Conversation cafe is quite general and can be applied to most topics that are meant to be worked on in conversation-based breakouts groups.

In practice

I've had the most success with prompts that elicit personal stories, where an intimate exchange within a small group is a self-contained activity. People are happy to have a meaningful connection, and don't feel like they've missed out on what other groups discussed. If they’re curious, reading the per-group slide or flipchart of discussion points is enough.

Facilitator notes

This structure is a great one for quickly deepening conversations. When run online, it's usually done in breakout rooms and requires someone in each group to be a strict timekeeper. In addition, even at one minute each, multiple rounds around the table takes longer than a freefall discussion. It becomes tempting for both the facilitator who is managing a tight agenda and for impatient participants in a breakout room, to throw the constraints out the window. Stay strong.

Workshop design notes

If it's a prompt where participants do benefit from being exposed to what other groups worked on, the structure should be followed by a harvesting or cross-pollination activity. A common workshop design flaw is to skimp on time to download breakout outputs and discuss them at the room level.

This is a minor point but I usually re-name this activity to something a little less casual-sounding (ex. Roundtable discussions) or incorporate the content (ex. Your experience with xxx) to better suit the aesthetics of my workshops.

See instructions

This entry is part of an ongoing series of Field notes from my Liberating Structures practice.

LS under development
- Aug 16, 2020 Tiny monsters
- Aug 13, 2020 Narrative reauthoring
- Aug 12, 2020 Spiral journal
- Aug 9, 2020 Mad Tea Party
Microstructures
- Feb 24, 2021 Helping Heuristics
- Oct 4, 2020 Nine Whys
- Oct 4, 2020 Appreciative interviews
- Sep 24, 2020 Ecocycle planning
- Sep 20, 2020 Celebrity interview
- Aug 22, 2020 25/10 Crowdsourcing
- Aug 22, 2020 Open space technology
- Aug 22, 2020 Wise crowds
- Aug 14, 2020 Wicked questions
- Aug 13, 2020 Heard, seen, respected
- Aug 13, 2020 15% Solution
- Aug 13, 2020 Triz
- Aug 13, 2020 Min specs
- Aug 12, 2020 User experience fishbowl
- Aug 11, 2020 Conversation cafe
- Aug 11, 2020 Troika Consulting
- Aug 11, 2020 Impromptu networking
- Aug 10, 2020 1-2-4-All