Miguel Dias

New York Style Lean Coffee: A Structured Format for Group Discussions

New York Style Lean Coffee

Lean Coffee is a structured, but agenda-less meeting. Participants gather, build an agenda, and begin talking. Conversations are directed and productive because the agenda for the meeting was democratically generated.

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Agenda

  1. Round of Introductions

    • What brings you here?

  2. Write Topics on Cards

    • Topics can include:
      • Anything you’d like to talk about.
      • A challenge you’re currently working on.
      • A topic you’re curious about.
      • Something you’d like to share.

  3. Round-Robin Topic Overview

    • Each person briefly shares (in one sentence or 10 seconds) what their topic is about.

  4. Voting on Topics

    • Each participant gets 3 votes to distribute across the topics.
    • Votes can be concentrated on a single topic or spread across multiple.

  5. Discussion Process

    • Topics are organized into four columns on a table or board:
      1. Options – Topics suggested by participants.
      2. Discussing – Move a topic here once discussion begins.
      3. Discussed – Move a topic here after it’s been discussed.
      4. Epiphanies – Key realizations, concepts, or ideas that come up during discussions. (Can include notes, drawings, or pictures.)

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  1. Topic Discussion Flow
    • Take 1 minute to vote on topics.
    • Start with the topic that has the most votes.
    • During the discussion:
      • Capture any Epiphanies in the respective column.
    • If participants feel a topic has been sufficiently discussed, move on to the next topic.
    • After 5 minutes, if the topic still has momentum, cast a vote to decide whether to continue discussing it or move on.

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Materials

References