World Café: Creative exchange for collective knowledge in companies and organisations
The World Café is a proven workshop technique used in companies and organisations to activate collective knowledge and use it to solve complex issues and challenges. This glossary entry is dedicated to an in-depth explanation of the World Café, its meaning and application in a business context.
The basics of the World Café:
The World Café is based on the assumption that groups of 12 to 2000 people have collective knowledge and diverse perspectives that can be used to address complex problems. The name “World Café” refers to the informal and dialogue-oriented atmosphere that is created in these workshops.
The World Café process:
The World Café process is simple yet extremely effective:
- Rounds change: Participants take their seats at tables where prepared questions or challenges are to be discussed.
- Exchange: In each round, the participants discuss the questions posed in small groups. These discussions are informal and focus on dialogue and sharing thoughts and ideas.
- Switching tables: After each round, the participants move to other tables. Where possible, new perspectives and ideas should always be introduced.
- Moderation: During the entire process, one person moderates the discussions and summarises the most important findings after each round.
- Summarising in plenary: At the end of the workshop, the most important findings and ideas are summarised and discussed in plenary.
The importance of the World Café for companies and organisations:
The World Café promotes creativity, the exchange of ideas and collaboration in organisations. It makes it possible to utilise the wisdom and different perspectives of employees to find innovative solutions. This is particularly useful when complex problems need to be tackled for which there are no simple answers.
Areas of application of the World Café:
- Strategy development: the World Café can be used to discuss a wide range of strategic issues and generate ideas for the future.
- Team building: In teams and departments, the World Café promotes interpersonal relationships and mutual understanding.
- Change management: In times of change, the World Café can be used to involve employees in the change process and listen to their concerns and suggestions.
- Promoting innovation: The World Café is an effective tool for promoting innovation and creative thinking in organisations.
Conclusion: The World Café is a powerful method for harnessing collective knowledge and diverse perspectives in companies and organisations. It encourages the exchange of ideas, creativity and collaboration to solve complex problems and develop innovative solutions. This workshop approach creates an inspiring and open atmosphere that enables participants to realise their full potential.