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Home » Methods » Appreciative Inquiry

Appreciative Inquiry

Differences in vision
1 project manager & 2-5 project partners
1-2 hours
easy
  • Digital whiteboard: Miro or Mural OR shared document (e.g., MS Teams)
  • Video conferencing: Zoom, Microsoft Teams etc.

Explanation of the method

  1. Prepare in advance the questions for each step: Discover, Dream, Create, and Realize. The questions should be based on the interview topic and fit the interviewee's personality.
    • Discover: Identifies the best of the interviewee's experiences, e.g.: What aspects of your environment are you most proud of?
    • Dreaming: Explores the ideal of the interviewee's environment without regard to time, money and other resources (vision), e.g.: How do you envision a "healthy environment" in the future?
    • Design: Concretize the interviewee*s vision, e.g.: What do you think should be done to achieve the ideal situation?
    • Realize: Links existing resources to interests and skills to make the vision a reality, e.g.: Assess the human and financial resources, your environment has, to make the dream a reality.
  1. Begin the conversation by introducing yourself to the interviewee. Start with the first stage - discovering - and ask the questions you have prepared. Be responsive to your partner's answers. Do not focus too much on the pre-formulated questions, instead adapt them to the interview situation. Then ask the questions for the other levels: Dreaming, Designing and Realizing.
  2. Based on the conversation with the interviewee, define a common vision.
  3. If you use the method in a workshop, first conduct it in groups of two, then share your vision in small groups (approx. 8 participants) and look for commonalities.
  4. Finally, compile the results in the large group. Try to define a common vision.

Advantages

  • Very easy to use and does not require long preparation and training.
  • The method is well suited for interview structuring. The questions can be assigned well to the corresponding phases.
  • The interviewee feels addressed on a personal level by the type of questions. This allows a good basis of trust to be built up with the interview partner.
  • It is easier for the interviewee to answer personal questions than abstract ones.

Disadvantages

  • Focusing exclusively on the positive can hide flaws, weaknesses, and risks.
  • Reserved people might reject this type of personal questions.

Advice from practice

  • Pay attention to the attitude of the other person. If the questions are too personal for the interviewee, become more distant. If the person responds to the questions, stay on a personal level.
  • If there is no information about the interviewee at the beginning, you should ask some general questions first and then personal questions.
  • Use scale values in the questions, e.g.: Where do you see your own health on the scale of 1-10? What needs to be done to bring your health status to a higher scale value?
  • Before the interview, you should test the questions with a colleague
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