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Friday, July 30, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Using focus groups in placebuilding
Having a large number of huge public forums seems like the ideal way to get good input for making places better. But there are a number of reasons why this strategy often doesn't work:
Focus groups can help address some of these problems. This kind of public participation technique is designed to help get richer information than you can get through a survey or town hall meeting and leads to participants listening to and learning from one another.
- You probably don't have the budget to do all of the public meetings you want to.
- In communities where there's a lot of tension between residents, or there are ethnic or cultural groups whose members don't often go to public meetings, the people who show up usually don't represent the diversity of the place.
- The 'town hall' model is biased towards people who are comfortable speaking up in public, or have the courage to say things that others might not want to hear. So the people who talk don't often reflect the diversity of views in the place.
- The Q & A format in a limited time frame forces people to compete for time, which biases the format to the most strong-willed in the group. People are so focused on what they want to say that they are less likely to listen to others.
- News videos of town hall meetings usually focus on people yelling, arguing, or saying unreasonable things. This doesn't make public meetings feel welcoming to thoughtful people.
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| Photo credit: Creative Commons |
Focus groups are moderated meetings of usually no more than 20 people selected to represent the diversity within a community.
While businesses often use focus groups to test products with potential consumers, focus groups for placebuilding often play a different role. They are used both to get rich information and to create opportunities for members of competing or conflicting groups to listen and learn from one another.
While businesses often use focus groups to test products with potential consumers, focus groups for placebuilding often play a different role. They are used both to get rich information and to create opportunities for members of competing or conflicting groups to listen and learn from one another.
Focus group participants usually sit around a conference table, a U-shaped set of tables, or a circle of chairs. Unlike in town hall meetings, where participants talk at decision makers (usually sequestered behind tables), in focus groups, participants often talk to facilitators and in relation to others in the room.
Focus groups typically run about an hour to an hour-and-a-half. During that time, the facilitator (who is often a planner or specialist in group skills) asks a series of questions. The questions should be "deep"; that is, they should be designed to encourage thoughtful conversation among participants. ('Why' questions are usually deeper than 'what' and 'when' questions.) Usually, there is time for no more than five or six deep questions because the participants will respond at length to the question and sometimes to one another. Or the facilitator may want to follow an interesting line of conversation and ask several follow-up questions.
Focus groups have the potential of eliciting rich information that participants might not be willing to share in a survey or a public meeting (at a lower cost than conducting individual interviews.) They also help competing interests understand each others' views by putting them in environments that allow them to be more open to different ideas. (When you are representing an interest group's viewpoint in a public meeting, you risk losing credibility with your members if you appear to be too conciliatory.)
The keys to making these focus groups work best are:
- Create a list of participants that is bigger than what you can have at the table and:
- Select participants who can reflect and represent the diversity of the place. This often means selecting participants who are involved in at least one organization or initiative within the place. Former leaders of groups are especially good to have at the table because they may speak more freely than a current leader or director.
- Select participants who are known to be good listeners. This can be hard to do on your own. Ask your contacts in the place about who is known for being fair, approachable or having other traits associated with listening well.
- Have a facilitator who is skilled at working with small groups and will:
- Be knowledgeable enough about the placebuilding project to know which questions are critical and which can be dropped when an unexpected but more important issue comes up.
- Work to ensure that everyone has fair opportunities to speak. This does not mean that everyone will speak an equal amount of time. Some people are more comfortable listening, then presenting their ideas at the end. Pushing them to speak up earlier and more often may make them feel uncomfortable.
- Be able to manage tension -- defusing it when it inhibits thoughtful conversation, aggravating it to challenge participants to be more thoughtful.
- Start on time, end a few minutes early, and have refreshments.
The Leading Institute and the Professional Development Institute offer several classes a year on strategic communications, public participation and other issues in placebuilding. Learn more or find out about upcoming courses.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
The constitutional role of American placebuilders
What is the proper role in American society of placebuilders (planners, architects, civil engineers and revitalization professionals)? Since the United States Constitution empowers --or limits the powers of—states and their counties and municipalities, it’s a good place to go for guidance. Neither the Constitution nor its predecessor, the Declaration of Independence, mentions cities or towns – or placebuilders . But they speak to what the Founding Fathers saw as the proper role of government – and by extension their agents -- in society.
