Syndicates are an excellent way of developing quality outcomes efficiently with the meeting, and for building ownership for these.
Essentially, syndicates involve taking a small number of tasks and allocating subsets of the meeting to tackle each one independently, which they then do at the same time in different areas of the meeting room (or indeed different breakout rooms).
While the development of the outcomes may be efficient, it is often the case that feedback of these outcomes can, at times, be both time consuming and a bit frustrating. Particularly where people are developing collective ownership of the outcomes by suggesting refinement and improvements in plenary.
An alternative is to organise Walkround Groups.
The idea is that each syndicate puts up their output as a display in a different area of the room, and ensures that each member of the syndicate is able to explain it to others. Then the groups redivide into walkround groups with at least one member of each syndicate in each.
For instance, if the syndicates were: 1 – Angela, Bill and Chris; 2 – Artie, Beryl and Campbell; and 3 – Amos, Brenda and Candice, then you could fortuitously arrange the following three walkround groups: A – Angel, Artie and Amos; B – Bill, Beryl and Brenda; C – Chris, Campbell and Candice.
The walkround groups are given a set time at each display in order to briefly explain the outcomes, answer any questions, and capture feedback on post-its which are attached to the display.
The co-ordination of ‘moving-on’ with the other walkround groups helps to ensure that discussions are focused and do not drag on – but it is still important that time limits are set for each cycle, and that each group manages their time within that.
The co-ordination of ‘moving-on’ with the other walkround groups helps to ensure that discussions are focused and do not drag on – but it is still important that time limits are set for each cycle, and that each group manages their time within that.
The process allows for much more input and dialogue in a shorter time than do plenary presentations and review. Furthermore, people are more involved and ownership is increased through both greater input, and by having each person presenting their own teams output.After the walkround cycles are completed, syndicates reform back at their original display and review the post-it feedback to refine their proposals.
The image on the right is an example of what a slide of instructions might look like for a walkround activity.
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