XLeap Deep-dive space
- Discussing multiple topics in parallel
You can put up multiple topics in parallel. Everybody focuses on the topics which concern them most and on which they really have something to 'say' while staying in the loop on all topics. - Participants contributing in parallel
Instead of waiting their turn to speak, or for an opportunity to respond, or for permission to ask a question, participants contribute when they have something to say or a question to ask. No waiting for a break in the discussion.
Imagine what you can achieve in group conversations where all participants:
- Share their views freely when they have something to say or ask
- Keep an open mind and judge contributions by what is actually 'said'
- Focus on topics that concern or interest them without losing overall context
And you get an idea what XLeap DeepDive can do for you and your participants.
Discussion focus
XLeap Hosts can increase productivity even further by, for instance, structuring discussions with prompts or letting participants mark up contributions in context with sticky dots.
In short, you get superior results in record time. Participants enjoy being truly involved, having their say, getting their voices heard, and having their time respected.
- Commit individuals to just one topic where they could add to several topics
- Break context when participants are encouraged to switch between groups
- Approach potentially interconnected topics in isolation
- Require extra time for groups to summarize their work in plenum
Maximizing the experts' time
In practice, where time is always limited, discussing topics one after another often means that important topics are crowded out and not discussed at all. This can be painful and expensive if your participants hold relevant knowledge or must be involved as stakeholders and you cannot reconvene them at will.
XLeap DeepDive puts an end to all that. Offering multiple topics for discussion also prevents participants for whom the current topic is of little interest from switching off and net-surfing or catching up on their email or, when the camera is off, making coffee.
Targeted topics
Hosts add topics to the DeepDive manually or by copy and paste. Often, topics will be highly prioritized or highly controversial ideas, suggestions, or supposed facts. Or solutions the group needs to understand better, or must build consensus on.
In most cases, participants navigate between multiple topics independently. They focus on topics that are of concern to them or where they have something particular to contribute, and can skim the rest.
Contribution metrics
The contribution counters on the topics facilitates and quantifies topic navigation. They show the total number of contributions and how many of these any given participant has not yet read. When time is almost up, it is good practice to give people a few minutes to catch up on unread contributions, so everybody is on the same page before the next step in the session process.
This makes for rapid and full involvement as participants can exchange several times on any specific aspect or argument, whereas conventionally they might only get to speak once, or not at all.
Worse, disclosure alone does not make a fruitful discussion. In most groups, there are brave individuals who share what they know and think, even in the face of power. Sadly, this does not mean that what they say gets heard.
Eliminate bias
All too often, it matters more who says it than what is said. Such prejudice is not always conscious, but it is always destructive. The meetings in which the key point went unheard because the person saying it was too junior or from the wrong department are uncountable. So are those in which ludicrous statements were accepted without question, simply because the source was trusted or highly-placed.
Open information exchange
The reluctance, in meetings, to say what we really think - and the reliance on personal, departmental, or tribal prejudice when processing information - is deeply ingrained in human behavior. This is very difficult to overcome; which is why, in conventional settings, expert facilitators are careful to invest significant time in building trust before tackling the subject at hand.
XLeap sidesteps these inherent social issues by providing assured anonymity whenever full, honest disclosure and open-mindedness matter. Participants get this immediately: Hot issues are shared directly - no warm up required. Ideas, opinions, or facts are discussed on merit alone. This is a fundamentally liberating and deeply satisfying experience for all. It also produces results that hold water, reliably and rapidly.
