# Five Ideas Departmental groups list what they need from other teams to reach a common goal, re-form into mixed cross-functional teams to negotiate joint solutions, and write individual commitments. **Time:** 55 minutes. Thiagi source specifies 45 minutes to 3 hours; 55 minutes provides a focused standard workshop session. **People:** 4 to 24. Departmental cohorts of 2 to 6 people in round 1, reshuffled into mixed tables of 2 to 4 people for round 2 with one representative from each department present. ## Choose this exercise **Purpose:** Produce five concrete cross-departmental collaboration practices and individual action commitments aligned to a shared organizational goal. **Use it when:** Use when departments or project teams operate in silos and blame each other for missed milestones or customer service breakdowns. **Skip it when:** Skip when participants all perform the same job role, belong to one small intact team, or lack authority to change cross-team handoffs. ## Materials and tools - 1 flip chart pad and easel per table - Felt-tip marker pens (1 per person) - Note pads or index cards (1 per person) - Visual timer or chime ## Before participants arrive 1. Arrange 2 to 6 separate small group tables. 2. Place 1 flip chart pad and markers at each table. 3. Write the shared organizational goal visibly on the main room board. ## Say this to open Welcome. Strong team identity helps within a department, but walls between departments can hurt our overall mission. Today we will bridge those gaps. Our shared goal is written on the wall. First, you will meet with your departmental colleagues to define five things you need from other teams to reach that goal. Then we will mix up into cross-functional teams to hammer out realistic mutual agreements. ## How to run it ### 1. Define goal and organize departmental groups (5 minutes) Present the shared goal (for example, cut order delivery lag from 5 days to 2 days). Direct participants to sit at tables assigned to their home department (for example, Sales, Operations, Billing). If one department has more than 6 members, split it into two parallel departmental tables of 3 to 4 people. ### 2. Identify departmental needs (15 minutes) Departmental groups brainstorm answers to: How can other departments help us better achieve the shared goal? Encourage an initial open list, then require the group to agree on exactly five priority requests. Have every person copy these five points into their own notebook for reference. ### 3. Form mixed groups and negotiate solutions (20 minutes) Reassign participants into mixed tables of 2 to 4 people so that each table contains one person from each department. Give the prompt: How can our departments work together to achieve the shared goal? Participants share their departmental requests, work through friction, and agree on five joint collaboration ideas. Each group writes its five ideas on a clean flip chart page. ### 4. Present cross-team ideas (8 minutes) Select up to four mixed tables at random and have one volunteer from each read their five joint ideas in 60 seconds. Post any remaining sheets on the wall for silent viewing by the room. ### 5. Write individual action commitments (7 minutes) Distribute an index card to each person. Ask everyone to write down up to five concrete actions they personally will take to support cross-team work. Participants may adopt group points, borrow ideas heard from other teams, or add their own. Offer a quick reflective closing. ## Debrief questions - Which cross-team request seemed difficult at first but led to an agreed compromise? - What friction came up when hearing what another department needed from your team, and how did you resolve it? - What is one concrete handoff rule we should implement starting tomorrow? **Finished output:** Flip charts listing five negotiated cross-functional agreements per mixed table, plus personal five-point action cards for each participant. ## Remote Use breakout rooms. Phase 1 places people into departmental breakouts. Each person copies their group's five needs into a personal document. Phase 2 places one person from each department into mixed breakouts, recording five shared proposals on a shared online whiteboard. In the final phase, participants post their commitments into an individual form or private notes. ## Hybrid Keep in-person participants grouped by department in the room, while fully remote participants form their own departmental or mixed cluster using dedicated laptop breakouts. For Phase 2, form mixed tables of 2 to 4 people. If a remote participant is assigned to an in-person table, the table consists of 1 to 3 in-person members plus 1 remote member via tablet or laptop, preserving one representative from each department. ## Access and participation choices - Provide written prompt sheets at each table alongside the board display. - Allow participants to contribute to brainstorms verbally or via sticky notes without requiring public presentation roles. - Action cards are personal; individuals may keep their commitments private or share them voluntarily. ## If the session gets stuck **Uneven numbers across departments make clean mixed tables impossible.** Ask extra members from over-represented groups to role-play a client advocate, act as an impartial scribe, or place two members from that department at one table. **Departmental lists turn into hostile complaint sessions.** Remind tables that every request must describe a concrete input or process change that directly advances the shared goal, not past personal grievances. ## Terms used here - Homogeneous group: A group made up of people from the same functional department or team. - Heterogeneous group: A cross-functional group made up of one representative from each participating department. ## Sources and adaptation Observed in The Thiagi Group archives (first published September 2001 by Sivasailam Thiagarajan) and cataloged in the SessionLab Library. Retained the core sequence from The Thiagi Group: homogeneous departmental brainstorming of needs, followed by heterogeneous mixed-group synthesis down to five joint agreements, and personal action cards. Replaced the facilitator whistle with a visual timer or gentle chime. Added specific step durations summing to 55 minutes, explicit group arithmetic guidelines accommodating 2 to 4 departments, and remote/hybrid protocols. [The Thiagi Group](https://www.thiagi.com/archived-games/2015/2/25/five-ideas) [SessionLab](https://www.sessionlab.com/methods/five-ideas) Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/five-ideas/