ChatGPT helped me design a community input session.

barbara pedersen artificial intelligence, business, business planning, ChatGPT, collaboration, community, complexity, consulting, Conversation, design, Dialogue, Discussion, facilitation, Fun, in-person facilitation, online facilitation, Planning, process, reading, Simplicity, strategic planning, team building, team work, technology, Trends, virtual, virtual facilitation

Social media is prolific with information about Artificial Intelligence and ChatGPT. I enjoy learning from them. Here is my experiment with ChatGPT to help me do what I do the most; design a session.

  1. My first request to ChatGPT was to create a design for a facilitated 2.5-hour session with 60 participants to gather input for a public library’s strategic plan.
  2. My second request was to make the design more interactive.
  3. My third request was to make the design more interactive and innovative.

What I learned

  1. ChatGPT gave a good basic design as a starting place for a facilitator.
  2. It followed a standard workshop flow from opening to closing.
  3. It didn’t pay attention to the time limit of 2½ hours. LOL.
  4. It used standard facilitation techniques such as introductions, small groups, brainstorming, gallery walks, ideation.
  5. It used the term “icebreaker” which I avoid.
  6. ChatGPT works best with more description about what I want.

Design 1: Basic design (as written by ChatGPT)

  1. Introduction (10 minutes):
    1. Introduce yourself & any co-facilitators.
    1. Explain the purpose of the workshop & why community input is important.
    1. Provide an overview of the workshop agenda & any ground rules.
  2. Icebreaker activity (10 minutes):
    1. Start with an icebreaker activity to help participants get to know each other & feel more comfortable sharing their opinions.
  3. Presentation (20 minutes):
    1. Give a brief presentation about the library’s mission, services, & programs.
    1. Share any recent changes or upcoming plans for the library.
  4. Small group discussions (60 minutes):
    1. Divide participants into small groups (4-6 people per group).
    1. Provide each group with a set of questions related to the library’s services & programs.
    1. Give each group 20-30 minutes to discuss the questions & share their opinions & ideas.
    1. Encourage participants to take notes & assign one person to report back to the larger group.
  5. Large group discussion (40 minutes):
    1. Bring the groups back together & have each group report their findings.
    1. Facilitate a larger group discussion to identify common themes & areas of agreement or disagreement.
    1. Encourage participants to ask questions & provide additional feedback.
  6. Wrap-up & next steps (15 minutes):
    1. Summarize the key takeaways from the workshop.
    1. Thank participants for their time & feedback.
    1. Explain any next steps for incorporating the feedback into library programs & services.
    1. Provide information about how participants can stay informed & involved in future library initiatives.
  7. Closing (5 minutes):
    1. End the workshop with a brief closing activity or statement.

Design 2: more interactive (ChatGPT’s words)

Overall, this revised design is more interactive because it includes group brainstorming & a gallery walk, which allows participants to generate & share their own ideas. The large group discussion also provides an opportunity for participants to engage with each other & identify common themes. Additionally, the closing activity allows participants to reflect on what they learned & how they can apply it in the future.

  1. Icebreaker activity (15 minutes):
    1. Start with an icebreaker activity that encourages participants to share their favorite books or library memories. This will help create a positive & engaging atmosphere & get participants thinking about the library.
  2. Presentation & Q&A (20 minutes):
    1. Give a brief presentation about the library’s mission, services, & programs.
    1. Allow time for questions & answers from the participants.
  3. Group brainstorming (60 minutes):
    1. Divide participants into small groups of 4-6 people.
    1. Give each group a specific prompt related to the library (e.g. “What programs would you like to see offered at the library?” or “How can the library better serve the needs of the community?”).
    1. Give each group 20-30 minutes to brainstorm ideas & write them down on large sheets of paper.
    1. Encourage participants to be creative & think outside the box.
  4. Gallery walk (30 minutes):
    1. Hang the sheets of paper with each group’s ideas on the walls.
    1. Allow participants to walk around & read each group’s ideas.
    1. Encourage participants to add post-it notes to ideas they particularly like or to make connections between different ideas.
  5. Large group discussion (45 minutes):
    1. Bring the groups back together & have each group report their top 2-3 ideas.
    1. Facilitate a larger group discussion to identify common themes & areas of agreement or disagreement.
    1. Encourage participants to ask questions & provide additional feedback.
  6. Closing activity (10 minutes):
    1. End the workshop with a closing activity that allows participants to reflect on the ideas generated during the workshop.
    1. Ask participants to write down one thing they learned or one idea they will take away from the workshop.
    1. Collect the responses & use them to inform future library initiatives.

Design 3: more interactive and innovative (actual text from ChatGPT)

Overall, this design combines the interactive elements of small group work, prototype showcasing, and feedback, and dot voting with the innovative approach of design thinking and Spark Talks. The gallery walk and large group discussion also provide opportunities for participants to engage with each other and identify common themes. Additionally, the closing activity encourages participants to reflect on what they learned and how they can apply it in their daily lives, which can help ensure the ideas generated during the workshop have a lasting impact.

  1. Icebreaker activity (15 minutes):
    • Start with an icebreaker activity that encourages participants to share their favorite library experience and how it impacted them. This will help create a positive and engaging atmosphere and get participants thinking about the library.
  2. Presentation and Spark Talk (20 minutes):
    • Give a brief presentation about the library’s mission, services, and programs.
    • After the presentation, invite a guest speaker to give a Spark Talk on an innovative topic related to libraries, such as the use of data analytics or creating a library without walls.
    • Allow time for questions and answers from the participants.
  3. Design thinking exercise (60 minutes):
    • Divide participants into small groups of 4-6 people.
    • Give each group a specific design thinking challenge related to the library (e.g. “How might we create a more inclusive library space?” or “How might we promote reading in a digital age?”).
    • Allow each group to go through a design thinking process, including empathizing with library users, defining the problem, ideating solutions, prototyping, and testing.
    • Encourage participants to be creative and think outside the box.
  4. Prototype showcase and feedback (30 minutes):
    • Ask each group to create a physical prototype of their solution.
    • Set up a showcase area where participants can display their prototypes.
    • Ask each group to present their solution and prototype to the other groups and collect feedback from them.
  5. Gallery walk and dot voting (45 minutes):
    • Hang up the prototypes and ideas generated by each group around the room.
    • Allow participants to walk around and read each group’s ideas.
    • Provide each participant with a set number of dot stickers and ask them to vote on their favorite solutions or prototypes.
    • Encourage participants to add comments or feedback on the ideas they voted for.
  6. Large group discussion and reflection (30 minutes):
    • Bring the groups back together and have each group report their top 2-3 ideas.
    • Facilitate a larger group discussion to identify common themes and areas of agreement or disagreement.
    • Ask participants to reflect on what they learned and how they can apply it in their daily lives.
    • Collect the responses and use them to inform future library initiatives.
  7. Closing activity (10 minutes):
    • End the workshop with a closing activity that allows participants to reflect on the ideas generated during the workshop.
    • Ask participants to write down one idea they will take away from the workshop and how they plan to implement it.
    • Collect the responses and use them to inform future library initiatives.

This experiment shows very basic features of ChatGPT that I hope are helpful to colleagues as some have told me that they have not tried this AI tool yet. I plan to continue to experiment with ways to benefit from ChatGPT and other AI products.

ChatGPT helped me design a community input session.
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