How can you effectively facilitate a volunteer focus group?
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— The LinkedIn Team
Volunteer focus groups are a valuable way to gather feedback, insights, and ideas from your volunteers. They can help you improve your volunteer program, identify challenges and opportunities, and foster a sense of community and engagement. However, facilitating a volunteer focus group is not as simple as inviting a bunch of people and asking them questions. You need to plan, prepare, and execute your focus group with care and skill. Here are some tips on how to do it effectively.
Before you start inviting volunteers to your focus group, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and how you will measure it. What are the main questions or topics you want to explore with your volunteers? What are the expected outcomes or actions from the focus group? How will you use the data and feedback you collect? Having a well-defined purpose and objectives will help you design your focus group, select your participants, and craft your questions.
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Joe Abou Naoum
Education Specialist, Family and socio-educational counselor.
To effectively facilitate a volunteer focus group, define your objectives and recruit diverse participants. Create a structured agenda with open-ended questions, and set a positive and inclusive atmosphere. Foster active participation by encouraging contributions and moderating the discussion. Utilize effective listening techniques and encourage respectful dialogue. Maintain control and use tools and techniques to engage participants. Summarize the discussion, address final questions, and thank participants. Analyze the data, looking for key insights and themes. Adapt these steps to your specific context and goals for a successful focus group.
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Lewana Harris, MHR
Former Senior Consultant at Korn Ferry, Organizational Development Expert, Author, Empowering Others to Operate in their Full Potential, L&D Professional, Master Facilitator
Keeping the main thing the main thing is key. It's easy to get off course when you have too m many ideas. Defining what you want to receive is important to getting the information you want.
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Martin Santos
Genuine Recovery Publications | genuinerecovery.art | SUBSTACK.com/@genuinerecovery | patreon.com/genuinerecovery
Listen. Ask pertinent open ended questions. Be an expert in your chosen field of profession. Encourage others to educe inner knowledge in a safe environment, where creativity can flourish. Having an aim (goal) to move the discussion forward helps keep conversations engaged and focused.
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Depending on your purpose and objectives, you may want to have one or more focus groups with different types of volunteers. For example, you may want to segment your volunteers by role, experience, location, or interest. You also need to decide how many volunteers you want to include in each focus group, and how you will recruit and invite them. Ideally, you want to have a diverse and representative sample of your volunteer population, but also a manageable and comfortable size for the discussion. You also need to choose the method of your focus group, whether it is face-to-face, online, or hybrid. Consider the advantages and disadvantages of each method, such as accessibility, cost, engagement, and technology.
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Howard Wahlberg
Among the other dimensions to consider is the "strata" of volunteer leadership you include. A group discussion that includes both regional leaders who serve as communications links between chapters and the national organization, as well as "lower-level" volunteers who work at the local or chapter level, can be far more productive and revealing than limiting the focus group based on responsibility level of volunteer cohort.
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Lewana Harris, MHR
Former Senior Consultant at Korn Ferry, Organizational Development Expert, Author, Empowering Others to Operate in their Full Potential, L&D Professional, Master Facilitator
One thing I've found is that having various perspectives can be very helpful. Choosing the right and sometimes even the 'wrong' ones can bring to light ideas and thoughts you may not think about.
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Jacquelyn Pepin Slade
Voter Engagement Activist and Jazz Musician
I feel like in a volunteer nonprofit context, it is important to consider that how many active members you have. I would highly recommend having a strong focus on recruitment if you plan on having many focus groups within your organization. Secondly, having a streamlined method of communication is important, so that there is an easy way for interested participan to engage. Whether that be email, a survey, or social media, it should be consistent.
Once you have your participants and method, you need to prepare your questions and materials for the focus group. Your questions should be relevant, clear, open-ended, and engaging. They should also follow a logical sequence, starting with icebreakers and general questions, then moving to more specific and probing questions, and ending with wrap-up and thank-you questions. You also need to prepare any materials or tools you will use during the focus group, such as consent forms, agendas, handouts, slides, or recording devices. Make sure you test your materials and tools beforehand, and have backups in case of technical issues.
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Jennifer Cunningham
Talks about #volunteering, #alumni, #highered, #engagementmetrics, and #philanthropy.
