Left Person Right Person

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Re-energize a seated or sluggish group through silent physical movement and emergent system dynamics.

Use it when: Use during a workshop lull, after a long presentation, or before an interactive session when people need to stand and move.

Skip it when: Skip when the room lacks open floor space for walking, or when participants cannot safely navigate dynamic pedestrian traffic.

Group arrangement: Whole group in an open area.

Timing: UWT suggested 10-minute running plan based on the source warm-up mechanic.

Materials and tools

• No physical materials required. An open room cleared of trip hazards.

Before participants arrive

1. Clear chairs and tables to the perimeter so participants have an unobstructed floor area.

Say this to open

Please stand in an open circle facing inward. Look around the room. Without pointing, speaking, or making eye contact, secretly pick two other people. In your mind, label one as your Left-hand Person and the other as your Right-hand Person. Keep your choices completely private.

How to run it

1. Set up secret selections 2 minutes

   Gather the group into a loose circle. State the opening script. Verify that everyone has secretly selected two distinct people in the circle without revealing who they are.

2. Run round one 3 minutes

   Tell the group that when you say 'go', their sole task is to position themselves directly in a straight line between their two secret people at all times. They must adjust their position immediately as those two people move. Walk only; no running or physical contact. Call 'go' and let movement flow until the system naturally slows down or reaches three minutes, then call 'pause'.

3. Run round two 3 minutes

   Ask everyone to return to an open circle. Instruct each person to secretly select two entirely new people as their Left-hand Person and Right-hand Person. Call 'go' to initiate movement. Let the new system settle or move for three minutes, then call 'pause'.

4. Debrief system movement 2 minutes

   Invite two or three brief observations from the whole room about how individual shifts affected the entire group.

Debrief questions

• What happened to your position when someone else took a single step?
• Did the room ever reach total stillness, or did movement continue to ripple?
• How does this dynamic compare to changes in a team or workflow?

Finished output: Completion of two active rounds with the group physically re-energized.

Remote

This physical exercise relies entirely on three-dimensional spatial navigation and cannot work directly online without becoming a different method. For a remote team energizer, substitute 'Camera Director': one volunteer acts as director and calls out screen directions (e.g., 'point left', 'lean back', 'frame a mug'), and everyone follows on video.

Hybrid

Hybrid play is not recommended because spatial positioning requires physical co-presence. If running in a hybrid meeting, run the physical activity with room participants while remote participants observe the system patterns via room camera, or have remote participants run a separate screen-based energizer in parallel.

Access and participation choices

• Wheelchair users and individuals with mobility aids participate fully by wheeling into position between their chosen targets.
• Participants who prefer not to walk or navigate crowded spaces may choose an active role as Timekeeper or Room Spotter, tracking when the system reaches balance.
• Anyone may step aside to the perimeter at any point without explanation.

If the session gets stuck

Participants run or bump into one another in their eagerness to find position.

Remind everyone that running and physical contact are not permitted. Call for half-speed walking if the space becomes crowded.

A participant cannot decide where to stand because their targets keep darting around.

Clarify that complete stillness is rare; the goal is simply continuous adjustment to stay between the two targets.