Lightweight knowledge sharing — with Jam Sessions
A well-tried event format for lightweight, self-organized and organization wide knowledge sharing.
The larger a company, the more rapid the development of the respective industry, the more complex the knowledge domains to be mastered, the more important an efficient and effective exchange of knowledge becomes. At Daimler TSS, we rely therefore heavily on the self-organization capabilities and autonomy of our employees. Networking takes place in events of our communities of practice and other lightweight exchange formats — for example in form of an own invention I started in early 2016 with: our so-called “Jam Sessions”.
The “Jam Session” concept
A “Jam Session” is a public one to two hour event in which employees can exchange ideas, opinions and joined knowledge on distinct topics that touches current work practices.
The course of a Jam Session is completely open. However, the format of a fishbowl has proven to be very effective and has meanwhile established itself both in face-to-face meetings and in online meetings.
Therefore we focus on the structure of a real jam session: There are musicians on stage who are primarily absorbed in their free playing, and an audience that follows the performance but is free to join.
New musicians can spontaneously join in or leave at any time. There is no fixed concert program and no lengthy preparation needed. What is played results from the musicians skills and inspiration, their improvisation and intense interaction with each other.
Instead of a frontal lectures, interaction is emphasized. The main “musical instrument” is human speech. But also sketches on whiteboards, flipcharts or post-its can be used. Extensive presentations or lengthy speeches are frowned upon.
Organization of Jam Sessions
Topics suggestions for subsequent Jam Sessions can be submitted by any employee. They can register and rate for any topic they are interested in.
Past Jam Sessions covered e.g. our ability for organizational change, sustainability and nutrition, our DevOps universe, #NoEstimates, Scrumban, or the potential of product orientation.
Only sessions with broad acceptance will take place. The date depends on the availability of the musicians and the maximum availability of the audience.
A special feature of Jam Sessions is that they are mainly based on the existing knowledge and experience of the participants, so they do not require extensive preparation. Their main purpose is the “music”. The result is what happens in the minds of those participants, both the musicians and the audience. Therefore, no minutes or “recordings” of any other kind are needed.
However, a short info about the outcome and the actual participants after the event is welcome, so that staff members who were unable to attend can approach them afterwards.
About the course of a Jam Session
There is no moderator, as everyone can and should influence the course of the session. The main effort for the host therefore is limited to the introduction and follow-up of the session rules.
A session normally starts with a dialogue between at least two musicians sitting in the inner circle. To start the conversation only a repetition of the topic, a personal distinct opinion, a simple or a provoking question is needed. And already other participants interfere and a lively discussion develops. Some musicians love the stage, others switch back to the audience when they have contributed their opinion and vice versa.
Anyway, the maximum number of musicians is limited so that the main-focus is the discussion with the respective partner and his specific knowledge and personal view. The intensity and quality of the conversation therefore remains continuously on a high level.
What happens in a Jam Session depends on its participants, their engagement, who dares to enter the inner circle and contributes his or her personal knowledge and viewpoints. The more different opinions there are and the larger the circle of active participants, the better. The course of interactions is always surprising and not predictable, but the results are often very enlightening.
The optimal setting for a Jam Session depends on the event mode:
Online Meeting (video conference):
In the online setting, the fishbowl will be represented by the musicians who have switched on their camera and microphone. The number is limited to four. Only they are allowed to talk and discuss with each other.
If all “seats” are taken, but a new speaker wants to join, he/she only switches on his camera as a signal. Once a “seat” falls vacant he/she also activates the microphone.
Face-to-face meetings
In the middle, there are only a handful of chairs for the “musicians”. The audience sits around and is limited to confirming clapping or muttering. If someone from the audience wants to join in, they can always sit down on a vacant chair or, if none is vacant, it is possible to exert gentle “social pressure” — e.g. approaching an occupied chair — until a musician stands up.
Our experiences
The quality of the communication and thus the “entertainment value” or the knowledge gain of a Jam Session is usually rather high compared to an open discussion in a larger group. Frequent speakers there tend to provoke repetitions of content, in the sense of “I also want to be heard” and tend to lose focus because too many points of view meet at the same time. A fishbowl situation seems to discipline the particpants much more and improves focusing on the current topic.
In the best case, the energy level between the musicians is so high that even a consistent change in the audience is not perceived as particularly disturbing by the musicians.
The host is also able to join in as a musician, as he/she usually doesn’t have much to do during the session itself. On the one hand, the rules are easy to understand, and on the other hand, there is often already a critical mass familiar with Jam Sessions and often already demands compliance with the rules themselves.
Hybrid sessions, i.e. the additional transmission of a physical session via audio/video conference, only perform to a limited extent. Online participants are usually rather silent listeners because they miss the live experience in the inner circle. Physical presence has many advantages here (eye contact, real time, tangible physical proximity, etc.).
The length of a session is based on the energy of the discussion. A session does not always last the whole estimated time, but that doesn’t mean that you should end the session at the first pause for reflection. That is often when the really interesting discussions start.
Jam Sessions enjoy a very positive perception. There is almost no negative feedback. However, the situation of a fishbowl may seem to be strange for newcomers. Not everyone is extrovert. But as soon as you take the first step, you easily get used to it.
And what is most important: Jam Sessions are simply fun!
Give it a try.
A short guide for the host
At the beginning
At the beginning of the session, as a reminder, briefly outline the main topic of the Jam Session and explain the fishbowl rules:
- Only the “musicians” are allowed to speak
- Anyone from the audience who wants to speak can join in at any time, as long as there is a seat available (if none is available wait for a vacant seat)
- Other opinions are very welcome. Also interrupting each other is allowed 😉 — similar as in an intense dialogue between just a few
- There is no central moderator, as EVERYONE can and should participate in the discussion, once they miss something or something bothers them
- The audience or musicians are allowed to come and go at any time, just like in a real jam session in a pub
In order to make the start easier, you should ask two particpants to start as musicians. They will then start the discussion.
Online Meeting (video conference):
- Maximum of 4 musicians
- Only the musicians switch on their camera and microphone
- Set view to see only participants with camera (and share this view with all participants)
- Allow the audience to use the chat function. Musicians can respond to posts, but they don’t have to
Face-to-face meeting:
- Search for a large room with a wide-open area without tables (if possible, do not set up any obstacles between the audience and the inner circle)
- Prepare the room in time (remove tables, 3–5 chairs for the musicians in the middle, around them the chairs for the audience)
- Only the “musicians” on the chairs in the inner circle are allowed to speak.
Acknowledgment tapping, clapping or “murmuring of approval” from the audience is allowed at any time. The musicians won’t feel disturbed through this. They will feel like they are “among themselves” — and only talk to each other - Anyone from the audience who wants to join in the conversation can go to the inner circle at any time and sit on a vacant chair (if there is no vacant chair, simply stand in the middle between the musicians and wait until a musician stands up 😉)
- Depending on the situation in the room (are there tables in the way, etc.?), an optional “audience joker” may be arranged: One-time contributions are also allowed from a seat in the audience
At the end
10 minutes before the end, the host intervenes again (like a normal participant) and announces the remaining time, or he/she asks for final pleas from the participants or initiates a feedback round on the session.
