Impromptu networking

Having participants share responses to a “why am I here” type of question with their neighbors is a safe way to open a workshop, and Impromptu Network does it with a classic LS touch.

In practice

Indeed, my experience with Impromptu Networking has been as an opener activity with a large group of people meeting for the first time.

The next time I have this opportunity, I will try it as a post-lunch activity designed to get everyone back into a working mood very quickly. In an in-person workshop, we could have everyone stand up to shake off the food coma and have a collective reckoning of the morning’s key learnings before opening up the afternoon’s activity.

For me, as the facilitator, it would also double as a sense check for where participant’s heads are, in order to make any calibrations. Are people excited to move forward? Were there surprises in the morning? Is there anxiety that is best addressed now? Etc. This can be done without organized harvesting. Walking around among the groups during the activity is enough to get a read of the room.

Facilitation notes

The responses and level of energy are strongly influenced by what the facilitator or workshop sponsor brings to the room before this activity begins. There are pros and cons to that, so it’s important to be hyper-aware.

Workshop design notes

The magic is in answering the same prompt three times with different people. It might be tempting to trim it to two rounds, but it’s not worth the time saved!

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This entry is part of an ongoing series of Field notes from my Liberating Structures practice.

• LS under development
  • Aug 16, 2020 Tiny monsters
  • Aug 13, 2020 Narrative reauthoring
  • Aug 12, 2020 Spiral journal
  • Aug 9, 2020 Mad Tea Party
• Microstructures
  • Feb 24, 2021 Helping Heuristics
  • Oct 4, 2020 Nine Whys
  • Oct 4, 2020 Appreciative interviews
  • Sep 24, 2020 Ecocycle planning
  • Sep 20, 2020 Celebrity interview
  • Aug 22, 2020 25/10 Crowdsourcing
  • Aug 22, 2020 Open space technology
  • Aug 22, 2020 Wise crowds
  • Aug 14, 2020 Wicked questions
  • Aug 13, 2020 Heard, seen, respected
  • Aug 13, 2020 15% Solution
  • Aug 13, 2020 Triz
  • Aug 13, 2020 Min specs
  • Aug 12, 2020 User experience fishbowl
  • Aug 11, 2020 Conversation cafe
  • Aug 11, 2020 Troika Consulting
  • Aug 11, 2020 Impromptu networking
  • Aug 10, 2020 1-2-4-All