I'm not sure I agree with "icebreakers" - I would allow casual meet and greet time, but then when the focus group starts, we jump right in.
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Olum Steven
Capacity Building, Early Learning Programming and Education in Emergencies Practitioner
Here one can create a structured list of questions and topics that will guide the discussion. While ensuring that the questions are open-ended to encourage detailed responses. Include a mix of introductory, exploratory, and closing questions. Consider using techniques like brainstorming or role-playing to stimulate discussion.
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Howard Wahlberg
Prepare questions such that the pace of the discussion is brisk. There will always be a focus group participant with a particular soap box or agenda, so come fore-armed to keep the conversation moving and make sure all have a chance to chime in.
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On the day of the focus group, you need to facilitate the discussion and collect data in a professional and respectful manner. You should introduce yourself and the purpose of the focus group, explain the ground rules and expectations, and obtain consent from the participants. You should also create a positive and safe atmosphere for the discussion, by encouraging participation, listening actively, asking follow-up questions, managing conflicts, and summarizing key points. You should also record the discussion, either by audio, video, or notes, and make sure you have enough data to answer your research questions.
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Jennifer Cunningham
Talks about #volunteering, #alumni, #highered, #engagementmetrics, and #philanthropy.
I'd highly recommend asking or paying a neutral person to facilitate. Even if you think you're unbiased, facial expressions, body language, tone of voice come through and people might not answer as honestly if a staff or board member is leading the conversation.
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Lewana Harris, MHR
Former Senior Consultant at Korn Ferry, Organizational Development Expert, Author, Empowering Others to Operate in their Full Potential, L&D Professional, Master Facilitator
Setting expectations from the beginning is the top priority. Getting people to understand that it's not a gripe session but a way to get the best result possible. While facilitating, if you're unable to physically record, there should be at least 2 people, who is not the facilitator, taking notes.
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Cecilia Harry, CEcD
Economic Development Professional
If you can, have two neutral facilitators: one to lead the agenda and one to observe the room, take notes, keep time, etc. I feel like the insights are much richer when I have a buddy to work with and review the data.
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After the focus group, you need to analyze and report your findings in a clear and useful way. You should transcribe or review your data, and look for themes, patterns, gaps, and surprises. You should also interpret and evaluate your data, and relate it to your purpose and objectives. You should also report your findings, either by writing a report, presenting a summary, or sharing a feedback form. You should also acknowledge and thank your participants, and inform them of the next steps or actions from the focus group.
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Jennifer Cunningham
Talks about #volunteering, #alumni, #highered, #engagementmetrics, and #philanthropy.
Closing the loop with focus group participants is a great way to keep them engaged. Ditto survey responders. I've also used data from these to push back on other volunteers who use tactics like, "nobody likes this thing." Well, actually, the data shows that 75% of "nobody" does like the thing! Must be careful not to use it like a snarky weapon though...tone is important.
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Olum Steven
Capacity Building, Early Learning Programming and Education in Emergencies Practitioner
Here we need to review the notes or transcripts and identify key themes and insights. Look for patterns, common concerns, and valuable suggestions. After the focus group, prepare a summary of the insights gained and share it with your volunteers. Ensure that any follow-up actions based on the feedback are communicated.
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Haseeb J.
Business Analyst/Consultant at CGI Federal
Start with clear goals and a diverse group. Keep your plan flexible, create a cozy space, and be sure everyone knows they're heard. Encourage all voices, stay nimble, and end with clear takeaways. After, reflect, report back, and show gratitude. Every session is a new lesson!
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Alison Cundiff, MPA
Efficiency Expert || Program Management || Student Success
One thing I would add is that in your planning, gather questions and ideas from other areas in your organization. Everyone in the organization benefits from volunteers, not just the volunteer team, so think about how others in the organization could add to your planning.
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Olivia Schneider
Political Science and Public Administration undergraduate at the University of Northern Iowa.
Active listening is an important skill to utilize in focus groups. By encouraging the practice of active listening within yourself and your volunteers, you can foster more inclusive conversation. Volunteers feel heard, and this in turn encourages more thoughtful contributions. Each volunteer brings a unique and valuable perspective to the table. Active listening can often be the key to a productive focus group.
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