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: 98e7614186a5e258b412854c94c304d2cda5e534cec1e22aa660ea24b167443e

# Secret Strengths

Participants write short, anonymous notes identifying observed strengths for every member of their small group on physical envelopes or personal digital whiteboards.

**Time:** 15 minutes. 15 minutes suggested by UWT to fit small group exchanges and debrief within the source's 5 to 15 minute band
**People:** 4 to 24. Parallel small groups of 4 to 7 participants; if 7 people attend, keep them together in a single group

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Exchange concrete, peer-observed strengths among colleagues who have worked together.
**Use it when:** Use with an established team or at the end of a multi-day workshop where participants have spent enough time working together to name specific qualities.
**Skip it when:** Skip with groups of strangers meeting for the first time, or with teams undergoing unaddressed interpersonal conflict.

## Materials and tools

- In-person: 1 paper envelope and 10 blank index cards or sticky notes per participant, plus pens
- Remote: 1 digital whiteboard or shared document per person, with permissions set to allow anyone with the link to edit

## Before participants arrive

1. Divide groups into tables or breakout cohorts of 4 to 7 people.
2. In person, give each person an envelope and blank cards. Have each person write their name on the outside of their envelope and prop it up on the table.
3. Online, ensure each participant creates or is assigned a personal whiteboard page or frame labeled with their name, set so anyone with the link can edit.

## Say this to open

We are going to take time to acknowledge the strengths we observe in one another. Each of you has a dedicated space or envelope labeled with your name. You will visit the space of every person in your small group and write one to three concrete strengths or positive qualities you have noticed. You do not need to sign your name.

## How to run it

### 1. Set up spaces and confirm access (2 minutes)

Read the opening script. For in-person tables, participants confirm their named envelopes are visible. For remote cohorts, participants paste their personal board links into the small group chat and confirm edit access works for all group members. Stop when every group member has access.

### 2. Write anonymous strengths notes (7 minutes)

Participants work quietly. Visit the envelope or whiteboard of every peer in your small group. Write one to three positive characteristics or observable strengths for each person on separate cards or virtual sticky notes. For example, write: 'Remains calm and keeps discussions structured when project deadlines shift.' Stop when everyone has posted notes for all small group peers.

### 3. Read personal notes (2 minutes)

Participants open their own envelopes or look at their own virtual boards in silence. Read through the peer notes. Allow people to reflect privately.

### 4. Subgroup debrief (4 minutes)

In each small group, invite two volunteers to share a one-sentence reaction to the notes they received. Choose one debrief question from the list for volunteers to address. Stop at four minutes.


## Debrief questions

- Which strength noted by others was unexpected or confirmed something you rarely speak about?
- How does seeing how peers view your work influence how you might contribute to the team next?

**Finished output:** A set of peer-authored strengths notes retained privately by each participant.

## Remote

Form breakout rooms of 4 to 7 participants. Each member creates a personal whiteboard page or document with open edit permissions and pastes the link in breakout chat. Members open all links in separate tabs, add anonymous virtual sticky notes, review their own boards, and conduct the four-minute subgroup debrief in the breakout room.

## Hybrid

Split in-person and remote participants into separate cohorts. In-person tables use paper envelopes and index cards. Remote breakout rooms use individual digital board links. Both tracks run the same four steps on the same timer.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants may type notes or use speech-to-text tools if handwriting is difficult.
- Any participant may choose to keep their notes private, review them later, or pass during the subgroup debrief without explanation.

## If the session gets stuck

**A participant cannot edit another person's remote whiteboard link due to permissions.**

Ask the board owner to toggle sharing settings to 'anyone with the link can edit'. If that fails, have the author send their note as a private chat message directly to the recipient.

**Written notes are overly generic, like 'good person' or 'smart'.**

Remind participants to name an observable behavior, such as 'always summarizes complex decisions clearly in meetings'.


## Terms used here

- Whiteboard link: A direct web address linking to an online collaborative canvas where participants can place text notes.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed on Knowmium written by Joshua Davies (April 2020). The source notes the activity was originally done in-person with physical envelopes, citing Thiagi Group and SessionLab.

Retained Joshua Davies's whiteboard URL mechanic from Knowmium and the acknowledged in-person envelope tradition from Thiagi Group and SessionLab. UWT expanded the group partition range to 4 to 7 to handle odd cohort counts, added explicit link permission instructions, and set a focused two-volunteer subgroup debrief to match the 15-minute timeframe.

[Knowmium](https://knowmium.com/tools/2020/4/16/secret-strengths)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/secret-strengths-knowmium-the-un-training-consultancy/