Q. What is the most difficult situation you have ever had in a group? What did you do?

A. The last time I sent a mailer I commented on dealing with difficult respondents – people who talk too much or try to “hijack” the group. Several of you followed up asking what other unexpected situations can occur in Focus Groups – and how they might be handled. Here are a few that stand out over the last 20 years or so:

• A respondent announced in the introductions that he knew a lot about our topic of discussion since his wife was the business manager of a specialty medical practice (the client’s main competitor). He had lied to our recruiters (twice), telling them he had no family or friends in the field. I got up, talking and smiling the whole time, pulled back his chair, took his arm and walked him out the door, cheerily explaining that he was “too much of an expert” to participate in this group. Because it was early in the session and done quickly and in a pleasant way, the group wasn’t adversely affected.

• The Focus Group was made up of pre-teens. One of the young men was the “class clown,” trying to attract attention. I used all of the usual (adult) techniques to shut him down – but they didn’t work with Andy! He wanted to impress those girls, who were ignoring him more than I was. Finally, he took several coffee creamers in little cups from the refreshment table – and opened and drank them, one after the other. This got the attention of the girls, who were pointing and shrieking. I called an intermission. During intermission, Andy was dismissed and sent home. When we reconvened, I was afraid the other kids wouldn’t talk since I was “mean” to Andy. It turned out they were relieved to see him go, too!

• One of the respondents was apparently coming down from drugs. He paced, sat on the back of his chair, put ice on his head and rubbed it around and scratched his skin constantly. Though this was really distracting, it didn’t start until 20 minutes or so into the group and I didn’t think I could get him out of there quickly or easily without sacrificing the rest of the session. So after I was sure he wasn’t ill, I basically ignored him – and after a few minutes, so did the rest of the respondents.

Do you have a comment or question – or a Focus Group Story to share? Send it to me for future FAQs!