1. GroupMind Express
Sense-Making in Online Collaboration
Jon Kennedy
July, 2012
Helping the group develop shared meaning and context from a large amount of input. This
leads to a shared understanding of consequences and the possibility of intelligent
prioritization of organizational attention.
In working with larger groups who are we are all over the map on this; no
asked to make a list of important wonder we can’t get anything done.” If
concerns or brainstorm opportunities or you expect your group to respond again
weaknesses, an issue crops up to a survey, or if you are really walking
repeatedly: many group leaders do not your collaborative talk, you need to go
seem to appreciate the importance of through the messy step of extracting
helping a group to digest its generated clarity and summarizing what was said,
input. This is true whether the input is as a group.
gathered in a face-to-face meeting, in
an asynchronous process, or in an Let us define group sense-making as
online survey. This is important even the process of developing shared
with smaller amounts of input, but meaning and context from a diverse
crucial when your group generates 75 amount of data. A simplified way to
or 120 comments. Once you ask a visualize this is shown in the box:
Data ➜ Patterns ➜ Meaning ➜ Focus ➜ Synthesis ➜ Consequences
(clustering, extracting, describing, synthesizing, summarizing group input)
group to provide a large amount of The reason for doing this is to build
diverse thoughts, it is imperative that collective intelligence around your focal
you help them make sense of what they question, with the outcome of this step
have said. This takes time and as the ability to more reliably
dedicated process steps, before the understand the current situation and
group can be said to have digested predict future behavior.
their own input. But this is also what There are several pieces to this group
allows them to really own their input, digestion process:
and to be prepared to act on it.
Ability to comprehend the whole.
When steps are not allocated for this Typically there is a large amount of text
sense-making process, there is a sense data, which is very difficult to read
of disenfranchisement and a feeling of through, even for a skilled facilitator.
chaos. “We provided all this input, and Ideas are jumbled, and people can only
now some manager is going to fit it into pick out one or two issues, which tend
what they wanted anyway.” or “Wow, to be the ones they already feels
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2. GroupMind Express
strongly. Effort must be made to other, a context is created, and the
organize this input so that – at the very group can relate their identified issues
least – some basic clusters of meaning to other concerns or history within their
are visible. The pre-work for allowing organization.
the group to digest and understand
their work is that the data can be seen Opportunity for the group to digest
as a meaningful whole. This usually and react to what it has developed.
requires arranging statements of similar Once the key themes are understood,
ideas close to each other, in affinity the group can synthesize issues, and
chunks. By going through this begin to apply meaning to the patterns
arrangement process, the group begins it has recognized. What is our “so what”
to review various points that have been for what we have just said? Several
written. Depending on the amount of themes may form a pattern that conflict
data and the level of trust across the with one other key theme. What are the
stakeholders, there are a variety of consequences of these issues we
methods which can be used to reflect or identified? Why did we not make a big
refine these chunks of data. deal of Issue C? If we agree that Issue
D is important, what do we have to do?
Shared understanding of the key At this point, some members of the
themes. Everyone in the group goes group will provide a summary view of
through a process of seeing how their how these issues fit together, and may
particular input fits into the overall tie themes from this exercise to current
whole, and begins to understand that themes already at play in their market
many people emphasized a similar or to initiatives under way in the
point, and therefore the group realizes organization.
how important several issues are,
across their various parts and The transition step from sense-making
differences. When overall themes can to decisions is to impose relative
be recognized, this helps both to value and consequences on the
calibrate differing points (critical issues, synthesized themes from the group’s
strong opinions, or required actions) input. If we have agreed that three
and to place them within a larger issues from our list are really important,
context. Those steps then help the what are we going to stop doing in
individual members to share in an order to deal with these? Or typically:
overall picture of what their various now that we have identified these
reactions and issues are. This will eleven key themes, we need to
reveal to everyone – for example -- that prioritize which ones can get more
two key issues may be in conflict with attention right now. How do we provide
each other, or that there are one or two resources for Issue H if we decide that
“burning platforms” that simply must be Issue A needs a significant investment?
given a new level of attention. At this
stage, it doesn’t matter what side Depending on the material and the
people in the group take about the cohesiveness of the group, these 4
issues – just that they all recognize that steps might take place in a relatively
certain key themes are important, or seamless way. In another situation, the
are strongly held beliefs. By seeing first two steps may be “outsourced” to a
some key issues in relation to each Theme Team which reports back with a
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3. GroupMind Express
compilation which can be group-edited make some hard decisions on what
using verbal input, with displayed will get funded.”
results in real time. Our point is that • Do not simply cherry-pick items or
however the sense-making is done, it vote on priorities. The group needs
will take time and attention, and must to understand what they have to
be imposed now rather than later. The work with. It is too easy to split the
group needs to come out of this step vote across similar ideas or to miss
with shared clarity about their issues an outlier, if you jump too quickly to
and alignment about the impact of winnowing.
these themes on their organization –
this cannot happen if they just get a To summarize then, when working with
report about the results of the survey. a group and developing an amount of
The digestion step allows them to move generated ideation, it is critically
into either a decision mode as a group important to build in steps that allow the
or a scenario-building mode as smaller group itself to make sense of its input –
work teams, so that they will be able to this means seeing clusters or themes
arrive at recommendations or priorities within the whole, understanding how
with an understanding of the impact of the themes together create a context,
key issues, fueled by the diversity of building synthesized meaning and
perspective and interest that the big shared valuing out of the generated
meeting was convened to represent. ideas, and finally appreciating
implications or consequences, as a
At this point, we should discuss several group. Without this step, the convener
possibilities for the initial arrangement of the meeting runs the risk of reducing
of the bulk ideas. How these are trust and motivation within the group,
applied is the job of a facilitator skilled and of confusing everyone as to both
in working with collaborative processes: the process and content in which they
• Re-order the list, without losing or were involved.
substantially editing anything
• Create sections for different The possible methods which can help
clusters of ideas, without worry the group in their sense-making can be
about what the titles would be applied in many ways depending on the
• Make a separate facilitator-driven circumstances of your meeting.
list of key themes next to the However, it is critical that enough
original brainstorm feedback is provided immediately
• Allow a theme team to generate following the idea development so that
summary themes and report these the group can ‘grok’ what it has created,
back to the group for clarification and can begin to build meaning
• Sort the data into categories, and together (rather than as separate
work with the group to refine where individual interpretations.)
items belong; a key part of this step
is to build agreement about the Group sense-making is an important
naming of the categories. We would process in generating collective
suggest this should usually contain intelligence from collaborative input. It
a call to action, not just “This is allows the group to understand context
about Finances” but “We need to and meaning, and to predict
consequences and future behavior.
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4. GroupMind Express
Check list
 Make time to digest the generated material
 Check for group trust level re: intermediate steps of re-arranging comments
 Tell the group what you are doing and how it facilitates their understanding
 Prepare facilitators for moving and duplicating data, to allow changes to
comments without losing original input
 Consider multiple possible methods for building chunks of affiliated ideas
 Provide a method for gathering so-what comments, as a group
 Invite tying themes to other similar issues (synthesis step)
 Check for alignment on key themes and their titles
 Consider amplifying material for most important themes
 Consider a confidence-check step, once key agreements are reached
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