Panarchy

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Map influences across multiple organizational tiers to identify cross-level opportunities and obstacles for change.

Use it when: Use during strategic reviews or change initiatives when teams feel stuck in narrow departmental views and need to understand systemic pressures above and below them.

Skip it when: Skip for simple single-team tactical decisions, quick standups, or when the working group lacks basic operational knowledge beyond their immediate desks.

Group arrangement: Individual work, pairs, small groups of 3 to 5, and whole-group synthesis. If participant counts are not divisible by 4, form groups of 3 or 5 so everyone belongs to an active team for all small-group steps.

Timing: Liberating Structures specifies a 2-hour agenda; UWT retains the full 120-minute sequence to preserve the complete multi-level Ecocycle assessment and action steps.

Materials and tools

• 1 large blank wall poster or virtual whiteboard with 4 to 7 horizontal bands
• Sticky notes in 3 colors (yellow for levels, pink for obstacles, green for opportunities and actions; 1 pad of each color per table)
• Fine-tip markers (1 per person)
• Blank Panarchy worksheets (1 per person)
• 1 sample Panarchy poster or slide illustrating nested levels
• Digital timer

Before participants arrive

1. Clear a wide wall area and tape up a large blank canvas.
2. Prepare a sample Panarchy display showing nested levels for a recognizable example, such as individual hygiene, unit protocols, hospital policy, and public health regulation.
3. Place pads of colored sticky notes and markers on every table.

Say this to open

No single team operates in a vacuum. Changes succeed or stall because of forces operating above, within, and below our immediate work. Today we will build a Panarchy map. We will trace factors from the smallest interactions up to broad industry or policy patterns. Then we will locate immediate, realistic steps to influence those levels.

How to run it

1. Introduce Panarchy and frame challenge 5 minutes

   State the core challenge under review. Display the sample Panarchy chart showing nested levels from individual practice up to policy and culture. Hand out blank Panarchy worksheets to every participant.

2. Generate individual factors 5 minutes

   Participants work silently alone. Each person lists factors influencing success from smallest to largest on their worksheet, covering micro (individuals, interactions), meso (teams, departments, networks), and macro (regulations, societal culture).

3. Translate factors into levels in pairs 10 minutes

   Participants pair up. If the participant count is odd, form one trio. Pairs compare factor lists, group related items, and define 4 to 7 distinct system levels. They write each level name on a yellow sticky note.

4. Consolidate levels in small groups 10 minutes

   Combine pairs into small groups of 3 to 5 people. Groups compare level names, eliminate duplicates, and agree on a single stack of 4 to 7 nested tiers.

5. Build whole-room master level chart 10 minutes

   Gather the room at the wall. Invite one small group to post their yellow level labels vertically. Other groups add or adjust levels until everyone agrees on a single set of 4 to 7 nested tiers.

6. Examine investment and neglect 15 minutes

   Small groups regroup. Teams spend 10 minutes discussing where resources and attention have concentrated, which levels have been neglected, and what dynamics operate at each tier. The facilitator spends the final 5 minutes asking each group for one concise sentence highlighting their primary finding.

7. Assess levels through the Ecocycle 25 minutes

   Distribute all 4 to 7 master levels among the small groups based on participant operational experience or preference, ensuring every level is covered. Groups spend 15 minutes drafting where their assigned tier sits: birth, growth, maturity, or renewal. Each group takes up to 90 seconds to present their assessment.

8. Brainstorm cross-level opportunities and obstacles 15 minutes

   In their small groups, participants examine how shifts at upper tiers create openings below, and how lower-tier disruptions affect higher tiers. Write obstacles on pink sticky notes and opportunities on green sticky notes.

9. Prioritize systemic actions 10 minutes

   Each small group selects their top 2 cross-level opportunities and top 2 obstacles. For each, they write one immediate action step and note who holds influence across those specific levels.

10. Share actions and close 15 minutes

    Participants post action notes directly onto corresponding levels on the master wall chart. The facilitator guides a whole-group review using What, So What, Now What? to collectively clarify immediate next owners and close the session.

Debrief questions

• Which system level currently receives the most energy, and which is most dangerously neglected?
• What unexpected intervention points appeared when looking at the levels above or below your own?
• What is one concrete action you can take this week to influence a level you do not directly control?

Finished output: A completed wall-sized Panarchy chart mapping 4 to 7 system levels with Ecocycle assessments, prioritized obstacles, and concrete cross-level action commitments.

Remote

Use an online whiteboard with horizontal swimlanes pre-labeled for 4 to 7 system tiers. Run silent generation individually, then route participants into breakout rooms of 2, then 3 to 5. Consolidate notes onto the main canvas before running plenary presentations.

Hybrid

Seat in-person participants in small table clusters with laptops or assign a dedicated digital proxy per table. The proxy transfers table sticky notes directly onto the shared virtual whiteboard so remote and room members view identical system levels in real time.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may contribute via writing sticky notes, verbal discussion, or silent review without being forced to speak publicly.
• Worksheets provide visual and written entry points for individual thinking before small group discussion.

If the session gets stuck

Groups generate too many granular levels, ending up with 10 to 12 micro-tiers.

Intervene during the consolidation step. Instruct teams to merge operational tiers until they hold between 4 and 7 broad systemic levels.

Participants fixate entirely on external macro policies they cannot control.

Direct their attention downward. Ask what team habits or internal processes at the micro and meso levels can be altered immediately regardless of top-tier rules.

Terms used here

• Panarchy: A framework showing how nested systems across different scales (micro to macro) interact, evolve, and influence one another.
• Ecocycle: A model describing four phases of organizational life: birth, maturity, creative destruction, and renewal.
• Meso: The intermediate organizational scale, such as departments, divisions, or partner networks.