Precisely Prescribe — Lead a prioritization session
As an individual using MENTA-MORPHOSIS, you Precisely Prescribe. As a MENTA-MORPHOSIS Facilitator, you lead a Prioritization session. Remember, to prioritize means to select, from a longer list, those items that are more important, more desirable, and more worthy of our attention than others. When we lead a prioritization session, we help the group do that.
Used For
As you have probably garnered by now, almost every step for a facilitator is to ask the right questions, in the right sequence, and encourage the answers. That is the basic approach to helping a group prioritize. Whereas in a brainstorming session your goal is to generate a long list of items, and you withhold any editing or judgement in order to encourage additional items, in prioritizing you encourage judgement and editing so as to reduce and refine the long list.
How To
Prioritization is a three-step process:
1. Create some criteria for what constitutes high priority,
2. Turn those criteria into questions,
3. Apply the questions to the long list in order to create a short list.
1. Create some criteria for what constitutes high priority.
In many cases, the criteria are known, at least vaguely, or is implicit in the group project. For example, in the MENTA-MORPHOSIS Learning System, we assume a set of criteria and skip the ‘creating criteria” step to move directly to asking the questions. When I’m teaching a module, say “Asking Better Questions,” I give the group the criteria, and then proceed directly to the questions. In my San Francisco example, I assumed a set of criteria based on the topic of the session, and used the same prioritization questions as are contained in the MENTA-MORPHOSIS Learning System.
If you don’t have a set of criteria to begin, then you need to hold a mini session, within the larger agenda, in which you brainstorm some criteria, and narrow them down to a handful. Usually three-to-five criteria is a workable number.
So, let’s say that you a facilitating a small group. You are an industrial supplies distributor and your “Start Right” question is, “Should we create a new branch office in Saginaw?”
You ask” What should some of the criteria be for an idea to be included for serious consideration?”
You brainstorm this list:
The boss must like it.
It should produce a reasonable return on investment.
We should be able to identify the people who will man it.
It should be in a good location.
Our suppliers should approve it.
We have the necessary assets to do that.
At this point, you ask, “Which of the two of these are the most important?”
The group, by consensus, agrees that “It should produce a reasonable return on investment” and “We have the necessary assets,” are the most important.
You have identified the core criteria with which to prioritize all the ideas.
2. Turn those into questions:
This is a simple matter of rephrasing the criterion into a more useful question. Now, you turn those into two questions: “To what degree does this item positively impact return on assets?” and “Can we do this with our current assets?”
Note the language in these two questions. “Can we….” Is a closed-ended question, asking for a simple yes or no response. “To what degree,” or similar words (To what extent, etc.) is a more open question, calling for a response that needs a bit of explanation.
3. Apply the questions to the long list in order to create a short list.
Now, equipped with the prioritizing questions, you look at each item on the list, and ask the prioritizing questions. Allow lots of conversation.
If you don’t seem to be making progress, you can impose a limit. “We need to get this down to the top ten items,” for example.
If all else fails, call for a vote. “Let’s take a moment and vote on the top ten items.”
If your goal is to have each individual prioritize for himself/herself, as in the MENTA-MORPHOSIS Learning System, then you can skip the criteria creating step, and ask these questions, calling for each individual to respond for himself.
Which of these items is the easiest for you to implement?
Have each individual write down the item from the large list that answers that question.
Which of these items would make the biggest difference in your results?
Have each individual write down the item from the large list that answers that question. It may or may not be the same item as the answer to the first question.
Which of these items would have the quickset impact on your performance?
Have each individual write down the item from the large list that answers that question. It may or may not be one of the items already selected.
Which of these items would have the quickset impact on your performance?
Have everyone write down the item from the large list that answers that question. It may or may not be one of the items already selected.
At this point, everyone has one, two, three or four items selected. Now direct the group to individually answer this question.
“Which one of two of the items on your list should be your top priority? You may re-write it or consolidate a couple of items.“
At this point, you have helped each individual within the group reduce their long list to a short list of one or two items. That output – a short list of items — is the input for the next step.
If your purpose is for the group, as a group, to come to joint decisions, then your questions should be different.
“Which of these items can we eliminate?”
“Which of these holds the greatest potential?”
You may need to exert some leadership in this process. For example, let’s say several people propose high priority items, you can get some conversation by asking something like this: “It looks like…………should be one of our items. Does everyone agree?”
Your goal is to get a consensus on each item. If that seems unlikely, you can settle for a majority. Let’s look at consensus.
Consensus
According to the Collins dictionary, consensus is a “General agreement among a group of people.” Consensus is the process of coming to a decision by incorporating everyone’s positions. People are more likely to implement decisions that they accept, and consensus makes it more likely that they will accept the decision.
With a vote, on the other hand, there are winners and losers – inevitably some of the people are disappointed with the outcome. Consensus has no losers and no winners. It elevates the decision to a higher level than the personal agendas and feelings of the people involved in making the decision.
Here’s an example. . At one point, I was one of two elders in a small non-denominational Christian church. We were seeking to find a new evangelist for the congregation. When we found a man, we asked the congregation (some 80 people) to affirm that selection. The ‘vote” was lopsided—74 affirming. But, instead of taking that for the decision, we decided to seek consensus and went to talk with the six people who had withheld their approval. We spoke with each, listened to their concerns, and made a couple of changes to the evangelist’s job description as a result. One more go around produced 100% affirmation.
We could have accepted the vote, but then we would have had a small minority who disapproved of the new person. Instead, we spent the time and effort to seek them out, listen to them, respond to them and incorporate some of their concerns where we could. The extra month or so it took to do that was time well spent in the long run of the congregation.
When you reach a consensus, everyone involved will be able to commit to one of these four statements:
- I agree with the decision and will work to implement it.
- I agree with the decision but will not work to implement it.
- I can accept the decision.
- I disagree with the decision but will not sabotage it and accept it.
Regardless of the variables, the output of this MENTA-MORPHOSIS process is a short list, reduced from a longer, earlier list.
Review Other Menta-Morphosis Facilitator Competencies
Implement Accountability: https://www.davekahle.com/implement-accountability-a-menta-morphosis-facilitators-competency/
Set the Stage: https://www.davekahle.com/set-the-stage-a-menta-morphosis-facilitator-competency/
Select The Content: https://www.davekahle.com/select-the-content-a-menta-morphosis-facilitator-competency/
Nurture the Environment: https://www.davekahle.com/nurture-the-environment-a-menta-morphosis-facilitators-competency/
