Engineering Serendipity: UWT Manual Matching

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.

Group arrangement: Individual slip completion, facilitator manual sorting, followed by groups of 4 to 6 people (or 4 and 3 for a group of 7).

Timing: Relationship Makers Handbook lists 15 to 30 minutes; UWT specifies 20 minutes for the manual sorting protocol.

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.