Large-group facilitation and interactive conferences – consulting and facilitation
Preparation & facilitation: large-group events from experienced professionals
As facilitators for large-group events we specialise in designing, preparing and running large-group formats.
In the context of change management and organisational development, we work with large groups to develop strategies, to develop ideas and solutions that everyone supports, or to develop action and implementation plans.
Here is a selection of our methods and an overview of how we work. As experienced large-group facilitators we also develop bespoke formats for your particular case.
Why Large Group Events?
The essence of large group formats is the involvement of employees and stakeholders. This is regularly required in the context of change management, strategy processes, and many other organisational development topics.
With large group methods, groups of up to 2000 people can be used as a valuable knowledge resource, brought into strategy or change processes and moved to act together.
With the involvement of the relevant stakeholder groups,
- strategic priorities are defined,
- or whole strategies are drafted,
- implementation plans developed,
- visions of the future worked out,
- processes and interfaces defined,
- teams developed,
- projects set up, steered or evaluated
- and the quality of collaboration improved step by step across the board.
Large-group events are therefore an indispensable part of organisational development and of discursive consulting processes. As experienced large-group facilitators we work with a range of large-group formats and advise you on which format achieves which effects and best fits your objectives.
Where the challenge is more complex, we also work out bespoke large-group designs and combine proven elements from effective formats, in order to enable lasting development.
Selection of Typical Large Group Methods
In this article we describe a selection of proven large-group formats that will have a deep effect in your organisation, show differences and common ground as well as the stances that have proved themselves, and give you a few practical tips.
Here first the well-known "large" formats; further down in the text we also describe some "in-house developments" that we have already run successfully with our clients..
01
Future Search - Future Conference
- leads heterogeneous groups through a proven sequence of steps to action plans, strategies and a stable shared foundation for working together in future
- Creates an awareness of the common ground, takes a look at the challenges of the future (analysis of the business environment) and develops from that a platform of shared values and an action plan
- Proven in strategy development, the development of visions and plans for the future, as well as in Team Development.
Our experience
We have used the format developed by Sandra Janoff and Marvin Weisbord successfully in a range of contexts, for example in strategy development, in public participation or in extremely complex situations where hardly anyone still believed a joint solution was possible. The format does take a good deal of time, however, and needs 16 hours to run, spread over two, ideally three days.
Further links to the Future Search/Future Conference format
02
World Café
- Brings groups of any size into conversation around selected guiding questions
- Uses people's appetite for intensive conversation “in a café atmosphere”, while reliably producing excellent results
- An undemanding, time-saving and efficient method, also for limited time budgets
- Suited to working out action plans and strategies
- makes sure that many people produce usable results in a very short time on specific questions
- Generates resonance and gives feedback on keynote lectures or decisions taken by management
Our experience
We have already run more than 100 World Café events. The method works in genuinely every context, culture and level of hierarchy. But the questions really have to hit the mark. When it comes to developing the relevant questions, we are glad to help.
Further links to the World Café format
03
Open Space
- The participants gather under a shared heading
- The participants themselves bring the concerns that are most pressing for them within the shared theme
- The concerns are worked on in small groups, and further topics are identified to be dealt with within the Open Space. The results of the group work are fed back into the plenary.
- Projects are identified from the discussions and an action plan is drawn up.
- Ensures that the concerns that really matter get worked on, and lets participants take responsibility for their topics
- Uses the potential of the whole system
- Suited to working on many points of detail, gives participants room for topics that really matter to them, produces usable results and a shared action plan
Our experience
We have already run Open Space events with 870 people. Larger numbers of participants are possible too. Besides methodological expertise, however, this takes an experienced team and reliable planning and delivery on the logistics side. Ask us in a free initial consultation about our proven approach.
Further links on the Open Space Method
04
Real Time Strategic Change (RTSC)
- Particularly suited to refining strategies and implementation plans and putting them into practice
- Whenever outline plans already exist and staff or middle management are to be involved in implementation
- Participants often work in their “home groups” (that is, with colleagues in similar functions) in order to “break down” the outline plans to their own area of responsibility
- A very flexible and effective format: RTSC consists of a large "method toolkit". Depending on the objective, the different building blocks can be combined with one another in such a way that the goals of the large group conference are achieved.
Our experience
The flexibility of the method is its great strength: we apply the building blocks from the RTSC toolkit in the most varied contexts, and they can be used well beyond classic RTSC conferences. The original format allows for conferences of two days. We have also run shorter strategy and change large-group events very successfully in the RTSC format.
Further links on the RTSC Method
Large group format for strategy development - only 1 day!
