Learning patterns/Making panel discussions (or roundtables) more productive

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Making panel discussions (or roundtables) more productive

problemOften during panel and round table discussions, there is a lot of discussion that essentially becomes pointless and/or directionless.

solutionHaving panel members who are more well versed with the topic will help, as well as people who can help summarise

creator• Soni

created on05:16, 23 February 2017 (UTC)

status:DRAFT

What problem does this solve?

Basically this is the problem that happens when panel members themselves have preconcieved notions about any given topic or are relatively unaware of the ground reality. Oftentimes when this happens, the discussion, rather than solving the actual problem or discussion, becomes a back-and-forth where participants end up discussing what the current scenario actually is.

What is the solution?

One of the ways to avoid that is for the organisers to try and keep the panel full of people who might already have some knowledge of the topic.

The recommended approach is for one of the panelists who is aware of how things are to start the (sub) discussion with an explanation of the current state of the affairs. Then others can pipe in with their own suggestions on how to improve things.