Connection Circles
Connection Circles is a circle dialogue exercise for relationship mapping: it helps participants build useful connections and understand how people, roles, or ideas relate.
How to run it
- Identify the key elements of the system you are examining. How do you know what a key element is? It meets these criteria:
- Write these elements around the circle (do not include more than 10).
- The next step is to look for cause and effect:
- Which elements are directly causing other elements to increase or decrease? Draw an arrow between these elements.
- Indicate an increase (draw “+”) or a decrease (draw “-”) for the second element in each relationship.
Run this exercise live
The facilitator console stays in this browser. Its QR handoff is a short-lived participant snapshot containing only public exercise instructions, phase, prompt, and timer state.
What participants need now
Materials:
This is a participant-safe snapshot, not a response form. It sends nothing back to the facilitator.
Prompts to use +
Identify the key elements of the system you are examining. How do you know what a key element is? It meets these criteria:
Write these elements around the circle (do not include more than 10).
Which elements are directly causing other elements to increase or decrease? Draw an arrow between these elements.
Indicate an increase (draw “+”) or a decrease (draw “-”) for the second element in each relationship.
Run this with your AI assistant +
Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.
Adapt this exercise for my exact room. Exercise: Connection Circles. Readiness: Publishable Draft. Core moves: Identify the key elements of the system you are examining. How do you know what a key element is? It meets these criteria:; Write these elements around the circle (do not include more than 10).; Which elements are directly causing other elements to increase or decrease? Draw an arrow between these elements.; Indicate an increase (draw “+”) or a decrease (draw “-”) for the second element in each relationship.. Return a concise facilitator script with timing, wording, safety notes, and remote/in-person adjustments.
Origin unverified
- Where we observed it: The strongest current observations come from Management 3.0; aggregators are listed as additional observations, not origin proof. (1 source observed, including Management 3.0.)
- What that means: we track where an exercise has been observed in public sources. We do not claim to know who created it, or how popular it is.
- No efficacy claims: appearing in this library is not a claim that the exercise is proven effective. Facilitator judgment and context decide whether it works for a given room.
- Corrections: if you have evidence of an earlier or more accurate source, read our methodology and trust boundary and tell us.