Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.

Help me prepare and run the exercise below. First ask for my participant count, time, setting, access needs and intended result. Check these against the stated limits. Use the supplied rules and materials. Explain any proposed changes before using them, and label them as adaptations. Do not invent source claims or require personal disclosure. Give me one step at a time when I say start. I manage the people, physical activity and clock; do not claim to observe the room. Ask me what happened before choosing a next step.

Reference revision: 53ef559bf236f9b149ce39c5fac22fbf64703e4bc8250ebbefefbff509c54436

# Bright Spots

Participants take thirty seconds each to share a brief positive event or accomplishment from recent work. The group listens, acknowledges each share with applause, and identifies working conditions that supported those wins.

**Time:** 15 minutes. UWT 15-minute plan using parallel subgroups for cohorts larger than 10 to keep individual speaking time intact.
**People:** 4 to 24. Whole group for up to 10 participants; parallel subgroups of 4 to 6 participants for groups of 11 to 24.

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Surface and verbally acknowledge specific recent team successes and helpful interactions.
**Use it when:** Use at the start of a regular check-in, retrospective, or milestone review to identify recent progress before moving into problem-solving.
**Skip it when:** Skip during acute crisis triage or when active team conflict makes sharing positive highlights feel invalidating or forced.

## Materials and tools

- Digital or analog timer
- Scrrap paper and pens (optional, one per person)

## Before participants arrive

1. Arrange seating in an open circle or horseshoe so everyone can see and hear all others.
2. In hybrid setups, assign one in-person volunteer as the room ally to monitor the chat and read contributions for remote participants.
3. If meeting online, prepare breakout rooms of 4 to 6 participants if attendance exceeds 10.

## Say this to open

Think back over our shared work from the past week or two. Identify one bright spot, big or small. For example, you solved a stubborn bug, had a smooth client call, or someone answered a quick question when you were stuck. You will have thirty seconds to share it, or you may simply say pass.

## How to run it

### 1. Introduce and reflect (2 minutes)

Speak the opening script. Give the room two minutes of quiet reflection to pick one bright spot from recent work. Anyone who prefers may jot notes on scrap paper. Remind the group that passing is entirely acceptable without explanation.

### 2. Set turn order and guidelines (1 minutes)

Announce the sharing format. Groups of 10 or fewer stay in the main room and speak in circle order. Groups of 11 to 24 split into assigned subgroups of 4 to 6, with one member keeping time. Each speaker gets 30 seconds max. Listeners offer a brief round of applause after each turn. Confirm that passing moves immediately to the next person.

### 3. Share bright spots (8 minutes)

Open sharing. In the full room or parallel breakout groups, participants take turns speaking for up to 30 seconds. Listeners clap briefly after each turn. If running subgroups, each group completes 4 to 6 shares within 3 to 4 minutes, allowing buffer for transitions. Signal when 2 minutes remain. Conclude all shares and close breakouts by minute 11.

### 4. Debrief common factors (4 minutes)

Reconvene the full room. Present the debrief questions. Invite four to six quick voluntary comments across the room, or invite all participants to type key enablers into chat. Summarize recurring conditions that made these bright spots possible.


## Debrief questions

- What working conditions or habits helped these positive moments happen?
- Which of those supportive habits can we deliberately repeat this coming week?

**Finished output:** A shared spoken inventory of recent team highlights and identified enabling practices.

## Remote

For 10 or fewer participants, conduct the go-around in the main video room using a roster posted in chat. For 11 to 24 participants, send attendees into breakout rooms of 4 to 6 people for Step 3, then use the meeting broadcast banner at minute 10 to announce return to the main room for the final 4-minute debrief. Attendees may type their bright spot into chat if microphone audio is unavailable.

## Hybrid

Create a unified speaking order alternating between in-person and remote speakers. Display the video gallery and chat on the room display. The designated room ally monitors chat and reads entries aloud on that participant's turn.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants may pass without question by stating 'pass'.
- Participants may write their bright spot on scrap paper or submit via chat for the room ally or facilitator to read aloud anonymously.
- Shares may highlight ordinary tasks or brief courtesies; personal life disclosure is never required.

## If the session gets stuck

**A speaker begins a lengthy project report or technical explanation.**

Gently interrupt at 30 seconds: 'Thank you. Let us save detailed project status for later in the agenda and keep this to headline highlights.'

**A participant cannot think of a success and seems stressed.**

Remind them that small everyday items like clearing an inbox backlog count, and normalize passing by moving on immediately with a nod.


## Terms used here

- Bright spot: A specific positive event, progress milestone, or helpful collaboration within recent team work.
- Room ally: An in-person participant assigned to monitor remote text chat and speak those inputs aloud during hybrid sessions.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Teampedia as an open wiki entry under CC-BY-NC-SA 2.5 without named individual authorship.

Retained the Teampedia core mechanic of sequential brief sharing of successes with listener applause. UWT added explicit time allocations (15 minutes total), a 4-step structure, subgroup division math for 11 to 24 participants to keep sharing under 8 minutes, an assigned room ally for hybrid parity, and two practical debrief questions.

[Teampedia](https://www.teampedia.net/wiki/Bright_Spots)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/bright-spots/