Action Planning Tools: Chunking
Chunking is a term referring to the process of taking individual Sessions or pieces of information (chunks) and grouping them into larger Sessions. One of the most common examples of chunking occurs in phone numbers.
For example, a phone number sequence of 5-3-2-1-4-5-9 is likely to be presented as 532 1459. Chunking is often used to help memorise large amounts of information. By separating disparate individual elements into larger blocks, information becomes easier to retain and recall.
Chunking is also a valuable coaching tool for helping clients to chunk goals, objectives or problems into smaller, manageable pieces. Chunking can be used to break down a problem into smaller, more manageable chunks or to assemble chunks into wholes.
Chunking Up
Chunking up involves moving from the specific (i.e. detail) to the general (i.e. the whole).
Chunking up
An example of chunking up is bottom-up budgeting where the total budget is prepared by adding together smaller, individual or departmental budgets.
Chunking up is sometimes called synthesis. It can be used to help understand the bigger picture by first looking at the various constituent parts.
Chunking up can help clients to understand how different parts of a problem and solution relate to each other and to build a complete solution.
People who prefer to chunk up often enjoy detail and precision, but may not always find it easy to ‘see the bigger picture’.
Chunking up provides coaches with a practical tool to help clients to understand the whole.
Chunking Down
Chunking down involves moving from the general (i.e. the whole) to the specific (i.e. detail).
Chunking down
An example of chunking down is top-down budgeting where a top level budget is determined and then subdivided into smaller individual budgets ensuring the total is not exceeded.
Chunking down can help clients to understand the relationship of different parts of a problem and solution to the whole.
Chunking down helps clients to develop more detail and to be more precise and specific.
People who prefer to chunk down tend to ‘see the bigger picture’ but may find it challenging to explore the detail.
Chunking down provides coaches with a practical tool to facilitate detailed analysis and planning.
Chunking Sideways
Chunking sideways encourages lateral and free association thinking about problems and solutions. Free association enables clients to make connections between seemingly unrelated ideas, issues and actions.
Chunking sideways
Effective sideways chunking usually requires chunking up first. This is because it involves thinking at a Higher level than the client’s starting point.
However, there are occasions where it is desirable for clients to chunk sideways from their current position as people can gain new insights from some lateral thinking.
Question Strategies and Chunking
Depending upon the client’s preference for chunking up or down, coaches can use question strategies to encourage clients to chunk up, down or sideways as the coaching dialogue progresses.
Example:
Problem: The production manager has a production scheduling problem which is contributing to the late delivery of products to customers. The manager has tried various solutions, but nothing appears to work: he has tried to resolve the problem on his own using techniques that have served him well in the past.
Chunking Method | Questions to Ask |
Step 1:
Chunking Down
|
· What is the problem? Describe it to me in detail.
· When does the problem occur? · What happens when it occurs? · Who does the problem affect? · What do you usually do when it happens? · What other problems like this have you encountered previously? How did you resolve those? |
Step 2:
Chunking Up
|
· Is the problem affecting other departments?
· What impact is it having on them? · What would they like to see from your department? · What discussions have you had with other department managers about the impact? · What thoughts/experiences do they have of similar problems? · What strategies or techniques did they use to resolve the problem? |
Step 3:
Chunking Sideways
|
· How could you use some of these techniques to tackle the problem?
· Who else from your team can you involve in helping you resolve the problem? · How will you involve them and ask for their help? · What improvements could you propose to senior management to improve future performance still further? |
During a coaching session, coaches will ask chunking up, down and sideways questions. Chunking can help clients to devise clear, specific and effective action plans.
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