Be sure to ask introductory questions that will steer and drive the discussion in the way you want it to go.

• Today’s topic is .
• What do you already know about this product?
• How did you first hear about this product?
• What words or phrases come to mind when you think of this product?

How to Conduct an Employee Focus Group

1. Step 1: Select the Purpose Statement and Obtain Executive Support and Commitment.
2. Step 2: Develop a Process Guide, Including Group Questions.
3. Session outline.
4. Step 3: Select the Team Facilitator.
5. Step 4: Select and Invite Employee Participants.
6. Step 5: Conduct the Meeting.

All employees should have an opportunity to take part in focus groups. Each group should have no more than 10-12 employees to ensure everyone has an opportunity to speak. Employees should actively and openly participate in discussions and be respectful of others in the group.

A good facilitator must be able to listen attentively, have adequate knowledge of the subject, be unbiased and believe that every participant has something to offer to the discussion.

When developing a focus question, ask yourself: What question do you want to be in students’ minds as they engage in the learning activities? What question will encourage your students to be curious about the concepts? What question will lead to the desired understandings?

A focus question is a text-dependent question that sets a succinct purpose for instruction. Your focus question should serve as your north star as you plan text-dependent questions to guide students reading, writing, and discussion.

Under the main three basic groups of research methods (quantitative, qualitative and mixed), there are different tools that can be used to collect data. Interviews can be done either face-to-face or over the phone. Surveys/questionnaires can be paper or web based.

Most focus group moderators ask no more than eight to 12 questions. Know what information you can get from other methods to ensure you’re not asking unnecessary questions.

8 Top Tips for running a successful focus group:

1. Ensure you have clear objectives.
2. Recruit the right people for you.
3. Pilot your focus group before the ‘real thing’
4. Create a happy atmosphere.
5. Keep control of the session.
6. Avoid leading questions.
7. Rope a colleague in to be your ‘assistant’ moderator.

How to Run a Focus Group

1. Choose your topic of discussion.
2. Choose your questions or discussion prompts.
3. Prepare your focus group questionnaire.
4. Appoint a notetaker.
5. Recruit and schedule participants.
6. Get consent and start the discussion.
7. Have everyone introduce themselves.
8. Ask your questions.

Here are examples of effective Focusing questions:

• How do you measure the success of your company?
• Tell me about the goals you have in place for your department?
• Help me understand the importance of your current goals.
• What is the level of difficultly in achieving these goals?

Do not be intimidated by the fancy wording. Creating a specific research question will set the purpose for the focus group and your evaluation. The data you gather from the results of the focus group should answer your research question and provide results that you can then use to modify or improve your training.

Creating wrap-up questions: An employee focus group session needs to end after HR professionals have gained some valuable insights. Expert facilitators end the sessions with a question that seeks to know how employees feel about the organization’s communications and what they would like to change.

Exploration Questions As the name suggests, this type of focus group question is used to dive deep into the research topic and elicit detailed responses from participants that offer insight into their needs, wants, and concerns. These questions should be structured to draw out as much information from members as possible.

Coordinator: The coordinator of a focus group session is responsible for taking notes during the employee focus group session. They deliver these notes to the moderator post the session. He or she is responsible for scheduling, managing logistics, and communicating with participants. Employees: The employees form the core of focus group sessions.