A Knowledge Café should be planned rather than left to chance. The best way to accomplish this is to review and act on the design questions below.
Several questions should be considered when designing a Knowledge Café before running it. Not all of them apply to every situation, and they should be reflected on and refined iteratively, not in strict sequence.
- What is the purpose of the Café?
The place to start is to identify the purpose of the Café. This could be about gaining a deeper understanding of a topic, or it could be about increasing engagement, surfacing problems, building relationships, breaking down silos, generating ideas, stimulating action, or more.
Usually, there is a prime purpose and one or more secondary purposes. For example, the prime objective might be understanding an issue better; a secondary purpose might be learning about the Knowledge Café process or building relationships.
- What is the context?
Why is the Café being run?
Who is it being run for?
What risks or limitations are there?
How much time is available?
- What is the theme of the Café, and what will be the question posed to the participants to fulfill the purpose?
The theme of the Café provides the context for the question posed.
There usually is only one question that the Café is designed around, but occasionally, there may be more.
The Café question triggers the conversation and should be carefully thought about. It needs to be powerful, relevant, and meaningful to the Café participants.
- How will the theme be set, and who will pose the trigger question?
The Café theme may be implicit in the broader context in which the Café is run; it may be a simple one set by the Café host (facilitator) or set by a short talk by a speaker who is more conversant with the subject. It may be a short video, e.g., a TED Talk. There could even be more than one speaker.
- How do we minimize the problems associated with group work?
Group conversations are susceptible to groupthink and group polarization. They are also vulnerable to facilitator bias and the Hawthorne effect.
Most applications of the Café are not overly prone to these problems, but they should be thought through nevertheless.
- What do we wish to capture?
The outcomes from a Café are often what people take away in their heads, but frequently there is a need to capture more tangible things like ideas, problems, risks, etc.
- How do we capture things in a way that minimally interferes with the free flow of the conversation?
The capture could be part of the Café, or if the Café is part of a more extensive process, the capture could be separate. e.g., a Café can be followed by an Open Space session in which outcomes are captured.
- Do we wish to capture the essence of the Café in photos or video?
It is sometimes helpful to take photos of the Café or even a video recording. Or to ask one or two people to blog about the event. The idea is not to capture anything that is particularly actionable but to capture the essence of the Café and the energy it generates to help promote future events.
- Who should we invite?
People should never be coerced into participating in a Knowledge Café, and care should be exercised in deciding who to invite. Getting a mix of perspectives and people who feel passionate about the topic or issues to be discussed is essential.
- Who should we NOT invite?
The presence of senior managers in some cultures can kill the conversation stone dead. Dominant personalities can also have the same effect.
Thought needs to be given to avoid these people killing the conversation. Not inviting them is not necessarily the answer as, in the long term, everyone needs to be involved in most discussions.
- How should we invite people?
The Café invitation is essential.
- How do we measure the success of this Knowledge Cafe?
Although there should be no preconceived outcomes from a Knowledge Café, it is still crucial that thought is given beforehand about how success will be measured. It may make sense to get some feedback from the participants during the event. Any success measures should tie in with the purpose of the Café.
- How do we select and layout the venue/room?
The selection of the venue, the room, and the layout of tables and chairs is critical to the success of a Knowledge Café. Often room availability limits the number of participants and how the Café can be run.
Note: A Café need not be held in a room. It could be a boat, a park, a café, or another place conducive to conversation. A separate design document is available on this topic.
- Do we need to follow through on this Café, and if so, in what ways?
A Knowledge Café can be a one-off event or run as a series of Cafes over several months – even indefinitely. So the question is: “Should this be a one-off or a series of Cafes?”
Also, depending on the purpose of the Café, it may make sense to follow through in other ways. For example, if the purpose of the Café is to surface ideas that are captured, you need to consider whether you should give some feedback later and how you might do that.
- What opportunities does this Café provide?
A Knowledge Café is rarely run in isolation from other things in the organization. Think about how the Café might offer opportunities to integrate with other activities.
You may also find these principles that underlie the World Café design helpful.
Even though the Knowledge Café is, at its core, a simple process, it is best designed to be successful.
Posts that link to this post
- Knowledge Café: Purpose Every Knowledge Café should have a clear purpose
- Conversational Leadership Framework ** A framework to help understand the concept
POST NAVIGATION
CHAPTER NAVIGATION
SEARCH
Blook SearchGoogle Web Search
Related Items
If you enjoy my work and find it valuable, please consider giving me a little support. Your donation will help cover some of my website hosting expenses.
Make a donation