Developing Others

Tips for Preparing for and Leading a Discussion

Good teaching requires courage the courage to expose ones ignorance as well as insight, to invite contradiction as well as consent, to yield some control in order to empower the group, to evoke other peoples lives as well as reveal ones own. Parker J. Palmer

Your primary role as the discussion leader is to get your team talking about why and how certain Harvard ManageMentor concepts apply to your team. As the discussion leader, your task is not so much to teach participants as it is to encourage learning through the sharing of experiences, challenges, questions, and points of view. You will likely find that you are also a member of the learning group, since leaders often learn as much from their team as the team learns from them. The following tips are intended to help you prepare for this unique role.Tips for preparing for the discussion

1. Review the topic and guide: To prepare for the discussion, review the Harvard ManageMentor topic and the accompanying discussion guide. The discussion guide offers questions for leading the discussion and responses to look for during the discussion. 2. Reflect on your audience and customize: Consider tailoring the questions in the guide to meet any specific preferences or challenges of your team.

3. Consider pairing up: Consider pairing up with a peer manager to co-lead the discussion for your combined teams. This can make leading the discussion somewhat easier, and each team can benefit from insights and questions from the other team.4. Sharpen your perspective: Prior to the discussion, reflect on your own perspectives regarding the concepts to be discussed. Although youll be encouraging participants to share their perspectives during the discussion, you can lead by providing insight into the importance and effectiveness of certain ideas and how the ideas apply to your team. 5. Identify relevant stories and examples: Sharing examples or stories from your experience during the discussion can be very powerful. They are very memorable and can bring audiences closer to the reality of how certain concepts apply to them. Consider preparing a story or two ahead of time that draws a connection between the discussion topics and your experiences.6. Identify the time and location for the discussion: Select an appropriate meeting time and location, and confirm availability of space and any needed equipment. Consider holding a discussion during a portion of a team meeting or even over lunch. Also, please note that although PowerPoint slides are provided for your use during the discussion, the slides are not required. Many leaders find having an informal conversation with their team around a conference table with no slides can be an effective way to discuss the concepts. 7. Tailor your invitation: You can tailor the accompanying sample e-mail text as needed to fit your situation. Tips for leading the discussion

When leading the discussion, you will likely leverage a combination of probing questions, effective listening techniques, and encouraging responses to stimulate and guide the discussion.Questioning:

Use the questions in the discussion guide, as well as any of your own design, to lead the discussion. The questions invite different perspectives, encourage analysis, and help participants think about how the concepts apply to their situation.

Ensure that participants do more talking than you do. Remember that the best learning occurs when the participants are involved in dialogue and are allowed to reach their own conclusions.

If your team seems stuck on a question, summarize the groups opinion(s) and move on to the next question in the guide.

To stimulate discussion or steer the conversation to certain key points, consider using a variety of the following questioning techniques during the discussion:

To encourage more analysis, ask: Why? Could you say a little more about that? Why is that important? To open the discussion up to others, ask: Any reactions? Do others agree? Can anyone address [participants] concern? To make connections, ask: What has been your experience? Why is this important? How might this apply to your situation?Listening:

Questioning and listening to team members encourages them to learn. Listening is not a passive activity. Demonstrate good body language for listening by making eye contact and facing the person who is speaking.

You can also demonstrate that you are listening by reflecting back what people say. You can paraphrase and say What I hear you saying is ...

Encourage participants to listen closely to each other as well.

Responding:

As the discussion leader, you have the unique opportunity to respond to participant questions and responses, as well offer your own insights, examples, and stories. Your responses can provide feedback, direct the flow of the discussion, and influence the energy level of the room.

Acknowledge each participants contribution in some way, whether through a simple verbal acknowledgment, a restating of the main point, and/or the recording of the comment on an easel chart or whiteboard.

Share your stories and examples. Stories are very memorable and can bring audiences closer to the reality of how certain concepts apply to them. What unfolds during the discussion will likely vary somewhat from what appears in the discussion guide. Dont be afraid to let the discussion go where the participants energy and interest lead you, but make an effort to allocate time to discuss important topics.Tips for concluding the discussion

When concluding the discussion, encourage participants to reflect on what they will do differently as a result of the discussion. Also, use the suggestions in the Next Steps section of the guide to focus their efforts on applying new ideas and approaches on the job.

Invite participants to summarize learning points and themes from the discussion.

Be sure to thank everyone for their willingness to attend and actively participate.

Consider scheduling a follow-on meeting to continue the discussion or to check in with everyone regarding their progress in applying new ideas and approaches on the job.

Get feedback on the discussion. For example, ask the group in person or via email regarding what they valued most, and what they would suggest doing differently next time. Copyright 2010 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. 1