Читать книгу Reinventing You - Dorie Clark - Страница 15

Instead of a focus group facility—they’re very fancy, usually located in nondescript office parks or skyscrapers, and have conference rooms with a mirrored wall so the client can observe everything from a darkened room—your living room will probably have to suffice. Make sure you have enough comfortable chairs and, just as in real focus groups, bribe people with dinner and/or copious, high-quality snacks. Order plenty. Real focus groups also generally pay participants $50–$100 for a few hours’ work, but your friends are doing it as a favor to you. (However, if you’re able, it’s still a classy gesture to give a small token of your appreciation, like a gift card for coffee or a bookstore.)

Because these folks are participating in your focus group out of the goodness of their hearts, don’t abuse it. Keep the length to ninety minutes and be strict about timing. Allow thirty minutes up front as a cushion for late arrivals, and for people to mingle and snack. Then you’ve got sixty minutes to probe the questions you most want answers to—how you’re perceived, your strengths and weaknesses, what kind of jobs or environments people can most see you in, and so on. Two roles are critical here: the facilitator and the scribe. If you’re a terrific moderator—you can keep meetings going efficiently, shut ramblers up politely, probe interesting statements—then go for it. But for most people, it’s tricky to handle, especially when the subject is you. Instead, tap a friend or coworker you think excels in this area (whose meetings do you actually enjoy going to?), and see if they’d be willing to help.

A good role for you if you’re not facilitating is to be the scribe. Sit silently in the back, don’t interrupt, and just take notes on what people are saying. Write down anything that seems interesting or important (it’s also a good idea, with permission, to record the session so you can play it back and review it in the future). You may want to interrupt or argue, depending on what’s said, but your job is to stay quiet. Instead, work out an arrangement in advance with the moderator so you can slip him notes with questions and he can follow up on any key points.

You may also want to build in five minutes at the end of the session and request that attendees write down a short summary of their perceptions (three words that describe you, the most important skill you should work on developing, and so on). Some participants, despite your entreaties, may be too shy to verbalize their thoughts, so this is a good way to ensure you’ve captured their insights.

Arranging your own focus group takes work, and it’s not for everyone. But it can yield interesting insights rapidly and get allies on your side as you prepare to rebrand.

Try This

 Make a list of the fifteen people you’re going to invite to your focus group.

 What are the most important questions you want to ask? (Aim for four to six.)

 Who’s your moderator?

Mary’s Focus Group

Mary Skelton Roberts had built an international career as a conflict resolution expert.¹ But eight years ago, she found herself back in the United States looking for a new challenge. “I felt like I had given conflict resolution all I had and it was time to explore something else,” she recalls. She mentioned her quest to her friend Don, who floated the idea of a personal focus group. When Don offered to run one for Mary, she immediately agreed.

He suggested she invite participants “who knew me really well and could speak about me in different phases of my life,” Mary recalls. So she developed a list of ten names: her “dream team” of friends and advisers who would provide honest feedback, ranging from childhood friends to college buddies, and from professional colleagues to siblings.

Though some might have felt trepidation about inviting colleagues to analyze and evaluate them, Mary didn’t hesitate: “My friends already give me feedback and advice, so even if it isn’t usually this scripted, I already have that kind of relationship with the people I approached. Also, people said that one of my biggest strengths was the ability to listen and give thoughtful feedback, so some may have viewed it as an opportunity to reciprocate and help me out.” All ten agreed to come.

They sat in her living room, plied with snacks, and began filling out four worksheets Don distributed. The top of the worksheets were labeled:

 Mary’s Greatest Gifts Are . . .

 I Could See Mary . . .

 The World Would Be a Better Place If Mary . . .

 I Will Help Mary by . . .

For several hours, Don led the conversation, asking participants to share their responses for each question. Mary sat silently, taking it in. “All I could do was listen,” she says. “I was able to ask clarifying questions or ask for more information, but it was in the spirit of taking it in, not responding or critiquing.”

Mary found the process revelatory. Other people “almost have a bird’s-eye view, and they can see your life in ways you may not be able to, because you’re involved in day-to-day living.” The participants praised her communication and leadership skills, and urged her to think broadly about how to translate them: “They could see me working for a political campaign or writing a children’s book.” (Mary is now a senior program officer at a major foundation.)

The session focused on strengths, not weaknesses. But Mary nonetheless picked up important clues from the conversation. “There was a sense among people that I was a highly creative person and should be doing more in that space,” she says. “My interpretation of that is that I can be very intellectual, and maybe there should be more of a balance with creativity.”

Perhaps the most startling insights were about her personal life: “It was the first time somebody said out loud, ‘I want to see you with a child; I think you should explore it.’ Up until that point, I wasn’t sure I wanted to have kids, but that comment made it more relevant for me, and something I should be thinking about more carefully.”

After the session, she sat down with her professional coach and developed a six-month and yearlong plan following up on the insights and advice she’d received, from increasing her connections to other consultants to doing more work locally. The focus group, says Mary, “took me to the next level in terms of my professional development. It helped me refocus my consulting practice to include more training and development, which I loved doing and was really good at.” But the most important change was personal. A year and a half later, her daughter was born.