SIX LESSONS LEARNED FROM LEADING 6,000 FOCUS GROUPS

If you are following this six part blog, you know that Lesson 1 was  “Trust your own Judgement.” Below you will find the list of the remainder lessons to be covered as well as a recap from Lesson 1.

Lesson 1:       Trust your own judgment

Lesson 2:     Put everything in writing

Lesson 3:       No one remembers the last group you led – you are only as good as your next group

Lesson 4:       Maintain research rigor but not research rigidity

Lesson 5:       Laugh early – it will all be funny later

Lesson 6:       Learn to expect and embrace change

Recap from Lesson 1 “Trust your own Judgement”

• What does trust your own judgment mean?   It means doing what you think is best, right in the moment.  That can apply to selecting cities for focus groups, for deciding the order of questions in a guide, and/or how to host the debriefing after the research day is over.

• What questions do I need to ask myself as I walk the research journey, so I can trust my own judgment?

 Some sample questions:

• What is the study purpose?
• Is there more than one purpose?
• What can be done in the time allowed and what cannot?
• Am I the right researcher for this project?
• What is the client expecting?
• What don’t they want?
• Is this project traditional or one that will require creative approaches?