Plan focus groups with purpose

Learn how to set a clear objective, decide how many groups to run, choose between virtual and in-person and create a discussion guide that generates honest conversations. 

Facilitate with confidence

Develop the confidence to handle dominant participants, draw out the quiet voices, manage tangents and know when to push deeper versus move on. You'll get specific scripts and techniques for the tricky moments.

Turn insights into action

Learn how to analyse what you heard, identify real patterns and themes and present findings to leadership in a way that drives decisions. 

About the course

Most internal comms professionals have never been taught how to run a focus group properly. You've probably pieced it together from Google searches and gut instinct. This course changes that.  You'll learn a proven approach to employee research from setting objectives and selecting participants, to facilitating tricky conversations and turning what you hear into recommendations leadership will act on.

About Joanna Parsons

Hi, I'm Joanna Parsons, an internal comms consultant & trainer with more than 15 years experience working internal communications. I'm an award-winning comms practitioner, Fellow of the Institute of Internal Communication, internal comms YouTubers and published author. I spent four years at Trinity College Dublin training as a sociologist, which gave me deep grounding in social research methods, including focus groups. Since then, I've run hundreds of focus groups throughout my career and I want to teach you everything I know.  This course brings together everything I've learned about how to listen to employees properly; and turn what you hear into insights that actually change things.

Course curriculum

7 Chapters · 35 Lessons

  1. 1

    Welcome to the course

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      What to expect in this course

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Let's make a commitment together

  2. 2

    Module 1: Focus group fundamentals

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      What's a focus group?

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Why can't I just use a survey?

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      When to use focus groups

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      What focus groups can/ can't do

  3. 3

    Module 2: Planning your focus group

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Choosing the group size

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Duration of a focus group

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      How many focus groups to run

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Virtual vs in-person

  4. 4

    Module 3: Selecting participants

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Random vs non-random sampling

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Department vs company-wide

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Getting the right mix of people

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      The power dynamics problem

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      The "enthusiastic volunteer" trap

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      How to invite participants

  5. 5

    Module 4: Creating your focus group guide

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      What's a focus group guide?

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Setting a clear objective

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      The 3-part structure

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Open-ended questions

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      Leading questions

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      Follow-up questions

    7. (Included in full purchase)

      Testing your questions

  6. 6

    Module 5: Facilitation techniques

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      The dominant participant challenge

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      The silent participant

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      When groups turn hostile

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Handling awkward questions

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      Maintaining neutrality

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      Reading the room

  7. 7

    Module 6: Capturing & using insights

    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Taking notes

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Identifying themes & patterns

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Presenting critical feedback

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      What if your boss asks "who said that?"

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      Simple reporting template

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      Your next steps

Ready to master employee focus groups?

Enroll now to gain the skills and confidence to run impactful focus groups that drive meaningful change in your organisation.

€249,00

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