Gurteen Knowledge Café
A facilitator poses one open question, then people talk in groups of four or five for three short rounds, moving to new tables between rounds. There is no table host, no note taker and no reporting back; the café ends with the whole group in one circle sharing what they noticed. The value is in the conversation, not in a written output.
Use at a conference or offsite when a group needs to think out loud together about a question with no settled answer, before anyone tries to decide anything.
Solves: Knowledge-sharing sessions turn into presentations, and nobody gets to think aloud with people outside their own team.
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Step 1: Introduce the café, its dialogue-not-debate spirit and the question (10-20 min).
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Step 2: Optional: a guest speaker introduces the theme in five minutes or less (5 min).
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Step 3: Round one in groups of four or five. No leader, no note taker (10-20 min).
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Step 4: Everyone moves to a new table with new people for round two (10-20 min).
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Step 5: Move again for round three (10-20 min).
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Step 6: Whole group in one circle to share thoughts and insights (15-30 min).
- Spend real time on the question. One powerful, open question is the whole design.
- Do not appoint table hosts or ask for reports. That is what makes it different from World Café.
- Walk around and listen, and gently remind tables of the dialogue rules if a debate starts.
- Online Knowledge Café with breakout rooms and a closing round in the main room.