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: db4f37beca9087762f8cef622a707661e27cd44ed6b49ccc32d777ae73cf2393

# Concerns in a Hat

Participants anonymously write project or team worries on identical cards, draw them randomly from a container, and read and interpret each other's notes without debate. The room then identifies shared themes to address.

**Time:** 20 minutes. Relationship Makers Handbook lists 15 to 30 minutes; 20 minutes fits single circles up to 12 or parallel subgroups up to 10
**People:** 4 to 24. Individual writing, then a single circle of 4 to 12 people, or 2 to 3 parallel circles of 6 to 10 people for groups up to 24

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Surface unspoken team concerns and explore different perspectives without exposing authors or debating validity during reading.
**Use it when:** Use during project kickoffs, strategic resets, or organizational transitions when unexpressed worries hold back progress.
**Skip it when:** Skip during active disciplinary investigations, legal disputes, or personal conflicts requiring structured mediation rather than anonymous notes.

## Materials and tools

- Identical index cards or paper slips (1 per person plus extras for transcription if hybrid)
- Identical black ink pens (1 per person)
- One hat, box, or opaque container per circle (up to 3 total)
- Flipchart pad and markers or shared digital document per circle
- Digital timer

## Before participants arrive

1. Place one card and matching pen at each seat so handwriting style and ink look consistent.
2. For 4 to 12 people, set up one central circle with one container and one flipchart.
3. For 13 to 24 people, divide the room into 2 or 3 table circles of 6 to 10 people, each equipped with its own container, cards, pens, and flipchart.

## Say this to open

Take an index card and use the pen at your seat. Write one specific worry or concern you have about our project or team direction. For example, write 'I am worried our launch date does not allow enough time for quality testing' rather than 'Testing is slow.' Do not put your name on it or mention specific colleagues. If you have no concerns, write 'No current concerns' so all cards look alike. Fold your card once when finished.

## How to run it

### 1. Write concerns silently (4 minutes)

Distribute matching pens and cards. Read the opening script. Participants write their single concern and fold the card in half once. Anyone without a worry writes 'No current concerns'. Stop after 4 minutes.

### 2. Collect and redistribute cards (2 minutes)

Pass the container around each circle. Every participant and the facilitator drops in a folded card. Shake the container. Pass it back around so each person draws one card. If participants draw their own card, they may keep it or trade blindly with the container.

### 3. Read and interpret in turn (9 minutes)

Move clockwise around each circle. Each participant reads their drawn card aloud and takes up to 45 seconds to explain what the author might mean and why it matters. If someone needs support with interpretation, they may ask the facilitator or a peer to co-interpret. If a card reads 'No current concerns', the reader simply states that and passes to the next person. Ground rule: listeners remain silent. No one may dispute, answer, or defend against any point. When the reader finishes, move directly to the next person.

### 4. Identify themes and debrief (5 minutes)

In a single circle, the facilitator notes repeating themes on the flipchart pad. In parallel circles, each table notes their top two shared themes on their flipchart and shares them aloud. Bring the whole room together to address the debrief questions.


## Debrief questions

- What common themes or patterns showed up across the cards?
- Which raised concern feels most urgent for our group to address next?

**Finished output:** A flipchart list of voiced team concerns grouped into shared themes for follow-up planning.

## Remote

Collect anonymous entries using a private digital form with email and name tracking turned off. The facilitator numbers the entries, pastes each entry into a separate row of an online document, and assigns one random row number to each participant via private message. Participants take turns unmuting to read and interpret their assigned entry. The facilitator records themes in a shared online document.

## Hybrid

In-person and remote participants both submit their concern through an anonymous online form. The facilitator copies each submission onto identical extra index cards using the standard black pen and places them in the room container. During the draw, in-person participants draw a physical card. For each remote member, the facilitator draws a physical card from the container on camera and sends the text in a private direct message to that member. Remote members unmute to read and interpret their assigned card through the room speaker.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants may dictate their concern to a colleague beforehand, print typed text, or write 'No current concerns'.
- A participant who finds spontaneous interpretation difficult may ask the facilitator to read the card or invite a peer volunteer to assist with the explanation.

## If the session gets stuck

**Someone interrupts or defends against a concern while another person is reading.**

Interrupt immediately and remind the group: 'We are only listening right now. No reactions, explanations, or defenses until all cards are read.'

**A card names an individual or makes a personal accusation.**

Instruct readers before starting that if an entry names an individual, they must rephrase it to focus strictly on the operational or workflow issue without saying the name.

**A remote participant experiences an audio dropout or chat lag during the hybrid reading round.**

Have the facilitator read the card aloud on the remote member's behalf so the group hears the concern without delay, then invite the remote member to add their interpretation in the chat when reconnected.


## Terms used here

- Elaborate: Explain what the written worry means in everyday work without judging whether it is right or wrong.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Relationship Makers Handbook, pages 107-108.

Preserved the anonymous collection in a container, redistribution, reading with interpretation, strict no-comment listening rule, and whole-group theme debrief from Relationship Makers Handbook. Added standardized handling for participants without worries, parallel circle logistics for groups of 13 to 24, aligned access options to retain the core interpretation step with peer or facilitator support, and added hybrid manual transcription details.

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/concerns-in-a-hat/