When strategies are developed, it can make sense to bring many stakeholder groups and holders of knowledge into the strategy process and involve them there. We have developed a format for this in which organisations and companies can, within a single workshop day,
–> You can read the details in our article "Strategy development in large groups".
Preparing large-group facilitation
Every large-group method should be preceded by a thorough preparation process. That is how you make sure the event works on the topics that really matter to participants.
Representatives of all the essential stakeholder groups should be involved in the preparation process. Only then can the concerns that matter to those groups be taken into account in the “heading” and in the communication ahead of the event. A good preparation process significantly raises the likelihood that the quality of the results meets expectations (or usually exceeds them a little).
Our experience
In 2.5 hours we work out in a preparation workshop, together with you and representatives of the essential stakeholder groups, a shared understanding of the content of the planned large-group event. That alone creates the basis
- in advance motivation
- for workable results during the event
- and for faster implementation afterwards.
Further Links on Preparing for Large Groups
- The preparation process for large group events
- What you should bear in mind when preparing and planning leadership workshops
Basic principles of large-group facilitation
Basic steps
For all their differences, the large-group formats described above also have a great deal in common. All the formats run through the following four basic steps:
Opening
- Impact
- Noticing one another
- Exploring differences and common ground
- Establishing the group as a resource
- Outcome
- The group is able to work.
Diverging
- Impact
- Gathering topics
- Developing shared perspectives
- Integrating differences
- Outcome
- Diversity becomes visible
- Common ground emerges
Focusing / differentiating
- Impact
- Prioritising the most important results
- Discussing what has been prioritised
- Differentiating the exceptions
- Outcome
- The most important insights and options are formulated
Implementing / stabilising
- Impact
- Developing an action plan
- Defining the constraints
- Working out responsibilities and implementation steps
- Outcome
- The implementation plan has been worked out
- Responsibilities are defined
- Implementation can begin
Basic attitudes
Facilitation is responsible for the process as a whole, not for the result.
That said, through thorough preparation with our clients we make sure the result does not fall short of expectations (and usually exceeds them).
The method is only a means to an end.
There are formats that work and have proved themselves – but we adapt them if we believe the goal can be reached better that way.
Unpredictable things always happen - it all depends on how you deal with them.
Practice makes perfect: routine and experience in handling large numbers of participants and the dynamics of complex situations are only acquired in practice. In us you will find an experienced sparring partner for that.
Implementation tips
- Control only what you can.
Thorough preparation is everything. We will help you with it.
- For everything else - create a reliable framework!
The differing perspectives of those involved should feed into the preparation process beforehand. That protects you and the participants from unpleasant “surprises” on the day. Depending on the number of participants, an experienced support team is needed on site. On request we offer all the services of a full-service agency, including a production office.
- Brief everyone involved in detail.
Board, technology, participant management – there are plenty of “sources of error” waiting. We know (and avoid) them all.
Combination of multiple format elements (video)
Can the formats be combined with one another or adapted? Yes, that is entirely possible.
Here you can see an example of such an “in-house creation”: in this video we describe one such format.
In this example we worked, at a large group event with 230 managers in Switzerland, on the topic of cultural change. We reassembled the specially designed format from elements of the World Café, Open Space and RTSC and a creation of our own.
See for yourself:
What we offer in large-group facilitation
Are you planning a large group conference and do you need experienced, expert support?
We have more than 21 years of experience in large-group formats and would be glad to advise you.
What our clients say
Customer testimonials about working with us
The Open Space format was a powerful and thoroughly successful start to our change process. The ministry was delighted too.
Many thanks for the highly professional and motivating way you ran the Open Space. The feedback from participants was positive throughout.
A very helpful, well-run workshop. The results served us well through the restructuring phase too.
It was striking how much came out of our workshop. That was outstanding.
Many thanks again for the excellent collaboration, the organisation and the very good workshop results.
I am very happy with the consulting. The workshop moved us a long way forward. Thank you.
You prepared our workshop thoroughly and precisely. Both the method and the facilitation fitted our objectives very well. We were able to carry on working very successfully with the results. Many thanks.
Four days of workshop and still playful, creative, inspiring and well structured, with good methodology. Thoroughly recommended.
Thanks again for the excellent workshop — we have already started putting the first ideas into practice, and enjoying it.
Rarely have I been given a seminar so well structured and so well put together in terms of content.
The methods training was very helpful. We can warmly recommend initio Organisationsberatung for future seminars.
The seminar was very helpful and will stay with me for weeks and months.
Free initial consultation
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Are you planning a large-group conference and need experienced, competent support? We have more than 21 years of experience in large-group formats and would be glad to advise you.