---
title: "Identifying Your Communities"
description: "Participants independently write or draw what community means to them, compare their experiences in small groups, and compile a shared list of defining characteristics and exclusion practices."
last_updated: "2026-09-07"
canonical: "https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/3-identifying-your-communities/"
---

# Identifying Your Communities

Participants independently write or draw what community means to them, compare their experiences in small groups, and compile a shared list of defining characteristics and exclusion practices.

**Time:** 50 minutes. 50 minutes matches the original Collaborative Discussion Project timing (10m individual, 20m small group, 20m full group debrief).
**People:** 4 to 24. Solo work followed by small groups of 3 or 4 (groups of 5 permitted when total headcount requires it), ending in full-room discussion.

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Examine common traits of communities alongside practical mechanisms that foster belonging or create exclusion.
**Use it when:** Use during civic learning, team onboarding, or cohort kickoffs when groups need to define what makes a healthy community and examine unspoken social boundaries.
**Skip it when:** Skip when the group lacks psychological safety to discuss exclusion or when a short tactical work session leaves no time for personal reflection.

## Materials and tools

- Reflection Prompts Handout (1 per person)
- Blank unlined paper (2 to 3 sheets per person)
- Drawing pens, pencils, and colored markers (1 set per table)
- Sticky notes (1 pad per small group)
- Whiteboard or flip chart and markers for room display
- Countdown timer visible to the room

## Before participants arrive

1. Arrange seating into clusters of 3 to 4 seats, allowing for groups of 5 if headcount arithmetic leaves remainders.
2. Place Reflection Prompts Handouts, blank paper, and drawing tools at each seat.
3. Prepare a flip chart or clear a whiteboard section titled 'Characteristics of Community'.

## Say this to open

Today we are exploring what makes up a community and how boundaries form. To start, take ten minutes alone with your paper. You can write words, draw diagrams, or sketch scenes to answer two prompts: What does community mean to you, and what communities do you feel part of? Your notes stay yours; you choose what to share.

## How to run it

### 1. Introduce and reflect solo (10 minutes)

State the purpose and speak the opening script. Participants reflect silently and note or sketch responses to: 'What does community mean to you?' and 'What communities do you feel a part of?' Participants work individually until the 10-minute timer sounds.

### 2. Compare in small groups (12 minutes)

Form groups of 3 or 4 (or 5 if needed for clean division). Each person takes up to 2 minutes to share one or two aspects of their drawing or notes. Group members identify recurring elements and differences across their experiences.

### 3. Synthesize community traits (8 minutes)

Each small group writes their consensus characteristics of community on sticky notes or a flip chart. Instruct groups to identify at least one trait that builds belonging and one mechanism that unintentionally excludes outsiders. Post notes on the main board.

### 4. Debrief and analyze inclusion (20 minutes)

Gather the full room around the shared board. Review themes across the lists. Facilitate a discussion using the structured debrief questions, taking 3 to 4 volunteer responses per question.


## Debrief questions

- Looking across these lists, where do you see tensions between maintaining a group identity and keeping doors open to newcomers?
- In what local or professional spaces do you feel strong belonging, and what specific practices create that feeling?
- What intentional or unintentional habits in our own workplace or campus cause people to feel excluded?

**Finished output:** A posted thematic list of community characteristics, along with identified belonging and exclusion practices generated by small groups.

## Remote

Run solo work with cameras optional. Distribute breakout rooms of 3 to 4 participants (5 if numbers require) with a shared digital board (e.g., Miro, Google Jamboard, or Mural). Groups record characteristics on digital sticky notes. Convene in the main room and call on designated group spokespeople to highlight patterns.

## Hybrid

Keep in-person attendees at physical tables and place remote attendees into their own online breakout rooms. Have all groups post their final characteristics to a single shared digital whiteboard projected in the physical room. Alternate spoken contributions between room mics and online hands during debrief.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants can choose between writing bullet points, writing narrative, or sketching visual diagrams.
- Sharing private community memberships is optional; participants may speak about abstract community types or historical groups without disclosing personal affiliations.

## If the session gets stuck

**Participants get stuck trying to produce artistic drawings.**

Remind the room that visual notes can be simple stick figures, text bubbles, or standard mind maps; art quality does not matter.

**Conversations stay surface level, viewing community only as positive and warm.**

Ask explicitly: 'Every boundary defines an inside and an outside. What rules decide who is not in that community?'


## Terms used here

- Boundary mechanism: The formal or informal criteria (such as jargon, shared history, or credentials) that determine who is recognized as an insider versus an outsider.

## Participant material: Reflection Prompts Handout

Part 1: Individual Reflection (10 minutes)
Take time to write or draw your thoughts in response to these two questions:
1. What does community mean to you?
2. What communities do you feel a part of?
(Neutral example: You might list a neighborhood gardening group, a former collegiate athletics team, or a gaming Discord server, noting how shared goals or shared vocabularies unite them.)

Part 2: Small Group Conversation (20 minutes)
Discuss with your group:
1. What makes up 'community' across our shared stories?
2. What are the common characteristics of a community?
3. What practices draw people in, and what practices keep people out?
Produce a list of 3 to 5 core characteristics on sticky notes to post on the main board.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in the Collaborative Discussion Project module '5.3 Identifying Your Communities'.

Preserved the three-phase structure (individual reflection, small-group synthesis, full-group debrief) and original 50-minute allotment from the Collaborative Discussion Project source. Added explicit timing splits for the small-group step (12 minutes sharing, 8 minutes synthesis) to ensure concrete outputs, added the Reflection Prompts Handout to materials, accounted for groups of up to 5 for odd room numbers, and clarified hybrid and access protocols.

[Collaborative Discussion Project](https://www.collaborativediscussionproject.com/items-1/53identifyingyourcommunities)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/3-identifying-your-communities/