You are here. The Discover Step. This means you launched and ran a successful exchange and now it is time to make meaning with your results. Start with this question:

What is the progress I am trying to make?

The key to success with Discover is to laser focus on how this exchange will impact your decisions and actions. Answering the question above will help you:

• Plan your big picture Discover strategy
• Choose the most effective Discover dashboard tools
• Close the loop effectively

Plan your big picture Discover strategy

Once you understand what you want to do with the results, use this understanding to design your Discover strategy. These questions will get you started:

• Who else needs to be involved in deeply understanding the results? Can you set up a session to work with your results?
• Who will need to review the results? Do you want to give them ‘view only’ access to the Dashboard?
• Who will want the big picture takeaway? Will a Thoughtexchange report serve this purpose?

Choose the most effective Discover dashboard tools

The Discover dashboard offers a set of tools that you can use to customize your Discover experience. Once you understand what you are trying to learn or do, consider the tools from that perspective. Here are a few things to consider:

• How important is broad representation? Focus your attention on the demographics tab, the top thoughts report, and heatmaps.
• Was the conversation highly charged with lots of differing perspectives? Use the differences tool to explore the competing interests and what will bring them together.
• Is popular opinion what you are after? Start exploring big topics using the auto-themer or use the themer tool to group thoughts using your local context.

Close the loop effectively

Once you explore and understand your results, it is essential to share them back effectively so your community knows that they were heard and how they impacted the decision. You can include:

• A personal message thanking participants and outlining any actions that you and your team are taking.
• A summary of the results grouped into relevant themes or highlighting specific demographic groups.
• Leader comments for specific thoughts so participants know they were heard and understand your perspective.
• A closing message letting participants know the next steps.

In an ideal world, you designed your exchange with the progress you’d like to make in mind and it is never too late to refocus your intent so you can get what you need from your results!