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: 6060d970ba6b448b1b17ba601b3fc566c3e249c517944b6cfd3121cd658aa501

# Engineering Serendipity: UWT Manual Matching

Participants complete a four-prompt paper slip selecting a work topic, a question, and an offered experience. The facilitator sorts the slips into small groups by topic, and groups meet to compare questions and share experiences.

**Time:** 20 minutes. Relationship Makers Handbook lists 15 to 30 minutes; UWT specifies 20 minutes for the manual sorting protocol.
**People:** 4 to 12. Individual slip completion, facilitator manual sorting, followed by groups of 4 to 6 people (or 4 and 3 for a group of 7).

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Sort participants into topic-matched small groups using a transparent manual paper sort and facilitate an initial peer discussion.
**Use it when:** At the start of a workshop or retreat where 4 to 12 participants want to connect around common work topics without digital survey tools.
**Skip it when:** Skip when groups must be formed entirely at random, when group size exceeds 12, or when participants cannot meet in the same physical space.

## Materials and tools

- One printed participant slip per person
- One pen or pencil per person
- Sorting table or flat surface for the facilitator
- Whiteboard or flip chart and markers to display group rosters
- Pre-printed Group Sizing Reference Card for facilitator

## Before participants arrive

1. Print participant slips and place one slip with a pen at each seat.
2. Set up a sorting table near the front with a visible flip chart or whiteboard.
3. Designate numbered meeting tables or areas corresponding to the roster.
4. Have the Group Sizing Reference Card accessible on the sorting table.

## Say this to open

Please take a paper slip and a pen. Choose one topic you want to focus on: planning, delivering, or learning. Write down one question you want to explore and one experience you can offer. You may use your first name or an alias, or mark observe if you prefer to listen. Hand your slip to me as soon as you finish.

## How to run it

### 1. Complete participant slips (4 minutes)

Distribute slips. Participants independently fill out their slips in silence. As people complete their slips, collect them and stack them face up in order of hand-in at the sorting desk. Prompt the room when one minute remains.

### 2. Sort slips and post rosters (4 minutes)

Separate slips into observer slips and active slips. Place observers aside. Sort active slips into three piles: Planning, Delivering, and Learning, keeping hand-in order within each pile. Combine piles into a single sequence (Planning, Delivering, Learning). Check total active count against the Group Sizing Reference Table to find group sizes. Take consecutive slips to form groups. Write names on the board by group number. Invite observers to sit with any group.

### 3. Convene in matched groups (8 minutes)

Direct participants to their numbered group areas. In each group, participants introduce themselves and read their written questions aloud. Group members take up to one minute per person to describe the experience they noted on their slip. The group then chooses one shared question to discuss for the remaining time. Announce time checkpoints at 4 minutes and 1 minute.

### 4. Whole-room wrap-up and debrief (4 minutes)

Reconvene the full room. Ask up to two groups to name the question they selected for discussion. Explain that participants may keep their slips or hand them back for immediate confidential disposal. Address the debrief questions to the whole room.


## Debrief questions

- Which common themes emerged within your group despite different roles?
- How did focusing on a specific topic shape your opening conversation?

**Finished output:** Participants organized into topic-aligned cohorts with one shared question identified per group; participants retain their slips or have them shredded.

## Remote

This protocol requires physical sorting of slips and is designated for in-person delivery. To adapt for remote settings, use a digital form to collect the three fields, manually sort the spreadsheet rows by topic, paste the roster into video breakout assignments, and run breakout rooms for 8 minutes.

## Hybrid

Hybrid delivery is not recommended due to paper sorting constraints. If required, have an in-person facilitator enter remote chat responses onto physical slips alongside in-person slips, then assign remote participants to their own remote breakout room.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants may mark the observer checkbox to listen to group discussions without taking an active speaking turn.
- Participants may use an alias, omit personal details, or pass on any turn during the small group discussion without explanation.

## If the session gets stuck

**An odd number of participants creates uneven groups.**

Follow the exact grouping table: 7 divides into 4 and 3; 9 divides into 5 and 4; 11 divides into 6 and 5.

**A participant wants their written information kept private after the session.**

Explicitly tell participants they can retain their paper slips or drop them into a confidential recycling container immediately after the exercise.


## Terms used here

- Active slip: A completed survey slip where the participant did not select the observer option.
- Observer slip: A slip marked by a participant who chooses to listen rather than actively speak in small groups.

## Participant material: Engineering Serendipity Participant Slip

ENGINEERING SERENDIPITY PARTICIPANT SLIP

Name or Alias (optional): _______________________

Participation Choice:
[ ] Active Participant
[ ] Observer (listen only)

1. Select ONE current focus topic (check one):
[ ] Planning (strategy, scoping, roadmapping)
[ ] Delivering (execution, operations, unblocking)
[ ] Learning (reviewing, evaluating, skill-building)

2. Question: What is one question you want to explore about this topic?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

3. Experience: What is one practical experience or perspective you can offer?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

## Participant material: Group Sizing Reference Table

FACILITATOR GROUP SIZING REFERENCE TABLE (4 to 12 Active Participants)

Total Active Slips -> Group Formations
- 4 participants: 1 group of 4
- 5 participants: 1 group of 5
- 6 participants: 1 group of 6
- 7 participants: 2 groups (Group 1: 4 people, Group 2: 3 people)
- 8 participants: 2 groups (Group 1: 4 people, Group 2: 4 people)
- 9 participants: 2 groups (Group 1: 5 people, Group 2: 4 people)
- 10 participants: 2 groups (Group 1: 5 people, Group 2: 5 people)
- 11 participants: 2 groups (Group 1: 6 people, Group 2: 5 people)
- 12 participants: 2 groups (Group 1: 6 people, Group 2: 6 people)

Note: Any participant who selected 'Observer' is set aside before counting and invited to join any group as a listener.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Relationship Makers Handbook, page 159, under the title 'Engineering Serendipity LIVE'. The original source references proprietary People Science and TeamBuilder tools.

Retained the underlying concept from Relationship Makers Handbook: gathering individual input, intentional group matching, and small group peer dialogue. Because the proprietary People Science and TeamBuilder survey, algorithms, and software were unrecovered, UWT replaced them with a transparent, manual paper slip workflow, a 3-topic framework (Planning, Delivering, Learning), an exact arithmetic sizing table for 4 to 12 participants, and clear observer options.

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/engineering-serendipity-live/