The same topic is on the agenda quarter after quarter. That is no coincidence.
Teams solve before they understand. Issue-Focused Working (VGW, from the Dutch Vraagstukgericht Werken) reverses that order: first the complete picture, then the opinion, then the judgment, and only then the decision. Eight steps, always in the same order, with Metis as the AI colleague that guards the process.
Grown out of three and a half years of practice-based research in more than 500 facilitated team sessions in Dutch long-term care, and set down in the book Stop Solving.
- 1Team PulseEveryone first writes down, individually, what is on their mind.
- 2IssueWhy does this matter, and why does it matter now?
- 3Picture-formingJudgment-free questions. No opinions yet.
- 4Opinion-formingEveryone alone first, then share.
- 5Judgment-formingOne shared problem statement.
- 6Decision-makingBy consent: no serious objection.
- 7ActionOwner, first step, reporting back.
- 8Team PitstopWhat have we learned, and what do we do with it?
The four steps with the gold edge are the core: picture, opinion, judgment, decision. That order is what most meetings skip.
What brings you here?
- My team is stuck on something that keeps coming back.A certified trainer-coach facilitates your team, with or without Metis.Facilitation for your team
- I am being offered Issue-Focused Working and want to know what to expect.What a certified partner does, what Metis does and does not do, and how the fees work.What you can expect
- I want to learn to facilitate this myself.The training program in five separate parts, from VGW Basics to VGW Professional, with certification on a real team.The training program
- I want the book or the workbook.Where the method comes from, what is in it, and how to order.Book and workbook
- I want to use a tool or download something.Eight free reflection tools, a project-start check for project and program managers, the four measurement instruments, and the worksheets that go with the book.Tools and downloads
- I am a trainer-coach and want to work with this for my own clients.Becoming a partner: training, certification, Metis, and measurement instruments, under your own business.Become a partner
An issue rarely starts as a problem statement
It starts with something that keeps coming back. A complaint, a sigh, a loose concern. That is not a weakness of the team; it is the starting point of the method: from what is on people’s minds to an issue, from the issue through picture-forming to the real problem, and only then to a decision.
The difference in one sentence: an issue is what a team wonders about (“why does our handover keep going so badly?”), a problem is the distance between where the team is now and where it wants to be (“agreements from the handover are often not carried out, even though we made them together”). Whoever starts with the problem skips the looking.
A fragment from the composite case in the book. Lindehoven Care Group is fictional; the steps are the same in every sector.
The method, step by stepIn three months, a new colleague received three different instructions from three different colleagues. A list of working agreements already existed: everyone thought it was fine, nobody used it. Care manager Ingrid Bosman noticed that her own solutions had become part of the pattern.From Stop Solving, chapter 1
Metis, the AI colleague that guards the process
Metis is not a chatbot that gives answers. It is built around one task: supporting the eight steps, whichever step the team is in. It signals when a solution comes to the table too early, tests whether a step has been closed out (jointly established that the step is done), and composes the Current Shared Picture while the team works: the one overview of where an issue stands, with key points, action list, and discussion record.
The team thinks, decides, and acts. Metis takes no decision, judges no one, and never infers agreement from silence. It works in three roles: Metis Team Pulse (facilitates step 1, gathering what is on people’s minds), Metis Team (the team’s shared environment), and Metis Leadership (the manager’s own workspace). You get Metis through a certified partner. Metis works in English as well as in Dutch.
What Metis does, and what it never does
Metis Team Pulse
Metis Team
Metis Leadership
What it delivers for a team
Decisions that still stand months later, because the whole team formed and endorsed them. Actions with an owner and an agreed moment of reporting back. Team members who know they have been heard, because everyone’s picture was drawn out before anyone judged. And a manager who gets a grip through the key points of the Current Shared Picture, without extra reporting.
Retaining people, less absenteeism, and better output are not goals; they come as a bonus. The book presents what the method delivers as a direction, not as a proven result, and sets its own claims beside the research literature, including where the literature argues against them. Within each organization, that direction can be followed with the measurement instruments.
What clients and readers say
The first few times it took effort, but the moment you get it, you reach the right conversation very quickly. It teaches staff to approach an issue from as many perspectives as possible.Anja Stunnenberg, executive, Markenheem
I recommend it to any leader or coach who has watched the same issue return to the agenda quarter after quarter.Dr. Michael J. Marquardt, Professor Emeritus, George Washington University, co-founder of the World Institute for Action Learning (WIAL), author of dozens of books
We want to become a self-managing organization. Issue-Focused Working is a fine method for having a real conversation with one another and for letting the undercurrent and the surface communicate.Eelco Wobben, care manager, Thuisteam Twente
In healthcare and beyond, I see how often organizations reach for solutions before the issue is clear. This is a directly applicable method that leads, in a well-considered way, to more ownership and lasting results. A book that should be required reading for executives and supervisory board members.Trudy Prins, executive and supervisory board member
More client experiences · The endorsements on the back cover
Available directly, and what goes through a partner
The book, the workbook, the eight reflection tools, and the training program are open to everyone: an organization, a manager, an independent professional, with no partner in between. Metis and the partnership always go through a certified trainer-coach of Vraagstuk Studio.