Discussion guidance

Welcome! Thank you for joining us today.

You will now take part in an online group discussion with two other participants. Imagine that you have been asked to help design a company event aimed at improving everyday communication among coworkers, and helping employees better handle conflicts or disagreements at work.

Your group’s task is to brainstorm ideas for this event in a text-based chatroom.

What you will do

• You will be placed in a 3-person online chatroom.
• As a group, your goal is to come up with a concrete plan for a half-day event (e.g., a workshop or interactive session) that:
  • encourages open and respectful communication between employees, and
  • gives them tools or opportunities to address and resolve conflicts.
• By the end of the discussion, your group should try to produce:
  • A title for the event
  • A brief description (2–4 sentences) of what the event is about
  • 2–4 main activities or components of the event (e.g., exercises, games, discussions)
  • Expected benefits (what will improve at work if employees attend?)

There are no right or wrong answers. We are interested in the ideas your group generates and how you work together to develop them.

How the chat will work

• The discussion will last 5 minutes.
• To make sure everyone has a chance to contribute, the discussion will follow a turn-taking structure: Each person takes a turn sharing their initial idea for the event. In total, each person gets eight turns to talk. On each turn, you can respond to the previous messages and provide an idea of your own.
• Please wait until it is your turn before sending your message.

Ground rules

To keep the discussion productive:

• Stay on topic (planning the event).
• Be respectful.
• Try to include everyone—respond to others, not just your own idea.
• Focus on coming up with specific, practical ideas, not just very general statements like “people should communicate more.”

When the time is up, the chat will automatically end and you will be taken to a short questionnaire about your experience. Please note that no AI tools are allowed to use in the process.