The Declaration of Independence lists three “unalienable rights” – life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Government’s role, therefore, is to protect those rights. How would they translate for our work?
The Declaration says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness…”
Placebuilders should strive to promote a better “quality of life” in the places that they work. Since the term is so personal and because the powers of government are derived from the “consent of the governed,” the Declaration says, quality of life should be defined by the people who will be affected by the placebuilder’s actions.
People can have liberty only if they have the opportunity to fully engage in the benefits of society, and have the freedom to pursue those opportunities. Placebuilders should promote development and infrastructure that increases opportunity for all members of society. Also, placebuilders should be careful that the policies and regulations they recommend do not have the effect of unreasonably limiting liberty. Everyone agrees that to live peacefully in society, there should be some limits to personal freedom. Even Libertarians don’t want to get rid of every traffic light, and no one is holding rallies to get rid of zoning. But rules that put too many restrictions on property, or that make the cost of property ownership too expensive, have the effect of reducing an individual’s pursuit of happiness.
The Preamble to the Constitution provides clearer guidance for placebuilders.
“We the People of the United States,
in order to form a more perfect Union..."
Placebuilders should work to balance competing interests in the field of the public realm.
"establish justice..."
Placebuilders should create or recommend policies and regulations that are based on generally accepted concepts of fairness and definitions of good and evil in society
"insure domestic tranquility..."
Placebuilders should promote development and policies that promote peaceful and positive interactions among people, and reduces stress on members of the population who suffer because of market failure or the acts of dominant groups to protect their privileges.
"provide for the common defense..."
Placebuilders should promote development and policies that protect against threats to the public's safety and health.
"promote the general welfare..."
Placebuilders should promote development and policies that increase both opportunity and equity for disadvantaged members of society.
"and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity..."
Placebuilders should promote development and policies that are sustainable, so that future generations of Americans of every color, creed and nationality can pursue their own version of the American dream.
"do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Want to be a more trusted advisor? Just answer the question...
Here is a true story of how an economic development expert lost an opportunity to do a great project:
A public agency asked a planning consultant about creating an economic impact study. The consultant contacted the economic development expert to invite thim to be on the team. Let's call the planner Steve and the expert L.K. Nove (all names are changed.)
Steve, busy on a number of projects, asks Nove how much it would cost to do an economic impact study for the public agency.
$20,000 to $120,000 was L.K.'s quick answer.
"OK, I didn't give him enough information to give me a better range," Steve thought. So Steve asked Nove what the client could get for $20,000, $60,000 and $120,000.
Nove responded with a long, rambling email saying, in effect: You don't get much for $20,000, you get some good information for $120,000, and sometimes these studies are even more expensive. He said nothing about what tasks he might perform.
Steve thanked L.K. for his time and decided that he would never ask him to do any work again. Nor would he ever recommend L.K. for any project -- despite the fact that L.K. was a known expert. And if somebody asked him about L.K., he would have no comment, a signal that many people in the private sector understand.
When busy people or clients have questions, they are going to rely on those advisors who can give them clear answers. Steve indirectly asked L.K. what tasks he might perform for specific dollar amounts. Rather than answering that question, L.K. gave an unasked-for interpretation. This just made Steve frustrated and angry. It also made Steve wonder, "If L.K. can't answer my questions, how can I trust him to answer my client's questions?"
You might say that Steve should have been clearer in his request. But it is the job of the advisor to understand not just what the client says, but what the client means.
Client competency skills are not just nice to have. In the Internet age, where professionals in our field know most of the same things as their competitors (or could find out easily), your success depends more on your emotional intelligence than on your technical expertise.
Some clients know exactly what they want and need, and can make themselves clear to their advisors. (Often, these clients don't need consultants; they need an extra pair of hands.)
Many clients know they face conditions they want to manage more effectively, or change. These clients usually have some ideas about how to address the issue, and so they ask advisors if they can do X, Y, or Z. But often, what they really want to know is: "Can you figure out the best way to reach my goals? Can I entrust you with this responsibility?"
