New for you: an easy way to learn about managing difficult situations and conflict in groups. Listen at home or in the car to Great Meetings! Great Results CDs:
Queasy About Conflict -- an hour-long interview with Dee and Pam on defusing conflict in groups.
Putting out Brush Fires -- a 5 CD set of 5 hour-long teleclasses on how to intervene in difficult situations. It comes with a downloadable workbook.
Click here to purchase the CDs or to learn more about how Dee and Pam can help you create Great Meetings with Great Results!
Making Decisions: Stoplight Cards and Thumbs Up
Stoplight cards and thumbs up are variations on the levels of consensus technique. [See last week's entry, Making Decisions: Levels of Consensus.] Instead of giving participants six levels to choose from, each of these tools gives just three choices.
Stoplight Cards
Imagine you are facilitating a staff meeting that will require several decisions. Before the meeting, prepare green, yellow, and red index cards (or put a dot of red, yellow, or green on blank cards). Make a set of three index cards, one of each color, for each group member. When a decision is being proposed, explain the use of the stoplight cards.
Group members will use the cards to indicate where they stand on the decision to be made:
Green card -- indicates agreement with the decision
Yellow card -- indicates some hesitation or caution about the decision
Red card -- indicates disagreement with the decision
State clearly the decision to be made. Then ask group members to hold up the card that indicates where they stand on the decision.
As with the levels of consensus technique, ask those who are holding yellow or red cards to explain their hesitation or disagreement.
Thumbs Up Thumbs Up is essentially the same tool as stoplight cards. The
difference is that participants indicate with their thumbs, rather than
cards, where they stand with a decision:
Key Points To Take Away
--- Use stoplight cards and thumbs up when you
want a general understanding of people's viewpoints.
--- These methods are good when you need to move quickly through
a decision-making process.
--- "Thumbs up" is good method to use on the spot, because it
doesn't require preparation.
Thumb up --- indicates agreement with the decision
Thumb sideways --- indicates some hesitation or caution about the decision
Thumb down --- indicates disagreement with the decision
The clear advantage of the thumbs-up activity is that you can use it in the moment with no preparation.
NEXT WEEK IN GREAT MEETINGS: The "Sense of the Group" technique for making decisions.
About Great Meetings
Pam Plumb and Dee Kelsey are your facilitators in charge of
Education World's Great Meetings series. They are also authors
of the popular guide to meeting facilitation, Great Meetings!
Great Results. Together, Pam and Dee have more than 40 years'
experience facilitating change and training meeting leaders.
