People Science Aerobics

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Practice quick mutual introductions, network mapping, and resource sharing across team boundaries.

Use it when: Use at team kickoffs, networking events, or cross-functional workshops where participants need to uncover mutual contacts and offer practical assistance.

Skip it when: Skip when participants require confidential working sessions, when forced physical interaction causes discomfort, or when the group has already mapped internal working networks.

Group arrangement: Small teams of 3 to 4 participants, ending with paired crossover introductions

Timing: Source suggests 15 to 30 minutes; UWT structures a 20-minute sequence with controlled intervals.

Materials and tools

• 1 countdown timer visible to the room
• Index cards (1 per participant)
• Pens (1 per participant)

Before participants arrive

1. Arrange chairs or standing spots in clusters of 3 to 4.
2. Place an index card and pen at each station.

Say this to open

We are going to run People Science Aerobics, a sequence of fast relationship drills. In your small groups, you will practice greeting, finding mutual contacts, and offering practical resources to solve one challenge. You are always free to use a verbal greeting instead of touching hands, and you decide what personal or professional information to share.

How to run it

1. Form teams and greet 3 minutes

   Direct participants into teams of 3 or 4. If odd numbers leave a remainder, create groups of 4 rather than pairs. Invite each person to greet every team member using either a steady six-second handshake or a deliberate six-second eye contact greeting with a spoken hello. Call time after 90 seconds so all group members finish.

2. Map network connections 5 minutes

   Each person names one person inside this room and one person outside this room whom they consider well connected. For example: 'Inside the room, I know Maria; outside, I know a city planner named David.' The group then spends the remaining minutes tracing whether anyone can bridge a connection between those named individuals through mutual acquaintances or shared institutions.

3. Solve a challenge with shared resources 6 minutes

   Each team selects one real professional or logistical challenge faced by any member. The owner describes the challenge in 60 seconds. Remaining team members each take 60 seconds to offer one concrete resource, introduction, or practical skill to address it. Each participant notes their offered connection on an index card.

4. Quick movement challenge 2 minutes

   Each group chooses one rapid physical or coordination drill they can complete together in under 2 minutes. Options include 3 rounds of Rock Paper Scissors, a synchronized stretch, or a seated clapping rhythm. Anyone may opt out or choose a low-exertion alternative like a finger tap.

5. Crossover introductions and debrief 4 minutes

   Teams disperse. Each person finds a partner from a different group and spends 2 minutes introducing one teammate from their original group, describing that person's strength or offered resource. Reassemble as a full room. Take 2 brief reflections on unexpected resources discovered.

Debrief questions

• What was an unexpected connection or resource you discovered across your group?
• How did mapping mutual contacts change how you viewed the room's collective network?

Finished output: Handwritten index cards listing offered resources and mutual contacts for designated challenges.

Remote

Run in breakout rooms of 3 to 4. For step 1, replace handshakes with a six-second unbroken video greeting and welcome statement. Run network mapping and challenge-solving using a shared collaborative document where teams log names and offered resources. For step 4, perform a group camera gesture such as high-fives toward the webcam. Disperse into new breakout pairs for step 5 crossover introductions.

Hybrid

Keep in-person attendees in physical clusters and remote attendees in separate virtual breakouts. For the step 5 crossover, pair one in-person attendee with a remote attendee using a roving laptop or phone station, or run parallel crossover rounds in both physical and virtual rooms.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may substitute a verbal greeting, wave, or head nod for physical handshakes.
• Participants may pass on sharing personal contacts or pass during the problem-solving round by acting as the team timekeeper.
• Low-mobility and seated variations must be chosen for the physical drill, such as table-tapping or rock-paper-scissors.

If the session gets stuck

Participants feel awkward holding a greeting for six continuous seconds.

Remind the room that lingering greetings feel unusual by design, and invite participants to laugh through it or switch to a timed verbal greeting.

One team gets stuck because someone cannot think of a well-connected contact.

Suggest naming someone with an uncommon hobby, a specific technical skill, or a person from an adjacent department.

Terms used here

• People Science teams: Small, temporary peer groups assembled to test network connections and share immediate resources.