Solution circles were designed by Jack Pearpoint, Marsha Forest and John O'Brien in 1996.
Solution circles are a way to bring people together to try to solve problems or challenges in a positive way. By listening to each other, valuing different perspectives and through collaboration solution circles can bring about positive change.
The idea being that we are better together.
How does a solution circle work?
There are a variety of approaches to undertaking a solution circle, the following is a generic overview.
Everyone in the circle talks about the problem or challenge that needs to be solved.
The main facilitator should oversee this discussion
Everyone should get the opportunity to share their thoughts.
Everyone in the circle start to share ideas and suggestions on how to solve the problem.
A brainstorming session, at this stage no idea is a bad idea. All ideas are listened to.
This should be a safe space for creativity and different perspectives.
The group now look for common themes or similarities with any of the suggestions that are made.
You should look for similarities in the suggestions made in step 2 and narrow down the options and focus on possible solutions.
Once the group has identified some solutions, focus upon how to put their ideas into action.
Create a plan outlining the steps needed to solve the problem.
Tasks could be distributed between the group.
Start to implement the plan - each person can take a task to work towards solving the problem.
Everyone should contribute using their skills and efforts to make a positive move forwards.
If you have a large group of people you could split into smaller groups to generate more ideas.
The purpose of the solution circle is the generate action, it doesn't always guarantee a solution, but should help people to get 'unstuck' and point to some next logical steps.
Reflective Questions
Do you have a problem that solution circles could help with?
Try a solution circle with different colleagues and see if you can solve your problem (or come up with some different next steps).
