Q: We will soon be hosting varied focus groups and wondered if you could share any insight as to what we should try to glean from the attendees. The first is scheduled for August 11 with all of our trainers. We will then schedule other groups to include existing contract training clients as well as community groups such as Albuquerque Economic Development Center (AED).
A: Here is some additional information from Julia King Tamang which I think you will find useful:
The key is to be clear about what it is you are trying to learn. It is best to have a few key questions that you'd like answered. Too many questions and your group will lose focus. You'll have plenty of data, but it might not be useful. Or it might be useful, but not to get YOU where YOU want to go.
Another key is to have skilled facilitators. They should have studied up a bit on kinds of questioning strategies--open ended, closed ended, probes and prompts, at a minimum. They should be able to handle the possible chaos of the group with balance and decorum. They should be able to draw out those who are not naturally talkative.
You'd also be wise to have a recorder (a person writing fast) to capture what you learn.
In contract training, focus groups are often done to test the local business environment and see where your school should focus its medium-term content and scope of services development effort. For example, you might query local companies to see
--what training needs seem most urgent for the coming year or two
--what performance gaps seem most urgent
--what challenges do they find in hiring and keeping the best talent
--what new skills, knowledge and qualities or attitudes do they most want to impart to incoming and tenured staff now
This can be done in written surveys or focus group sessions. Be sure to use clients like your star clients for most relevant data.
You can also ask certain things from customers whom you already serve, such as:
--What do you like best about working with us?
--What areas of our business products and services would you most like to see improved, and if you like, how?
--What two services should we add this year?
--Have you seen anything that our competitors offer that you'd like us to add?
--Do our processes work for you?
Answers to these questions will help improve your service and portfolio of products and services.
There are some tips that might help you succeed with focus groups
--Use a mix of kinds of questions--open ended and close-ended and prompted questions or probes
--Use rating scales where appropriate
--Be specific for certain questions in order to ensure that you get the information you want. Have someone outside your group read the questions and tell you what they think you are asking.
--Be sure to say how you will use the information you gather and thank the respondents
It would be helpful for me to understand a bit more about your goals for the outcomes from these groups. What motivated you to set up focus groups? What questions are you hoping answer? What problems will you address through the findings of the groups?
In general, you can use focus groups to help you in gathering a range of information . Here are some areas where you might use focus groups:
a. How to improve customer service
b. Your brand identity
c. Your unique selling proposition
d. How to expand your market
e. New program and training needs
f. How to improve your marketing
g. Response to new marketing strategies
h. Response to new program ideas
i. How to find and/or motivate trainers and instructors
This may be too general, but if you can narrow your question a bit, I will try to be more specific.