What are the most effective ways to facilitate Six Thinking Hats sessions in Program Management?

Understand each hat’s role and define the session’s objective, select a diverse group of participants, prepare relevant materials, and create a structured agenda. Brief participants on the method beforehand. This preparation ensures focused and productive discussions.

Ready for a brainstorm? Let's wear different thinking hats & cook up awesome ideas together. Before diving into Six Thinking Hats session, lay the groundwork by figuring out what you want to achieve, how big it should be, & how long it'll last. Don't forget to tell everyone what's on the agenda, the rules, & what's expected ahead of time. Pick the people who should join – like program & project managers, stakeholders, & experts. Give everyone a job – someone to lead, someone to write down ideas, & someone to keep track of time. Get the stuff you'll need ready, like the hats, a whiteboard, a flip chart, & markers. Great session Team Keep those ideas flowing, follow up on actions, & remember – every hat counts in making our goals a reality.

Session preparation starts with finalizing the agenda. We as a team need to understand do we need to solve a problem or we want to brainstorm to optimize an existing solution. This will help to prepare the meeting well in advance and help the team to focus on the specifics of the meeting.

Employ proper documentation techniques along with expectations on time and efficacy of the exercise. The black hat is most coveted but one needs to ensure that the one wearing the hat understands the role. People often thing this is a “Devil’s advocate” role, which it is not.

Six Thinking Hats technique was created by Edward de Bono, to help decision making, by allowing a thinker or group of thinkers do parallel thinking. All people should be well aware of and aligned to this. It's always better when all people wear same hat at the same time so that everyone can present their perspective on the agenda.

Introduce this technique to the members by providing a brief overview of each hat's role, emphasizing their different perspectives (e.g., creativity, critical thinking, emotions). Encourage participants to wear different "hats" during discussions, fostering diverse viewpoints. Offer a simple example or case study to illustrate how the hats can be applied. Most importantly, facilitate practice sessions to allow participants to experience the method firsthand.

Sequencing of the hats depend upon the type of problem we are solving. The sequence is not fixed and can change based on the need. To keep things more interesting and keep everyone engaged, we can ask randomly anyone which hat he/she wants to wear and everyone can wear that hat and progress accordingly.

Facilitation is an important activity for any discussion. The facilitator needs to have a sight on each and every participant. She should encourage everyone to talk and add their valuable contribution towards the discussion, whether positive or negative. Each perspective needs to be discussed and understood well for a better outcome from the meeting.

Each and every perspective of the discussion and view point of each participant is important. They helps us to understand the problem better and identify a well defined solution, might not be the best but will be better for sure.

For successful Six Thinking Hats sessions, prepare by explaining the idea & setting clear goals. Make sure everyone has what they need, & address conflicts or disagreements. Be open to different perspectives, be creative, & adapt an approach based on team's familiarity with 6 Thinking Hats. Create a friendly environment, encourage participation, & be flexible with agenda. During session, provide background info, assign roles, use visuals, & manage time well. Address conflicts, be open to different ideas, & adapt to team's familiarity. Consider tech & cultural differences, encourage active listening, & capture outcomes.? Follow up on actions & assess how well session worked. It's about teamwork, respect, & making sure everyone's ideas count

One thing I've found helpful is to clearly document the main points emerging from each 'hat' to inform integrated decision making after the collaborative thinking session fulfills its purpose.