Air Time Mastermind

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Collect multiple written perspectives and solutions on specific participant challenges through anonymous distribution and quiet writing.

Use it when: Use during peer consulting, mastermind sessions, or retrospectives when participants need fresh ideas on distinct individual problems.

Skip it when: Skip when the physical space is tightly confined, when group members face mobility barriers to chasing thrown paper, or when problems require strict confidentiality.

Group arrangement: Individual writing, whole-room movement, and optional pairs

Timing: Public Gamestorming source suggests 30 to 90 minutes. UWT standardizes a compact 25-minute version with three 3-minute answer rounds.

Materials and tools

• One sheet of colored construction paper per participant
• One felt-tip pen or marker per participant
• One analog or digital countdown timer visible to the room

Before participants arrive

1. Clear a central open throwing lane in the room free of tripping hazards.
2. Place one sheet of colored construction paper and a pen at each participant seat.

Say this to open

Take a sheet of paper. At the top, write one specific challenge you want peer ideas on. Write your name on the back so the sheet can return to you later. For example: 'What low-cost ways can I increase client referrals next quarter?' Leave the rest of the sheet blank for answers.

How to run it

1. Frame challenge and fold planes 5 minutes

   Participants write their specific question at the top of the page and their name on the reverse side. They add a recognizable symbol or simple drawing so they can spot it later. Everyone folds the paper into a basic dart or airplane with the question on the inside folds. Facilitator checks that all planes are ready before moving to launches.

2. Launch and answer round one 4 minutes

   On the count of three, all participants launch their airplanes into the open center of the room. Each person picks up any plane that is not their own. If someone picks up their own, they swap with a neighbor. Participants unfold the plane, read the question, write one concrete suggestion with their initials next to it, and refold the plane. The facilitator calls time at 3 minutes.

3. Launch and answer round two 4 minutes

   Participants launch the refolded planes across the room again. Each person retrieves a plane they have not yet written on. Participants unfold the plane, read previous answers, write a new recommendation, sign their initials, and refold the plane. Time is called after 3 minutes.

4. Launch and answer round three 4 minutes

   Participants complete one final launch. Everyone picks up a plane they have not yet seen, unfolds it, adds a third perspective or builds on an existing response, and initials their note. When time is called, participants do not refold the plane.

5. Return and review 3 minutes

   Participants walk their held plane back to its author using the name and symbol on the sheet. Participants sit down and spend 2 minutes reviewing the three written responses they received.

6. Debrief 5 minutes

   Facilitator invites up to three participants to share one actionable suggestion they received that they had not considered before. Conclude the session.

Debrief questions

• What was one practical idea written on your sheet that surprised you?
• How did seeing earlier answers influence the advice you added on subsequent rounds?

Finished output: Each participant holds a worksheet containing their specific challenge and three signed peer suggestions.

Remote

This physical kinetic game relies on folding and tossing paper. For fully remote teams, run an equivalent digital round-robin: assign each participant a slide in a shared slide deck with their question on top. Set a 3-minute timer and rotate participants across slides to leave written sticky-note advice for three rounds.

Hybrid

Pair each remote attendee with an in-person partner. The remote participant messages their question to their partner, who writes it on a sheet and folds the plane. During launch rounds, the in-person partner retrieves a plane, reads the prompt to their remote partner via chat or headset, scribes the remote partner's suggestion onto the paper, and launches it again. In the final step, the partner photographs the returned sheet and sends it to the remote author.

Access and participation choices

• Participants with limited upper-body mobility or seated participants can place their plane on a designated central drop table instead of throwing, or designate a partner to retrieve a plane for them.
• Any participant may choose a neutral hypothetical scenario instead of disclosing personal or sensitive business struggles.
• Participants may pass on reading their received ideas aloud during the final debrief.

If the session gets stuck

Participants retrieve their own plane or a plane they already answered.

Direct anyone who picks up an already-seen plane to immediately trade with the nearest person before starting the writing timer.

Questions are too broad to yield concrete suggestions, such as 'How do I succeed?'

During step 1, walk the room and coach participants to narrow questions to specific constraints, such as timeframe, audience, or budget.

Terms used here

• Mastermind: A peer consulting format where individuals present current obstacles to receive rapid input from colleagues.