Map Your Network

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Map existing working ties around a shared project and choose one concrete connection to initiate or strengthen.

Use it when: Use during project kickoffs, cross-functional alignments, or team planning when members need to see communication paths and identify missing partners.

Skip it when: Skip when participants work completely independently, lack a shared operational context, or when organizational politics make disclosing working ties risky.

Group arrangement: Solo mapping followed by pairs or triads

Timing: Source indicates 30 to 60 minutes; adapted to a 25-minute UWT session.

Materials and tools

• One blank sheet of paper per person
• One standard pen or dark marker per person
• One colored pen or highlighter per person in a contrasting color

Before participants arrive

1. Place blank paper and two contrasting pens at each seat.
2. Ensure table space is clear enough for drawing.

Say this to open

We are going to map who you collaborate with on your current project and locate connections that could strengthen your work. Take a sheet of paper and your standard pen. Draw an icon or write your name in the center. This map is your own working draft, and you choose what you share.

How to run it

1. Draw core working relationships 6 minutes

   Participants write their name or draw an icon for themselves in the center of the paper. Around themselves, they write names or draw icons of direct colleagues on their current project. They draw lines connecting themselves to these colleagues: solid lines for people they work with directly, and dotted lines for people they know slightly. Then, they draw lines among those colleagues using the same solid or dotted criteria.

2. Add external contacts and missing links 5 minutes

   Participants add peripheral contacts, partner groups, or external organizations around the edge of the sheet, drawing solid or dotted lines for existing relationships. Then, using their contrasting colored pen, participants draw solid colored lines between individuals or groups who currently lack a relationship but should be connected. Encourage looking for opportunities to close the triangle by connecting two contacts who both know you.

3. Select one connection and plan an action 4 minutes

   Participants review their colored lines. Each person selects one specific missing link or potential connection to close. At the bottom of their paper, they write down the two parties to connect, the specific shared benefit of connecting them, and one concrete first step to make the connection within the next two weeks.

4. Peer review in pairs 6 minutes

   Participants turn to a neighbor in pairs, or a triad if numbers are odd. Each person takes 2 to 3 minutes to describe the connection they selected and their planned first step. Partners offer feedback or suggest mutual contacts who could help introduce the parties. Participants share only what they choose.

5. Whole-room debrief 4 minutes

   The facilitator convenes the full room. Take 3 or 4 quick shares focusing on patterns and systemic bottlenecks across the room rather than private relationship details.

Debrief questions

• What common patterns or bottlenecks appeared across our maps?
• What makes introducing two unconnected groups easy or difficult in our organization?
• What is one practical habit that keeps project networks from staying siloed?

Finished output: An individual visual network diagram with one written action plan to close a triangle or initiate a missing project connection.

Remote

Participants create their map on private physical paper or on an individual digital slide. After solo drawing, run breakout rooms of two people for 6 minutes. Return to the main room for debrief via raised hands or chat notes.

Hybrid

Remote and in-person participants work individually on paper or personal digital boards. Pair remote participants together in video breakout rooms, while in-person participants pair with room neighbors. In the full-room debrief, alternate between in-person speakers and remote chat or microphone contributions.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may use printed text, role titles, or typed lists instead of drawing icons and lines.
• Any participant may keep names anonymous by using role titles or generic labels (for example, Finance Lead).
• Sharing in pairs and speaking in the whole-room debrief is entirely optional; participants may pass without explanation.

If the session gets stuck

Participants get bogged down trying to draw elaborate illustrations.

Remind everyone that plain circles, initials, or job titles are completely fine. The map is an analytical tool, not an art piece.

A participant feels uncomfortable naming specific colleagues on paper.

Invite them to use departmental labels, team initials, or generic role descriptions instead of personal names.

Terms used here

• Closing the triangle: Connecting two people in your network who both know you, but do not yet work together directly.