Introduction
Thomas Kayser, author of Mining Gold: How to Cash in on the Collaborative Brain Power of a Team for Innovation and Results, stated in his book “If you can’t or won’t take the time to do the simple preparatory work, you haven’t earned the right to convene a group session.” Kayser developed a way for teams to collectively combine all efforts in a meeting. He named this method Mining Group Gold.
Five Basic Steps
According to FUNDAMENTALS, Kayser has set five basic steps for Mining Group Gold. These steps are:
Determining the purpose of the session.
Determining the desired outcomes of the session.
Determining who will be the facilitator, scribe, and time keeper of the meeting.
According to Trenton Hightower, there should also be a primary and secondary facilitator. The primary facilitator focuses on the group dynamics, controls the flow of the meetings, and when distractions occur the primary facilitator is in charge of intervening. The Secondary Facilitator is everyone in the group because they are responsible for creating a productive group session. The Timekeeper monitors how long each task takes to accomplish. The Scribe keeps track of what is being said on flip charts that can be hung on the wall for future reference.
Determining the agenda.
Allocating a time for each agenda item.
The Essay on Factors Affecting Group Development
– This is the ability to persuade the group member to change and reflect the leadership style. Authoritarian leaders predominate compliant and dependent members Democrat leaders Persuade more active involvement Environment Physical factors ( space, temperature, seating arrangement) Space/room (location and set up, e.g. Lighting & ventilation, seating arrangement) Emotional factors ( ...
Dealing with Emotion
Kayser mentions in his book that there is a process to be taken when dealing with emotions called “Feelings-Facts-Solutions.” FUNDAMENTALS gives examples of how to properly deal with each of these steps, and they are: Feelings: Accepting, acknowledging, and processing feelings in a way that the team can move on to facts. One way that is suggested is to have every member in the group write down how they feel. Each group member will then present it to the group and they will work together to solve the problem. Facts: Objectively generate and develop facts that can be used to identify and analyze problems.
Solutions: Generate potential solutions, and make decisions as a group on a way of implementing and evaluating the solutions.
Improving Teamwork
I believe that Mining Group Gold is a great way to work on building team work within a team because it allows for everyone in the group to voice their opinions and feelings, and not just one person controls the whole meeting. It also allows for great communication for these same reasons. Everyone is able to share how they are feeling with the group, and everyone is expected to participate in creating solutions to any problems that might arise.
Citations
Effective Meetings: Part 1- The Fundamentals. Facilitating a Meeting. (p. 30-31) Received August 16, 2014 from http://library.state.or.us/services/training/DAS_Training_Materials/Files/EffectiveMeetingsPart1TheFundamentals.pdf Hightower, Trenton. Mining Group Gold: A Cooperative Approach to Meeting Effectiveness.. Received August 16, 2014 from http://fieldtrip101.com/pdfs/Mining%20Group%20Gold.pdf Kayser, Thomas. (2011).
Mining Group Gold, Third Edition: How to Cash in on the Collaborative Brain Power of a Team for Innovation and Results. McGraw Hill Professional.
