The goal of the World Café method is to bring large groups of 50 to 200 people together in an informal atmosphere for intensive discussion, debate and brainstorming on a common challenge. In this way, the collective knowledge and intelligence of the group can be used to define problems, identify requirements, and generate new ideas for solutions to complex issues.
The guiding idea of this method is the relaxed atmosphere of a sidewalk café, where people talk casually. Participants typically sit at small round café tables that can seat four to five people at a time.
World Cafés often take place in international corporations, political organizations, municipalities, cities, associations et cetera. The method is particularly effective with heterogeneous, mixed groups of participants affected by a common theme. It is well suited to
– to bring together different points of view on a topic,
– to design a plan of action within a short period of time,
– develop strategies together
– Provide feedback and feedback on proposals that have already been developed and, if necessary, develop suggestions for improvement
– in the context of project evaluations or surveys of interim results.
A regular side effect is the networking of the participants, which happens virtually incidentally through the interactive discussion rounds.
In order to successfully drive forward the digital transformation in the company, the dialog between employees on the topics of the digital transformation must be deepened. The World Café is a suitable method for this, which makes it possible to talk about selected topics in a targeted manner with an almost unlimited number of participants. For this purpose, the participants gather at small tables in a café-like setting for the so-called dialogue rounds and move to other tables in a clockwise direction after the dialogue period is over. While cross-collaboration and systemic thinking initially grows in these smaller discussion groups, over the course of the event a comprehensive swarm intelligence is built that can produce profound recommendations for action. World Cafés are suitable when knowledge is to be exchanged or topics are to be explored, every participant is to have their say and be included in the responsibility for the results, and authentic conversations are explicitly desired.
The event should be held with at least 12 people. However, a larger number of participants between 60 and 200 people is recommended. The inventors of the method have held events with up to 1200 people. The method comes from Juanita Brown and David Isaacs. As a basic assumption that goes along with the World Café, they say in their book ‘The World Café’ that people already have the knowledge and creativity within them to overcome even the most difficult challenges.
Many types of World Café now exist around the world, such as the Solutions Café. With the Solution Café, concrete Action steps for the implementation of a goal are identified. In the context of digital transformation, this type of World Café can be used to make the swarm intelligence of one’s own company transparent and integrate it into decision-making.
Extensions involving other components are also possible. For example, the Keturi type of World- Café additionally uses movement, music and art to deepen the dialogue into a stronger emotional connection.
Preparation
Define challenge and goals
– Determine which challenge a larger group of employees should engage in dialogue about.
– Articulate the goals you want to achieve as a host with the World Café.
– Consider what your World Café should be called, e.g. Transformation Café, New Culture Café or New Work Café.
Determine framework and design
– Meaningful dialogue is needed for a successful event. The foundation is built on powerful questions that invite discovery and are meaningful to participants.
– Specify how many people should participate and how long the event will last (at least 90 minutes, events that extend over several days are also possible).
– There is usually one question that all tables discuss simultaneously for two or three rounds of dialogue. However, different questions can also be placed at several tables so that several topics can be studied in depth in parallel.
– Take advantage of additional options when designing the conversation environment and, taking into account the process steps mentioned earlier, decide what your World Café should look like, e.g., in what perhaps rather atypical location or with what additional decorations the event could take place.
Invite participants
– Decide who should participate and ensure heterogeneity as much as possible. The diversity of the participants leads to new ways of thinking, which means that a challenge evolves, is viewed differently and understood differently.
– Design an attractive invitation and show in this way your hospitality, one of the principles of hosting.
