How to Run a Staff Focus Group: A Practical Guide
A staff focus group is a structured conversation with a small group of employees designed to explore their experiences, views and ideas in more depth than you are likely to get from a survey.
To run one well, you need to be clear about what you want to understand, invite the right people, ask a manageable number of open questions, create the conditions for honest discussion and be clear about what will happen with the information afterwards.
The conversation itself might last only 60 to 90 minutes.
Getting that conversation right starts well before everyone arrives in the room.
What is a staff focus group?
A staff focus group brings together a small number of employees to discuss a particular aspect of working within an organisation.
That might include:
organisational culture
communication
leadership and management
employee engagement
wellbeing
organisational change
team relationships
working practices
values and behaviours
experiences identified through a staff survey
Unlike a survey, a focus group allows you to ask follow-up questions.
If somebody says communication is poor, for example, you can explore what they mean by poor communication, where it happens, how it affects them and what they think would improve it.
That ability to explore the reasons behind an answer is one of the main advantages of using staff focus groups.
1. Start by deciding what you actually want to understand
Before writing any questions, ask yourself:
What do we want to know at the end of this that we don’t know now?
It sounds obvious, but it is surprisingly easy to start with the questions rather than the purpose.
“Finding out what staff think” is probably too broad.
You might actually want to understand why engagement scores have fallen, how a recent organisational change is being experienced, what is getting in the way of collaboration or why people are reluctant to raise concerns.
The clearer you are about the purpose, the easier it becomes to design the session.
It also helps prevent the focus group becoming a general conversation about everything that is wrong with the organisation.
2. Decide whether a focus group is actually the right approach
Not every piece of staff engagement needs a focus group.
If you need responses from hundreds of employees to a small number of clearly defined questions, a survey may be more appropriate.
If you want to understand why people think or feel a particular way, a focus group can be much more useful.
Often the two approaches complement each other.
A staff survey might tell you that only 42% of employees agree with a particular statement.
A focus group can help you understand why.
This is something I look at in more detail in my article, “Focus Groups vs Staff Surveys: Which Should You Use?”
There are also limitations to relying entirely on questionnaires, even when they are anonymous. I explore some of these in “Why Anonymous Surveys Don’t Tell You the Whole Story”.
3. Think carefully about who should be in the group
A focus group needs enough people to create a conversation, but not so many that people struggle to contribute.
Around six to ten participants is often a useful starting point.
The exact number matters less than the composition of the group.
Think about hierarchy, reporting relationships and the subject you are discussing.
Putting a senior manager in a group with people they directly manage may significantly change the conversation.
People who are perfectly comfortable talking about systems or processes may be much less comfortable discussing leadership, workload or workplace culture with their manager sitting next to them.
Sometimes separate groups for different staff populations are more useful.
The important question is not simply “Who should attend?”
It is “Who needs to be together for this conversation to work?”
4. Choose the right questions
A good focus group does not need 20 questions.
For a 60-minute discussion, six to eight well-chosen main questions will often give you plenty to work with.
Questions should generally be open enough to encourage discussion rather than inviting a yes or no answer.
For example, rather than:
“Is communication effective?”
try:
“Where does communication work well and where does it break down?”
Rather than:
“Do you feel able to speak up?”
you might ask:
“How comfortable do people feel raising concerns or challenging something?”
The wording can make a significant difference.
I have put together a separate guide to “Staff Focus Group Questions: 10 Questions That Get People Talking” with examples you can adapt for your own organisation.
5. Tell people what the focus group is for
People are more likely to contribute if they understand why they have been invited and what will happen with what they say.
Before the session, explain:
why the focus group is taking place
broadly what will be discussed
how long it will last
who will facilitate it
how the information will be recorded
how findings will be reported
what level of confidentiality can genuinely be offered
Be careful about promising anonymity.
In a group conversation, you cannot control what other participants subsequently remember or repeat.
It is better to be clear about the arrangements than make a promise you cannot guarantee.
6. Create the right conditions at the beginning
The first few minutes matter.
People need to know that they are there to have a conversation rather than provide the “right” answers.
I normally want to establish some straightforward expectations at the start.
We want to hear different experiences.
People do not have to agree with each other.
Nobody needs to answer a question they would rather not answer.
We should avoid identifying or discussing individual colleagues unnecessarily.
And everybody should have an opportunity to contribute.
A good facilitator also needs to make it clear that disagreement is allowed.
If everybody thinks they are expected to reach a consensus, you risk losing some of the most useful information.
7. Facilitate rather than interview
A focus group is not a series of individual interviews conducted in front of other people.
The value comes from the interaction between participants.
One person says something.
Another recognises it.
Someone else has a completely different experience.
That difference is useful.
The facilitator's job is to keep the conversation moving while giving people enough space to explore what matters.
Useful follow-up questions include:
“What makes you say that?”
“Can you tell me a little more about that?”
“Does anyone recognise that experience?”
“Does anybody see it differently?”
“What difference does that make in practice?”
The facilitator should be curious without leading people towards a particular answer.
8. Make sure every voice has an opportunity to be heard
Every group has its own dynamic.
Some people think out loud. Others need a little more time before contributing.
Some participants will naturally speak more than others.
That is normal.
The facilitator needs to notice when two or three voices are beginning to dominate and find ways of bringing others into the conversation without putting them on the spot.
That might mean saying:
“We’ve heard a couple of views on this. I’m interested in whether anyone has had a different experience.”
You do not need everyone to speak for exactly the same amount of time.
You do need to make sure the findings do not simply reflect the most confident people in the room.
9. Don't try to solve everything during the focus group
This can be particularly difficult when managers are involved.
Someone raises a problem and the natural reaction is to explain why it happens or immediately suggest a solution.
