Read and think about the content.

A group of managers met to discuss buying new computers. One manager, Tom, made a controversial statement about Microsoft Word, and another manager, Janet, had a private reaction to that statement.

“I hope Tom stops talking soon,” thought Janet. “He is going on a tangent and is wasting our time.”

However, the next person to speak responded to Tom’s comment. After a few minutes Janet said, “OK, folks, we have to get this discussion back on track.” Someone else said, “Thanks, Janet. I too thought we had drifted off topic.” This was a critical juncture. Tom felt like he had been put down, and Janet felt irritated and guilty.

Question

How could a facilitator have handled this situation differently?

Think about this:

If a facilitator had been present, a simple sequencing intervention might have produced an entirely different result. The facilitator could have intervened at the critical juncture and said, “We appear to have two conversations going on simultaneously. Some of you want to respond to Tom’s statement. At the same time others of you would prefer to return to the previous topic. So here is what I am going to do. I am going to take two or three more comments on Tom’s statement, and then I am going to ask Janet to re-introduce the other line of thought. We will spend a few minutes on that topic. Then we will take stock and see what seems most important to focus on at that point.”

This example illustrates how sequencing can work:

• Validate both perspectives.
• Help the group pay attention to one line of thought for a few minutes.
• Help the group pay attention to a different line of thought for the next few minutes.

However, sequencing only works when there are just two lines of thought. What can we do as facilitators if there are more than two perspectives?

• Call for responses
• Deliberate refocusing
• Tracking
• Ask for themes