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:

• 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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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.

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. 

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.

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP 

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.