In The Handbook of Large Group Methods, Billie and her colleague Barbara Bunker identified fifteen Large Group Methods that had emerged in the previous ten years. They categorized the methods under three headings: those that engage people in creating the future together, those that address issues around work design, and those that primarily generate discussions. These methods, even though they may be used for diverse purposes and contain different activities and exercises, are similar in their underlying core purpose: to get the whole system in the room. Large Group Methods establish a climate necessary for whole-group events to be effective by breaking through the usual institutional silos, cliques, and hierarchies; leveling the playing field; giving people a voice; and setting up processes for conversations that make a difference.

Large Group Methods develop energy and commitment across the system. The core elements of most include:

A Clear Purpose Statement

Purpose is important to an organization’s effectiveness. In consulting it is called “the big why.” If a congregation or organization is considering using a Large Group Method, the primary question to ask is this: “Why do we want to have this meeting?” The planning committee and the board are usually responsible for this first step. Here are some important questions to ask:

Stakeholder Inclusion 

As we have mentioned, the fundamental intent of any Large Group Method is to get the whole system in the room. How you map the scope of the system is vital to the process. It is useful to go back to the purpose statement and ask, “Given the purpose of this meeting, who are the people who have a stake in this issue? Who can contribute to our thinking? Who can bring expertise and experience?” The best way to do this is first to list the categories of people you want representation from: committees/departments, institutions and agencies you work with, and other important groups. Then brainstorm about the people from each category who might be most helpful given the issues to be discussed. This list might include those who:

Highly Interactive Processes 

Large Group Methods use several types of groupings in one large room. These small groups provide for more intimate interactions among participants, and the small group allows more “air time” for people to express their ideas.

Total Group

Small groups will report out to the large group, and then all will reflect on what they are hearing. In the large group people deepen their understanding of the whole, build on ideas, and address issues. It is in these discussions that people discover new opportunities across the boundaries of experience, perspective, and role.

Max-Mix Groups

You will want a microcosm of the whole at each table, a mix of outside and inside stakeholders. In these mixed groups, major work gets done and important conversations take place. As people hear different perspectives, their understanding of the issues is enriched, divergent opinions come together, and people start building on one another’s ideas. A curious thing can happen in these groups: people may build relationships across the internal/external boundaries as well as develop new relationships within the community. Sometimes, for the first time, people experience that they are part of a larger whole. These max-mix groups are also a place where conflict is constructively managed and common ground is found.

Homogeneous Groups

This type of group is useful for getting the perspectives of a specific stakeholder group or a work group on a given topic or a contemplated change. Such groups might include the outreach committee, the education and program committee, the activities group, and the alumni or faculty group. Homogeneous stakeholder groups are also useful for planning, implementation, and follow-up.

Self-selected Groups

People are not assigned to these groups but choose to join them. The members will have one characteristic in common: they are all interested in carrying out some specific action. These groups are formed when a particular activity or topic needs attention and some of the community members feel drawn to work in that area and carry the idea forward. At times, after the event, these self-selected groups carry over and continue to work in the organization on the specific issue they care about.

Exploring the Context First 

Before participants get engaged with the issues and challenges in the current situation, they are asked to step back and see the situation in the context of both the organization’s history and the history of what has been happening in the external environment in the world. Recognizing the impact of the congregation’s history as well as the forces in the current external environment creates a shared context for addressing the challenges. It helps people recognize that “we’re all in the same boat.” It moves people from focusing on pet solutions and personal agendas to developing a deeper and broader understanding of the situation. There is a movement from “me and my agenda” to “we and the work we need to do together.”

Self-managed Small Groups 

Often the small groups self-manage, rotating the leadership roles of facilitator, recorder, and reporter for each assignment. Each group is provided with a guide to performing the group leadership roles. In addition, each person has a packet of instructions for each activity. The facilitator or consultant usually gives the instruction and the time frames for each task from the front of the room. The facilitator will also remind the group of guidelines for good conversations. Self-managed groups give people voice and opportunity to exercise influence. The rotation of the various roles in the group and the guidelines for good conversations expose people to effective ways of working in groups and running meetings. This training carries back to the institution.

Focus on a Preferred Future, Finding Common Ground 

The focus in these meetings is not on fixing past problems. The challenge for the participants is to create the future they want while building on the strengths already present. We bring to most strategic or task-related gatherings our own views on what needs to be done, our ideas of how to fix things, and our own agendas. As these meetings progress and people come to understand the larger environmental context and the desired future, a convergence takes place. Divergent points of view are integrated into a shared perspective. People begin to let go of pet solutions. Participants find common ground. Rather than spending hours trying to fix the present, the group finds that the future becomes a compelling force and motivator to work together.

Participants’ Responsibility for Action 

Once there is agreement on the desired future, the community can organize itself and take responsibility for the steps required to move toward that future.

Adapted from  Creating the Future Together: Large Group Methods for Faith Communities, copyright © 2008 by the Alban Institute. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2008, the Alban Institute. All rights reserved. We encourage you to share Alban Weekly articles with your congregation. We gladly allow permission to reprint articles from the Alban Weekly for one-time use by congregations and their leaders when the material is offered free of charge. All we ask is that you write to us at alban@div.duke.edu and let us know how Alban Weekly is making an impact in your congregation. If you would like to use any other Alban material, or if your intended use of Alban Weekly does not fall within this scope, please submit our reprint permission request form.

 

 

FEATURED RESOURCES

Creating the Future Together: Methods to Inspire Your Whole Faith Community 
by Loren B. Mead and Billie T. Alban

Congregations today face a multitude of challenges in trying to adapt to a quickly changing world. Balancing new concerns with core values is a complicated process that can leave too many members feeling that their voices and needs are not being met. Mead and Alban have developed Creating the Future Together to share their knowledge of how congregations can use large group methods to navigate these new waters. Combining their wealth of experience in leading religious and secular bodies through times of change, they bring hope to faith communities as they work to embrace, and even thrive through, the need for change.

 

Open Source Church: Making Room for the Wisdom of All   
by Landon Whitsitt

In Open Source Church: Making Room for the Wisdom of All, Landon Whitsitt argues that Wikipedia, the encyclopedia that anyone can see and edit, might be the most instructive model available to help congregations develop leaders and structures that can meet the challenges presented by our changing world. Its success depends, he demonstrates, not on the views of select experts but on the collective wisdom of crowds. 

 

Greenhouses of Hope: Congregations Growing Young Leaders Who Will Change the World  
Edited by Dori Grinenko Baker

The authors who collaborated on this book launched a quest for vibrant, life-giving, greening congregations and observed the diverse practices that grow there. They named these churches “Greenhouses of Hope.”  A Greenhouse of Hope is a Christian congregation freeing itself to experiment with both newly imagined and time-honored ways of following the path of Jesus. Its members respond to God’s love through practices that genuinely embrace the gifts of youth and young adults. Out of these greenhouses emerge young leaders who want to change the world.

 

Memories, Hopes, and Conversations: Appreciative Inquiry and Congregational Change by Mark Lau Branson

Branson demonstrates how concentrating on needs and problems can mire a congregation in discouragement and distract from noticing innate strengths. By focusing on memories of the congregation at its best, members are able to shape the church’s future. Grounded in solid theory and real-life practice, Memories, Hopes, and Conversations is a groundbreaking work of narrative leadership.

 

 

 

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