Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.

Help me prepare and run the exercise below. First ask for my participant count, time, setting, access needs and intended result. Check these against the stated limits. Use the supplied rules and materials. Explain any proposed changes before using them, and label them as adaptations. Do not invent source claims or require personal disclosure. Give me one step at a time when I say start. I manage the people, physical activity and clock; do not claim to observe the room. Ask me what happened before choosing a next step.

Reference revision: 67a21fad65df353d069a92d43fd63a9764e53970a30b927210f2132b209b0133

# Memory Wall

Participants illustrate positive memories of working together on separate sheets of paper, cluster them on a wall into a memory cloud, and tell the stories behind the moments.

**Time:** 30 minutes. UWT suggested 30-minute adaptation; source suggests 45 to 90 minutes for large gatherings.
**People:** 4 to 24. Individual recall with optional peer consultation, whole-room gallery sharing

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Document and publicly display positive shared work experiences to acknowledge team milestones and collaboration.
**Use it when:** Use during project retrospectives, milestone celebrations, offsites, or year-end reviews to acknowledge shared efforts.
**Skip it when:** Skip during acute organizational crises, immediately following painful workforce reductions, or with brand-new groups who have never worked together.

## Materials and tools

- Scratch paper for jotting initial lists (1 sheet per participant)
- Letter-sized blank paper (3 to 5 sheets per participant)
- Washable markers or felt-tip pens (2 to 3 per participant)
- Roll of low-tack painter's tape
- Clear wall space or large foam display boards
- Digital whiteboard platform if running remote or hybrid

## Before participants arrive

1. Clear a large, accessible section of wall space or position display boards.
2. Place scratch paper, letter-sized paper stacks, markers, and tape rolls within easy reach of all seats.
3. For remote or hybrid sessions, pre-configure a digital whiteboard with individual participant frames and a central memory cloud frame.

## Say this to open

Take a look around the room at your colleagues. We are going to capture positive, stand-out memories of working together, learning from each other, or reaching milestones. First, jot down a few moments that come to mind on your scratch paper. Then pick one or two and draw a quick scene showing what happened. Stick figures and plain words are completely welcome. Once we post them on the wall, we will hear a few stories.

## How to run it

### 1. Introduce and list memories (5 minutes)

Deliver the opening script. Emphasize that drawing skill does not matter. Share one clear example: two stick figures at a desk labeled 'Finishing the release at midnight with cold pizza.' Give participants 4 minutes of quiet time to scan the room and list 2 to 4 positive memories on their scratch paper.

### 2. Illustrate memory scenes (10 minutes)

Ask participants to select their top 1 or 2 memories and take letter-sized paper from the stacks at their tables. Participants draw one simple scene per sheet. If a memory involves a colleague present, they may briefly confer with that person to recall details. Encourage everyone to add a short title or caption.

### 3. Post and browse the memory cloud (4 minutes)

Invite participants to tape their completed scenes onto the wall space to create a clustered memory cloud. Anyone who prefers not to display a sheet may keep it at their seat. Give the room 3 minutes to walk the wall silently and view the sketches.

### 4. Share stories aloud (8 minutes)

Invite volunteers to point to their posted scenes and share the backstory. If time permits after volunteers speak, invite the author of an eye-catching sketch to share if they are willing. Aim for 4 to 6 concise stories to fit the time.

### 5. Reflect and conclude (3 minutes)

Summarize common threads visible on the wall. Ask 1 or 2 debrief questions to the room. Take up to 3 brief volunteer responses before closing the session.


## Debrief questions

- Looking at the wall as a whole, what shared patterns stand out across our work together?
- Which quiet or everyday moments had a larger impact than people realized at the time?
- What kinds of shared experiences do we want to create during our next phase of work?

**Finished output:** A physical or digital gallery wall of illustrated team memories and collaborative milestones.

## Remote

Use a shared digital whiteboard. Pre-assign each participant a private workspace frame with digital sticky notes and simple drawing shapes. Participants take 10 minutes to sketch or type their memories, then drag their finished cards into a central shared gallery frame. The facilitator shares their screen while participants unmute to tell their stories.

## Hybrid

In-person participants tape physical sheets to the room wall while a co-facilitator takes phone photos and drops them onto the shared digital whiteboard. Remote participants post directly into the digital board. Project the digital whiteboard in the physical room so all attendees view the full collection together during story sharing.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants may write text descriptions, bullet points, or simple stick diagrams instead of drawing detailed scenes.
- Anyone may choose to keep their sheet private, post anonymously without claiming it, or decline to speak during story sharing.

## If the session gets stuck

**Participants say they cannot draw and hesitate to start.**

Remind them that stick figures, speech bubbles, and simple labels convey the event just as well as detailed artwork. The goal is the memory, not artistic craft.

**Newer team members feel left out because they have limited shared history.**

Invite them to illustrate a moment from their first week, a helpful orientation interaction with a teammate, or an early collaborative win.


## Terms used here

- Memory Cloud: A clustered wall arrangement of illustrated paper sheets showing team events, milestones, and collaborative moments.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Gamestorming, which notes that the original source of the Memory Wall activity is unknown.

Retained the core mechanic from Gamestorming: recalling positive shared workplace memories, illustrating them on individual sheets, clustering them as a memory cloud, and sharing backstories. UWT adjusted the duration to a compact 30-minute facilitation plan, capped group size at 24 for manageable sharing, explicitly added scratch paper to the materials list, clarified self-serve paper pickup, and detailed remote whiteboard preparation.

[Gamestorming](https://gamestorming.com/memory-wall)

[Gamestorming](https://gamestorming.com/memory-wall/)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/memory-wall/