In the context of a conversation or other form of communication such as an online discussion forum a contribution is off-topic if it is not within the bounds of the current discussion, and on-topic if it is. Going off-topic is usually considered a bad thing. But is it?
Treat people as adults
In my Knowledge Cafés, I say that “The question is only a seed. It’s okay to go off-topic.”
To this I am often asked:
“Doesn’t that bring the danger of dissipation of the conversation or cause problems after the participants have changed the tables?”
My reply is that the Knowledge Café is not about trying to control people and what they say or talk about. It’s about treating them as adults.
Real conversations go off-topic in everyday life – all of the time. That’s the intrinsic nature of conversation.
If you try to control conversation – you destroy it. If the topic is meaningful to the participants and the right one – they will quickly return to it.
Going off-topic also allows issues to emerge that were not anticipated. This is at the heart of what the Knowledge Café is all about. You need the space to explore stuff and the freedom for people to relax and tell personal stories and share anecdotes.
Rather than dissipate the conversation – it keeps it natural and animates it.
And there is not a problem when people change tables. Any sidetracking in an earlier table discussion either dies or if it is important, it is built upon.
Connection before content
There is a second reason for allowing people to go off-topic. If they have not met previously then they need to connect and get to know each other at least a little before feeling comfortable to engage in any meaningful conversation.
We must establish a personal connection with each other.
Connection before content.
Without relatedness, no work can occur.
Getting people on-topic
Just occasionally Café participants will go way off-topic. Sometimes this is not important but other times, say in a corporate setting it is. In this case, the best way of dealing with the issues is after each round of small group conversation to gently remind people of the question.
In the context of the Knowledge Café, going off-topic is a good thing.
Posts that link to this post
- Focus Group Café An improvement on traditional focus groups?
- Gurteen Knowledge Café: Entrenched and Entrained Thinking A blog post by Conrad Taylor
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Absolutely agree, David. People need to be treated as responsible adults, do not blame the off-topic if you have a non-exciting poor subject that no one is really interested to talk about.
Do you want people to stay focused, then create an enticing agenda with questions that matter.
That is a good point Paul I will add it to the post. If the topic is uninteresting or unimportant to the participants then why would you ever expect them to engage with it :-) Thanks