Focus Groups – Basics

Focus groups are a great way to assess your organization’s current services or evaluate new ideas.  Focus groups are basically interviews with a group of people at the same time in the same group that can result in a great deal of information for your organization.  

GETTING READY:  

• Define the major objective 
• Develop five to six questions that focus on the objective  
• Schedule the session for one to one and a half hours in a quiet setting  
• Select potential members who are likely to participate openly and who do not know each other.   
• Send an invitation to members with an agenda including the questions that will be asked.  
• A few days before the meeting, send out a quick reminder about the upcoming session.

GROUND RULES: 

• Encourage full member participation. 
• Stay focused on the questions 
• Keep the meeting moving  
• Get closure to each question 

FACILITATING THE SESSION: 

• Place each chair in a circle so participants are facing each other. 
• Introduce yourself and the note-taker if present. 
• Review the agenda including questions to be answered and ground rules 
• Explain that meeting minutes will be taken and distributed to participants after the session. 
• Ask each question one at a time and allow even participation by each member 
• Summarize all of the responses to the group 

CLOSING THE SESSION: 

• Inform  the  members that they will receive a copy of the report generated from their responses 
• Thank them for coming and their participation 
• Record any observations and/or surprises from the session