Hi mate, I’ve got quite a bit of experience with regard to this type of work, it great when it goes well and looks easy but is horrible when it goes wrong and you get loads of stick.
Be clear on you aims, what does your organisation want to get out of it
Why are you engaging with the groups, is there a genuine reason e.g. Insights, experiences etc. or is it just a tick box exercise
How will you feedback the findings, what rationale will you use to justify your next actions
Don’t engage with a blank page, options are far better they’ll keep the session focused and if you do your homework you should be confident that they can be achieved
Make clear the parameters you’re working with; time, budgets etc
Be prepared for people to go off topic, it’s usually dog shit that most residents want to speak about
Do some simple things, spilt people up, intr ice breakers, attendees to set ground rules etc
Sounds to me that you need the group to:
ID the issues in a non blame way
Set out short, medium and long term actions
Draft an action plan get it signed off at an executive level
Manage the implementation of the plan
Key to it’s success is the ID and achievement of quick wins
Hope this helps
Cheers
Nick