The World Cafe
What is The World Café?
The World Café is a flexible, easy-to-use process for fostering collaborative dialogue, sharing collective knowledge, and discovering new opportunities for action. The essential practice is to convene and host "conversations that matter," with groups ranging from 12 to 1000, comprising many different settings and cultures. Based on living systems thinking, this is a proven approach for fostering authentic dialogue and creating dynamic networks of conversation around an organization or community's real work and critical questions-improving both personal relationships and people's capacity to shape the future together.
When does it make sense to convene a World Café?
- When you want to generate input, share knowledge, stimulate innovative thinking, and explore action possibilities around real life issues and questions.
- To engage people--whether they are meeting for the first time, or are in established relationships--in authentic conversation.
- To conduct in-depth exploration of key strategic challenges or opportunities.
- To deepen relationships and mutual ownership of outcomes in an existing group
What are the principles of the World Café?
- Clarify the context
- Create hospitable space
- Explore questions that matter
- Connect diverse perspectives
- Encourage each person's contribution
- Listen together for patterns, insights and deeper questions
- Share collective discoveries
How might we get started?
- Clarify the topic or issue you want to address.
- Decide who needs to participate in the conversation.
- Explore possibilities of success - what is the best outcome you can envision?
- Decide how long you have for the process (from half a day to three days is usual)
- Consider the line of inquiry you want to pursue - what themes are most likely to be meaningful and stimulate creativity?
- Secure the services of an experienced Café facilitator and jump in!
Where can I learn more?