Marc My Words: The Power of Focus Groups

Are you conductinga needs assessment, evaluating course effectiveness, checking the usability ofan eLearning program, or any other analysis activity? Focus groups can beinvaluable, not just for data collection, but also for insight. Not just the “what,” but the “why.”

What’s the value of focus groups?

Questionnairesreach lots of people and help spot trends. They can provide more detail, if a respondent chooses to providecomments (assuming they respond to the survey at all). With focus groups, youcan dig deeper, follow-up on those trends and get the back-story on an issue. Youcan identify consensus, disagreement, confusion, motivation, and readiness—allextremely difficult to do with just a typical survey. Focus groups provide therichness and context that enable better decision-making.

When should you use focus groups?

Anytime youneed a greater level of understanding. In the world of learning solutions, usefocus groups to flesh out stakeholder priorities and learner needs, testeLearning solutions, better understand participant’s reactions to a program,assess perceived benefits to individuals, groups, and the whole organization,and plan future direction and program improvements.

How often should you use focusgroups?

The argumentthat surveys are far less expensive than focus groups only works when focusgroups are overused. Use them strategically.If there is universal agreement about how a process or skill should be taught,for example, using a focus group for needs assessment can be wasteful. However,if there is disagreement on a process or multiple approaches to a problem, orif you are embarking on something new, a focus group can help show the way. Focusgroups can mitigate the risk of launching a faulty eLearning program by runningtest sessions with prospective learners and then asking them about theirexperiences. End-of-course evaluations can be augmented occasionally with afocus group to provide a deeper understanding of potential issues identified inthe survey, but you certainly wouldn’t run one after every course. Bottom line,if you have focus groups in your data-collection toolkit, you’ll begin torecognize when to best use then—when typical surveys, observations, andinterviews are not enough.

Who should be in a focus group?

Clearly, youwant to get diverse input from all key stakeholders: SMEs, instructors,workers, front-line managers, specialists (e.g., HR, IT, marketing, training),executives, and customers, to name a few. But should you mix them in a singlegroup? That’s a tough but important question. Look at it in two ways:

1. Supervisors and subordinates: Generally speaking, mixing levels can berisky. It can inhibit honest conversation or lead to the higher-level peopledominating the group. Now there are always cases where mixing levels can work,and in those cases, some helpful outcomes may emerge. But if you’re not sure,you probably should avoid this, at least at the start. A better way might be torun separate focus groups where you ask similar questions.
2. Different roles: What about putting SMEs in the same session withworkers or instructors, or putting marketing managers in the same focus groupas customers? Again, the best approach is primarily based on the culture of thegroups and your organization. Putting people with different missions, skills,and agendas in the same room can yield enormous insight, but it can also resultin counterproductive behavior. If this is the case, try separate groups first,then identify those participants who appear better suited to working withdiverse perspectives and run a second set of focus groups with them.

How should you facilitate focusgroups?

Carefully. Inmost cases you will need a facilitator who is not encumbered with note taking(have a separate person do that). Unless you have permission from everyone,don’t record the session, and always be sure to maintain the confidentiality ofparticipants’ comments. If they get even a little sense that you are“collecting dirt,” or otherwise prying on behalf of management, you’re through.If you have a bias to a solution, don’t show it. Ask lots of questions andfollow-up based on what you hear. Don’t be afraid to go “off-script” if thereis value in moving in a new direction (but don’t forget to come back to yourmain themes). Encourage dialogue between participants. Allow enough time forpeople to make their points and then move on. Remember, you are trying tocollect data, not run a debate. Be prepared to shut down (politely) anyparticipant who pontificates too much. Do not take focus-group lightly. If youhaven’t done it before, ask someone to coach you who has.

Should focus groups get questionsin advance?

That’s up toyou. It’s always a good idea to give your focus group an idea of what will bediscussed and what is needed from them. You could send them a short statementabout the issue and perhaps some, but not all, of the questions (considersending “starter” questions to stimulate their thinking).

How many people should be in afocus group, and how long should it last?

One or twopeople do not make a focus group; that’s an interview. Even three or fourparticipants may be too few. You need enough to generate great conversations. Ifyou have that, you’re good. At the other end, if you have too many people, youwon’t be able to give everyone an opportunity to speak, and if you do, you’lllikely get a lot of redundant remarks. Think about it this way: if you were torun a good team meeting where you get lots of input and have time fordiscussion, how many could youhandle? As for time, two hours is probably the max (better to have multiplesessions than one long drawn-out one), but don’t be afraid to end early if yougot what you came for. And never go over your time; it’s a sign of disrespectfor your participants.

What about interviews?

Interviews havegreat value, especially with key people. You might find that an interviewresults in a need for more data from a follow-up focus group, or that a focusgroup itself prompts a need for a follow-up interview. Planned well, interviewsand focus groups, used in combination, are more powerful than either usedseparately.

Should focus groups make decisions?

Probably not. Abdicatingdecision-making responsibility to the group as an easy way out of a dilemma isone of the key mistakes people make with focus groups. Too many companies,politicians, and yes, trainers, have planted their flag solely on the basis ofwhat they heard in a focus group, with disastrous results.

Data collection,analysis, and decision-making: all are critical, but they are significantly differentin purpose, design, implementation, and responsibility. As you think about yourfocus-group strategy, keep this clearly in mind. 

Learn more

Here’s a short andinteresting article by RossTartell on focus groups. There’s plenty more on the web.