That can close the conversation down.
The purpose of the focus group is usually to understand first.
There will be time afterwards to consider what should change.
If participants start to believe every comment will be challenged, explained or defended, they may simply stop making them.
10. Listen for patterns, but don't ignore different experiences
One comment does not necessarily represent the experience of an entire workforce.
Neither should it automatically be dismissed because nobody else has said it.
When facilitating, I am interested in where experiences overlap, where they differ and where the strength of feeling seems particularly significant.
If several groups independently raise the same issue, that is clearly worth paying attention to.
But minority experiences can also matter.
The purpose is not to conduct a vote.
It is to understand the range of experiences people are describing.
11. Leave time for the question you didn't think to ask
Towards the end, I like to ask something along the lines of:
“What haven't we asked that you think we should have?”
It is a simple question, but it matters.
However carefully you plan a focus group, the questions are based on what you already think might be important.
Participants know things you don't.
Giving them an opportunity to raise something outside your planned questions can produce some of the most useful information from the entire session.
12. Be clear about what happens next
This is one of the most important parts of the process.
If people give their time and speak openly, what happens to what they have told you?
Ideally, participants should know before the session how the information will be brought together and who will see the findings.
Afterwards, the organisation needs to decide:
What have we heard?
What needs further exploration?
What can we realistically change?
What can't we change?
What do we need to communicate back to staff?
Not every suggestion has to be implemented.
But asking people for their views and then apparently doing nothing with them can damage confidence in future staff engagement.
Should staff focus groups be independently facilitated?
Not always.
There are plenty of situations where somebody within the organisation can facilitate a perfectly useful staff focus group.
But there are circumstances where independence can make a considerable difference.
This is particularly true where the subject involves leadership, management, organisational culture, trust, workplace relationships or other potentially sensitive issues.
Participants may be more willing to speak openly to somebody who is not part of the organisation and has no involvement in the issues being discussed.
An independent facilitator can also concentrate entirely on the conversation.
They do not need to explain organisational decisions, defend existing practices or worry about how comments reflect on their own team.
Sometimes what an organisation needs most is somebody independent to ask the questions and listen carefully to the answers.
What should a staff focus group report include?
A focus group report should help the organisation understand the main themes without pretending that a small discussion group represents every employee.
Depending on the purpose of the work, a report might include:
the purpose and scope of the focus groups
who participated, described appropriately
how the sessions were conducted
the main recurring themes
areas where experiences differed
illustrative comments where appropriate
practical suggestions raised by participants
issues that may need further exploration
conclusions and possible next steps
The report should distinguish between what participants said and any interpretation or recommendation made by the facilitator.
That distinction matters.
A staff focus group is about listening, not just asking questions
Running a good staff focus group isn't particularly complicated.
But it does require thought.
Be clear about what you want to understand. Bring together the right people. Ask fewer, better questions. Give people time to answer them properly. Explore what sits behind the first response. Make room for different experiences.
And then do something sensible with what you hear.
The questions matter.
The listening matters more.
Need help planning or facilitating staff focus groups?
I work independently with organisations to design and facilitate staff focus groups and other structured conversations with employees.
My involvement can start with the initial planning conversation, helping you get clear about what you actually need to understand and designing the questions around that.
I can then facilitate the sessions, make sure different voices are heard and, where required, bring the findings together afterwards into a clear report identifying the main themes.
You can read more about my approach to staff focus groups and facilitation on my website.
If you are considering running staff focus groups and would like to talk through the best way of approaching them, get in touch.
Frequently Asked Questions About Staff Focus Groups
What is the purpose of a staff focus group?
A staff focus group helps an organisation explore employees' experiences, opinions and ideas in greater depth. Unlike a survey, it allows the facilitator to ask follow-up questions and explore why people hold particular views.
You can read more about how I work with organisations through my Staff Focus Groups service.
How many people should be in a staff focus group?
Around six to ten participants is often a useful size. The group should be large enough to provide different perspectives but small enough for everyone to have an opportunity to contribute.
How long should a staff focus group last?
Most staff focus groups last between 60 and 90 minutes. The appropriate length depends on the subject, number of participants and number of questions being explored.
How many questions should you ask in a one-hour focus group?
Around six to eight main questions is usually enough for a one-hour staff focus group. Fewer questions allow more time for follow-up questions and meaningful discussion.
What are good questions to ask in a staff focus group?
Good staff focus group questions are open, neutral and easy to understand. Questions about what works well, what gets in the way, communication, leadership, speaking up and practical improvements can all generate useful discussion.
Should managers attend staff focus groups?
It depends on the purpose of the discussion. If employees are being asked about management, leadership or sensitive workplace issues, the presence of their manager may affect what they feel comfortable saying. Separate groups can sometimes provide more useful information.
Are staff focus groups confidential?
Participants should be told clearly how information will be recorded, used and reported. An organisation should not promise complete anonymity or confidentiality if it cannot genuinely guarantee it, particularly because other participants are present during the discussion.
Should a staff focus group be independently facilitated?
Independent facilitation can be particularly helpful when discussing sensitive subjects, organisational culture, leadership, trust or workplace relationships. An external facilitator may also make it easier for participants to speak openly.
I also provide independent facilitation for away days, team events and other structured conversations.
What is the difference between a staff survey and a focus group?
A staff survey is useful for gathering structured responses from larger numbers of people. A focus group allows a smaller number of participants to discuss their experiences in depth and enables the facilitator to explore the reasons behind their answers.
What should happen after a staff focus group?
The findings should be reviewed, recurring themes identified and decisions made about what can be acted upon. Participants should also receive appropriate feedback about what was heard and what will happen next.