolate one each table to make moving around more fun. The spokesperson shares the top three answers to the question with the newcomers and they share the results of the discussions they had from their first rounds.
PATTERNS
It doesn’t take long before obvious patterns emerge. Many of the answers are the same and by the third round participants are familiar with the thoughts held by the others in the room. This was a great way to facilitate discussion and look for commonly themed answers to the problem at hand.