Breakout Groups
Breakout groups are subdivisions of a larger meeting to deal with specific issues. Small groups meet in separate areas — corners of a large room or several smaller rooms. Each group appoints or elects a discussion leader, and each participant has a chance to express an opinion. Afterwards, groups report back to the large meeting. In neighborhood meet ings to discuss transit service issues, the Boston Transportation Department asked break out groups to identify priority issues. After each group reported, the larger meeting set priorities to report to the regional transit authority.
The Federal Highway Administration provides this example:
In Washington, D.C., breakout groups from sub-regions worked within a larger meeting on the area's long-range transportation plan and reported their area concerns to the larger group.
This resource is from the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration's web page entitled “Public Involvement Techniques for Transportation Decision-Making” (www.fhwa.dot.gov/reports/pittd/smlgroup.htm).
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May 18th, 2011 at 2:32 pm
Hello,
I am looking for some research. Our organization is creating a decision-making process. We are trying to determine the percentage of support a proposal would need to create a long term sustainable decision. We are considering 80%. Is there any research out there as to the level of support that is recommended?
Thanks,
Sandee Gamet
Peacebuilding specialist
May 20th, 2011 at 9:15 am
Hi, Sandee! Since you’re looking for a very specific type of research, I suggest sending your question out to the NCDD Discussion list to see what NCDDers recommend. Are you subscribed? If not, go to https://ncdd.org/rc/item/4434 for instructions on how to subscribe.