Go round is an exercise that is used to give everyone in a group a chance to speak and share their opinion on a chosen subject. This exercise can be used to front-load a workshop and establish current understanding before the training or as a reflective tool at the end of the training workshop to identify learning and workplace transfer.
Taking it in turns, group members are provided with an opportunity to speak on a subject without interruption or comments from others in the group. To prevent people from being put on the spot, allow them to ‘pass’ if they don’t wish to share their views. Allow one to three minutes for each person to speak and then move on to the next person. At the end of the go-round, allow a couple of minutes for self-reflection before discussing the exercise as a group. This exercise works best with between eight and sixteen people – any more than this will affect the group engagement and level of interaction.
Before you start the go round ensure you clearly state the purpose of the exercise and write the question or subject for discussion on either a whiteboard or a piece of flip-chart paper so everyone can see it.
When reviewing, ask the group the following questions:
- Whether their opinion had change during the exercise?
- Whether they have learned anything?
- Why it was important to listen to others without interruption?
