--- title: "Friend or Foe?" description: "Participants map project actors onto an informal organizational chart and mark each actor's stance, influence, and energy." last_updated: "2026-09-07" canonical: "https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/friend-or-foe/" --- # Friend or Foe? Participants map project actors onto an informal organizational chart and mark each actor's stance, influence, and energy. **Time:** 45 minutes. Source indicates 30 to 60 minutes; 45 minutes fits a structured 5-step sequence. **People:** 5 to 15. Individual silent generation followed by whole-group collaborative mapping at a shared board. ## Choose this exercise **Purpose:** Map the real influence, stance, and energy levels of people and groups connected to a project. **Use it when:** Use when starting a project, reorganizing work, or navigating complex change across multiple teams or outside groups. **Skip it when:** Skip when the work has no outside dependencies or when publicly rating coworkers' attitudes poses severe political risk. ## Materials and tools - 1 pad of 3x3 inch sticky notes per person - 1 black fine-tip marker per person - Dry-erase markers in 3 colors (black, green, red) - 1 large whiteboard or 2 adjacent flip chart pads mounted on a wall - Dry-erase eraser or paper towels - 1 smartphone or camera to record the finished board - Shared digital canvas platform and pre-made digital stamp icons (if running remote or hybrid) ## Before participants arrive 1. Clear a wide whiteboard space accessible to the entire group. 2. Distribute sticky notes and black pens to each seat. 3. Write the project name at the top center of the board. 4. Draw a standard visual key in a corner of the board using the three marker colors: Black line = formal or direct link; Dotted black line = cross-functional or matrix link; Red dashed box = future team not yet staffed; Green plus (+) = supportive disposition; Red minus (-) = opposing disposition; Black zero (0) = neutral disposition; Arrow pointing up/flat/down = high/medium/low influence; Battery icon with 1, 2, or 3 bars = low, medium, or high energy level. ## Say this to open Welcome. We are mapping the people and groups around our initiative. Think beyond the official org chart to include real influence, both inside and outside the company. For the next five minutes, write down one person, team, or external partner per sticky note. Then we will map them together on the board. ## How to run it ### 1. Brainstorm individual actors (5 minutes) Participants work silently. Each person writes relevant people, teams, or outside partners on separate sticky notes. Prompt them to consider future roles not yet hired, plus external clients or regulators. Stop when the timer sounds. ### 2. Post and sort draft structure (10 minutes) Participants take turns coming to the board. Each person posts their notes and states the name and function in one sentence. Merge duplicates. Ask the group to arrange the notes into a rough layout showing reporting ties, working partnerships, and external groups. Proximity shows working relationships, not formal HR grade. ### 3. Draw cleaned system map (10 minutes) Facilitator or a volunteer scribe redraws the structure using dry-erase markers. Draw simple people icons (a circle over an inverted U) rather than formal boxes. Use black solid lines for direct ties, black dotted lines for matrix relationships, and red dashed boxes for future teams not yet staffed. Draw a bold border enclosing the specific area directly affected by the change initiative. ### 4. Annotate stance, influence, and energy (15 minutes) Review each actor using the visual key. Mark stance with green plus, black zero, or red minus. Mark influence with an up, flat, or down arrow. Mark energy with a 1 to 3 bar battery. Example: for a vocal opposing regulator, draw a red minus, an up arrow, and two bars. If stuck on an actor after one minute, add a question mark and move on. ### 5. Debrief and capture (5 minutes) Facilitator prompts the group on key patterns using the debrief questions. Take up to 3 observations from the room. Photograph the complete board before concluding. ## Debrief questions - Looking at our boundary line, where is the heaviest concentration of resistance or low energy? - Which supportive actor with high influence can help address an area of opposition? - What missing or future role needs immediate attention to keep work moving? **Finished output:** A documented photograph and transcript of an annotated relationship map showing stakeholder stance, influence, energy, and project scope boundaries. ## Remote Use a shared digital canvas. Step 1: Participants spend 5 minutes typing names into private digital note clusters. Step 2: Bring notes to a central workspace, merge duplicates, and cluster into working groups. Step 3: Facilitator uses connector tools to draw solid lines for direct ties, dotted lines for matrix ties, red dashed frames for future unstaffed teams, and a bold boundary line around impacted units. Step 4: Participants drag pre-made digital stamp icons from a visual legend next to each actor: green plus, black zero, red minus for stance; up, flat, down arrows for influence; 1, 2, 3 battery bars for energy. Step 5: Capture a high-resolution export of the board. ## Hybrid In-person participants work at the physical board while a designated room scribe maintains a laptop screen facing the board to mirror entries onto a live digital board visible to remote participants. The scribe is equipped with black, green, and red markers. Remote participants state stakeholder names verbally or in chat to place notes. During annotation, remote participants attach the digital stamp icons directly onto target actor cards on the digital board, and the in-person scribe mirrors those exact marks onto the physical wall in matching marker colors. ## Access and participation choices - Participants may pass their notes to the scribe to post rather than walking to the board. - Anyone may pass on rating a coworker or partner's disposition without explanation. ## If the session gets stuck **Participants try to duplicate the official company hierarchy instead of actual influence paths.** Remind everyone that this map tracks who affects this specific project. Tell them to connect people who interact daily regardless of corporate job bands. **Debate stalls over whether a specific senior leader is supportive or resistant.** Draw a question mark next to the name, note the split view, and advance immediately to the next person. Return to it at the end only if spare time remains. ## Terms used here - Disposition: An actor's stance toward the project, ranging from supportive to neutral or opposing. - Matrixed relationship: An informal or secondary reporting line where people collaborate across traditional department boundaries. ## Sources and adaptation Observed in Gamestorming. The site attributes the exercise design to Yuri Malishenko and the name Friend or Foe? to Stefan Wolpers. Retained Yuri Malishenko's core flow from Gamestorming: silent brainstorming, rough sticky note grouping, whiteboard redraw using person icons, boundary setting, and visual annotation of stance, influence, and energy. UWT established a 45-minute timeline, standardized visual tokens with color coding, aligned 'flat arrow' terminology across setup and steps, added digital canvas requirements to materials, and clarified the hybrid synchronization workflow between digital cards and the physical wall. [Gamestorming](https://gamestorming.com/fof) [Gamestorming](https://gamestorming.com/fof/) Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/friend-or-foe/