Flash cards for key facilitation techniques. Print 4-up and laminate, or use http://tinyurl.com/facilitationcards to access a Google Docs set you can modify for your own use - or use from any mobile device as is!

1. List of Facilitation Techniques
Warm up: Carousel
Warm up: Cocktail Party
Warm up: Constellation
Warm up: Interview
Warm up: Learning names
Warm up: Round of names
Warm up: Tribes
Gathering data: Map of Finland
Gathering data: Me/We/Us
Gathering data: Timeline

2. Carousel
6-30 people 5 mins
1) Participants stand in two circles, facing each other (see picture).
2) Participants go through three rounds of pair discussions with a different pair
for each question (outer circle rotates around).
3) Each person answers his/her pair's question in 30 seconds.
Example questions:
- How has your morning gone
- What makes you happy
- What has gone well last week/sprint/etc
- What have you been proud of lately
- Something about the topic of your workshop

3. Cocktail Party
10-30 people 15-25 mins
1) Ask each participant to write an 'entry ticket' for a party on a post-it note. In
the ticket persons write their name and answers to a few questions e.g.:
- what gives you energy ?
- what would make this a great workshop?
2) Ask the persons to stick the ticket on their shirt
3) Ask participants to form 3-person groups with people they don't know, and
ask them to introduce themselves to each other
4) After 4 minutes, form new groups
5) Repeat 2-4 times

4. Constellation
10-50 people 10 mins
1) Have an object that you can place in the center of the room (e.g. a
Frisbee) and have the participants stand scattered around it.
2) Explain to them that you are going to read some statements, and
you want them to move closer to or farther from the center, in
relation to how true that statement is for them…the more true, the
closer to the center.
3) Once everyone has moved, have them
look around and see where their team-
mates are standing
4) read the next statement and repeat
about 10 times
5) Have discussion about “Where were
you surprised about the shape of a
constellation?”

5. Constellation Questions
I feel more of an accomplishment working
individually than as a team
I like getting results
I want others to lead
I do not like uncomfortable silence and put effort
to fill it in
I am open to change
I feel comfortable providing direct feedback
I like discussing alternatives
I like to work alone
During the finishing stage, I donʼt like to go back
to discussing alternatives
I am competitive
I donʼt mind bending the rules to get things done
I value work/life balance
When under stress, I like to be told what to do
Iʼm comfortable in front of a group
I like public recognition
Iʼm nervous about providing real-time feedback
Iʼm frustrated when there is not order
I enjoy alone time
I feel a sense of accomplishment when I know
Iʼve done a complete and thorough job
I feel a sense of accomplishment when others
recognize me
I need to feel a sense of accomplishment to stay
motivated
I thrive on being around people
I like to make things with my hands
I like to make my own way
I like surprises
I like to take charge and make decisions
When things are chaotic, I like to create order

6. Interview
6-20 people 15 mins
1) Create interview questions in advance.
2) Assign people in pairs. Give the questions to each pair.
3) Each person interviews his pair and prepares to present his pair to the rest of
the group. Switch around after 5-10min.
Example questions:
- Name, title, company
- What is the best thing in your
work? What gives you energy?
- What is your experience in the
subject?
- What is your expectations about
this workshop?
- What is a dream you are going to
accomplish?

7. Learning Names
5-20 people 15 mins
1) Form a circle
2) State your name and some word starting with the same letter (an adjective, a
name of an animal,..e.g. "Tim the Tiger") with it.
3) Ask the person next to you repeat your name and the word, and then say
his/her name with a word.
4) The next person repeats the names and words of all the previous persons,
and adds his/her name and a word
5) Repeat until all the names are said.

8. Round of Names
1) Participants can sit in a circle or around a table.
2) Each person in turn says his/her name, and answers one
simple question.
3-10 people 5 mins
Example questions:
- Describe how you
feel with one word.
- If you were a car,
what car would you
be and why?
- What is your
biggest hope for this
workshop?

9. Tribes
1) Participants are standing up.
2) Someones states something about him/her, e.g. "I have
two kids", "I drive a renault", "I play football", "I like to
program with Clojure".
8-20 people 5-10 mins
3) People who share the same
thing go to stand next to the
person who spoke, forming a
"tribe" with him/her.
4) Next person states a thing
about him/her, and people
sharing the same thing again
move next to him/her (including
people from previous tribes).

10. Map of Finland / Am I the only one?
Two different ways to get to know each other:
Map Of Finland
1. Each participant puts his name on his own birthplace
on the map of your home country (or the world if needed).
2. In round-robin fashion, everyone introduces them-
selves and where they are from.
Am I the only one?
1. Everybody sits. Each participant tries to figure out a
fact that applies to no one else, for example, "Am I the
only one who has played american football?".
2. Facilitator starts by standing up and stating his fact.
3. If no one else has done the thing, turn goes to the
next one. Else, participant has to come up with another fact.
4-20 people 15-20 mins

11. me / we / us
2-20 people 15-30 mins
This is a very basic method to facilitate thinking around practically any topic or
a question in any kind of a workshop.
1) Define the question that needs to be answered.
2) Me: everyone thinks about the question by themselves, and writes their
proposals down.
3) We: in pairs or small groups (depending on the amount of participants), go
through your members' proposals and choose ~3 best ones.
4) Us: present ideas from the small groups to all participants. Collect those to a
wall for further processing.

12. Timeline
1) Define a time period that you will be talking about (last
sprint/month/project/etc.), and draw a line on the wall to cover that time period.
2) Ask people to write on post-it notes major events that have had a positive or
negative impact to their work during that period.
3) Ask people to post their notes on the wall and tell briefly to others what was it
about.
4) Draw a scale from happy to sad below your timeline.
5) Ask people to draw little marks on the timeline to indicate how happy or sad
they were feeling during each time.
6) Discuss what people can observe about the events and happiness marks.
What caused the happiness and sadness peaks?
3-8 people 15-30 mins

13. Template Slide for Warm-Ups
x-yy people m mins
1) Duplicate this template
2) Edit in the header: the title, minimum and maximum amount of participants &
how long the exercise approximate takes
3) Edit body text: write step by step guide
4) Add examples, scan and add pictures or diagrams
5) Choose header's background color according to the type of activity.
Example questions:
- Did you test your instruction by making someone
try it?
- Can you substitute text with a pic?
- example question 3
- example question 18
- Do edit the template to make it perfect. :)

14. This work is licensed under the Creative
Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license
(CC BY SA).
Please improve, add, contribute to this material!
Send email to get editable Google Docs copy:
facilitationcards@gmail.com