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.
