Focus groups are a great source of qualitative feedback. They are carefully planned remote or in-person discussions typically consisting of 8-10 employees providing feedback to questions about a particular topic.
A focus group provides the unique opportunity for employees to dive deeper into issues, opinions, or problems in the workplace. When facilitated effectively, the feedback from focus groups often guides the action of leadership in the workplace. Focus groups are mostly used when an organization is considering a new program or service, to ask questions that cannot easily be asked in a survey, to supplement the knowledge you gain from a survey, and when you have employees who are willing to provide quality feedback.
Assuming a focus group is the right method for your organization, here are 5 tips to help you get the most out of your session:
Understand and Communicate the Purpose
Before you haul employees into a room together to discuss their thoughts and feelings about a topic at work, be sure YOU understand why you want them to be there. Is the purpose to simply provide feedback? Or is it, as I often recommend, to use the time for identifying contributors and solutions to problems? Involving teams in solving problems is key to making sustainable change and maintaining engagement levels and a focus group is a great platform for engaging employees in this way.
Use Surveys Before the Focus Group
Focus groups can get out of hand when you have a long list of items to discuss. When Human Capital Next has partnered with organizations, we typically distribute a survey before the focus group to gather feedback on a broader array of items from a wider set of employees. This way you will have data to analyze to which the focus group can respond during the focus group discussion. For example, if you know 80% of employees are in favor of a program, you won’t have to ask focus group participants about supporting the program. Instead, you can focus their time on the features and benefits of the program, or on the kind of support they might need once the program rolls out.
Limit Yourself to 6 Questions Per Hour
Taking employees from their workday costs the business in terms of productivity and you will likely have time constraints. Be efficient with how you zero in on the most pressing issues by prioritizing 6 questions per hour for a focus group. That allows enough time for the facilitator to follow up using probing questions and to foster a healthy dialog around each main question.
Use Open-Ended, Action-Based Questions
Let’s take the question, do you think management listens to you? If you ask this to focus group participants, you will get a barrage of yes and no examples, but nothing that might help formulate solutions. A key method in obtaining good feedback that leaders can later use to act is to interview both sides of a gap by asking action-based questions. Asking, what would it look like if management started listening to you and what experiences have you had with management that makes you feel like they are listening to you gathers specifics on both perspectives. That way, you will know what the current state looks like as well as the ideal state in any problem situation.
Act on the Feedback and Follow Up
Immediately after the focus group closes, send a thank you note and remind participants how their feedback will shape next steps, what next steps are, and the timeline for those steps. This ensures their efforts are appreciated and will contribute to something meaningful. The best thing you can do is work with leadership to implement ideas from the focus group immediately.
Implementing these tips will help you get the most quality feedback from your focus group and ensure the information you bring to your leadership after the focus group is well-rounded and action-oriented, which will lead to better decision-making overall.
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