Cocktail Party

The Cocktail Party is an informal technique meant to loosen people up and get them to think about a question in a new way. It often amuses and even astonishes people who aren't expecting it. So if you want to startle people into processing a question differently, this could be the right tool.

Purposes

• To infuse new enthusiasm into discussion through a diverting, unorthodox, and yet familiar form of interaction
• To gather a wide variety of views about a question or topic
• To shake up thinking and provoke creative responses to a question or topic

How It Works

• Facilitators prepare hors d'oeuvres and nonalcoholic drinks before the class, meeting, or training. On 3' × 5' cards they write conversation prompts meant to stimulate new thinking about the question or issue being considered and place two or three of the cards on each tray.
• Facilitators announce that today's discussion will be modeled on a cocktail party and that people will mingle with others to discuss their responses to a question or problem that is posed to the group.
• Facilitators serve conversation prompts, as well as food and drink, from trays they carry around the meeting room.
• Participants are urged to move around the room and to talk to and hear from as many people as possible. They eat, drink, chat, and mingle, discussing the various prompts they are served. People are asked to start a new conversation with a new person or a different small group about every five minutes.
• Finally, the whole group reconvenes and individuals share the variety of viewpoints they heard as they made their way around the room.

Where and When It Works Well

1. Higher education. One group that has responded quite favorably to the Cocktail Party is college students, mainly because it takes them by surprise to have drinks served to them by the teacher-waiter! When the goal is to boost engagement or set a more positive tone, the Cocktail Party can be a nice way to get there.
2. Staff development. Mandatory staff development is often anticipated with dread. The assumption is that “experts” will talk from PowerPoints about something people don't really need to know and can't use. The novelty of this exercise engages people immediately.

What Users Appreciate

1. Playfulness. People tell us this activity is refreshing and liberating. Consequently, it livens things up, giving participants license to say things, offer critiques, and generate ideas that might not otherwise be expressed.
2. Informality. Many note how refreshing it is to speak with others under such relaxed conditions.

What to Watch Out For

1. Keeping people on task. Because of its looseness and informality, this exercise is especially tangent prone. As you wander the room you can ask a refocusing question if things seem to be drifting.
2. Getting people to mingle. Similar to any party, people tend to get deep into discussion knots with one or two other guests. Make sure you invite participants to switch to a new partner or group every five minutes or so.

Questions That Fit This Protocol

The questions that work best are those that are broad and encourage diverse viewpoints:

• “What's the most memorable moment you've experienced since you joined this organization?”
• “What makes you disengage from a meeting?”
• “What things have we done that work especially well?”