In other words, a client's question about tasks is clear, but the client's question about goals is present, but unstated. A good advisor works to understand both the clients wants (stated questions) and interests (unstated questions). To do that, the advisor needs to ask questions of the client to better understand the unstated concerns or interests.
Considering this, L.K. should have:
It could have been arrogance. L.K. is recognized as an expert on economic impact and he might have felt this his opinions were as valuable as his facts.
It might have been that L.K. didn't know enough to answer Steve's question. But because he felt he had to give an answer, he talked around the question.
Or it could be that, like many professionals in planning, development or public design, L.K. has more training and experience in speaking ('profess'-ing) than in listening.
We don't know. But we do know that L.K. lost at least one potential client, and all the others that Steve will work with in the future.
A public agency asked a planning consultant about creating an economic impact study. The consultant contacted the economic development expert to invite thim to be on the team. Let's call the planner Steve and the expert L.K. Nove (all names are changed.)
Steve, busy on a number of projects, asks Nove how much it would cost to do an economic impact study for the public agency.
$20,000 to $120,000 was L.K.'s quick answer.
"OK, I didn't give him enough information to give me a better range," Steve thought. So Steve asked Nove what the client could get for $20,000, $60,000 and $120,000.
Nove responded with a long, rambling email saying, in effect: You don't get much for $20,000, you get some good information for $120,000, and sometimes these studies are even more expensive. He said nothing about what tasks he might perform.
Steve thanked L.K. for his time and decided that he would never ask him to do any work again. Nor would he ever recommend L.K. for any project -- despite the fact that L.K. was a known expert. And if somebody asked him about L.K., he would have no comment, a signal that many people in the private sector understand.
When busy people or clients have questions, they are going to rely on those advisors who can give them clear answers. Steve indirectly asked L.K. what tasks he might perform for specific dollar amounts. Rather than answering that question, L.K. gave an unasked-for interpretation. This just made Steve frustrated and angry. It also made Steve wonder, "If L.K. can't answer my questions, how can I trust him to answer my client's questions?"
You might say that Steve should have been clearer in his request. But it is the job of the advisor to understand not just what the client says, but what the client means.
Client competency skills are not just nice to have. In the Internet age, where professionals in our field know most of the same things as their competitors (or could find out easily), your success depends more on your emotional intelligence than on your technical expertise.
Some clients know exactly what they want and need, and can make themselves clear to their advisors. (Often, these clients don't need consultants; they need an extra pair of hands.)
Many clients know they face conditions they want to manage more effectively, or change. These clients usually have some ideas about how to address the issue, and so they ask advisors if they can do X, Y, or Z. But often, what they really want to know is: "Can you figure out the best way to reach my goals? Can I entrust you with this responsibility?"
In other words, a client's question about tasks is clear, but the client's question about goals is present, but unstated. A good advisor works to understand both the clients wants (stated questions) and interests (unstated questions). To do that, the advisor needs to ask questions of the client to better understand the unstated concerns or interests.
Considering this, L.K. should have:
- Made it clear what tasks he would perform (answer the stated question)
- Asked Steve what was his understanding of the client's wants and interests.
- Explained how the quality of the analysis would improve if the client were to spend more.
It could have been arrogance. L.K. is recognized as an expert on economic impact and he might have felt this his opinions were as valuable as his facts.
It might have been that L.K. didn't know enough to answer Steve's question. But because he felt he had to give an answer, he talked around the question.
Or it could be that, like many professionals in planning, development or public design, L.K. has more training and experience in speaking ('profess'-ing) than in listening.
We don't know. But we do know that L.K. lost at least one potential client, and all the others that Steve will work with in the future.
Learning opportunities:
The Leading Institute's Leading from the Middle program can help you be a more influential advisor. It is designed for urban planners, community and economic development professionals, and others who need to influence, but don't have the ability to coerce others, or would rather persuade than demand.
For more on understanding clients better:
Flawless Consulting and The Flawless Consulting Fieldbook, by Peter Block
SPIN Selling and The SPIN Selling Fieldbook, by Neil Rackham
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