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Exercises/Reflection and Learning/Sit in Silence
Team Reflection ยท Reflection and Learning

Sit in Silence

Sit in Silence is a team reflection exercise for reflection and learning: it helps participants reflect on experience and turn observations into learning.

5 to 15 minutesTIME
Medium group (9-25), Small group (4-8)GROUP SIZE
QuietENERGY
In person, RemoteSETTING
Medium cognitive loadCOGNITIVE LOAD
Strengthens Learning Transfer This reflection and learning exercise strengthens Learning Transfer, one of the eight Gathering Effectiveness pillars.

How to run it

  1. Do this activity in conjunction with any other work you are doing it can be another People Science Activity or other project work Within each People Science group, have one person who just sits in silence
  2. Ask them to pay special attention to The periods of silence and what causes them in the group
  3. the highest performing teams all have balanced conversations This exercise can also be done with everyone taking a turn being silent in a group
  4. You can also have the entire group sit in silence to reflect on each subject or module as you progress through your gathering
Live facilitator

Run this exercise live

The facilitator console stays in this browser. Its QR handoff is a short-lived participant snapshot containing only public exercise instructions, phase, prompt, and timer state.

Prompts to use +

Do this activity in conjunction with any other work you are doing it can be another People Science Activity or other project work Within each People Science group, have one person who just sits in silence

Ask them to pay special attention to The periods of silence and what causes them in the group

the highest performing teams all have balanced conversations This exercise can also be done with everyone taking a turn being silent in a group

You can also have the entire group sit in silence to reflect on each subject or module as you progress through your gathering

Run this with your AI assistant +

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

Adapt this exercise for my exact room. Exercise: Sit in Silence. Readiness: Publishable Draft. Core moves: Do this activity in conjunction with any other work you are doing it can be another People Science Activity or other project work Within each People Science group, have one person who just sits in silence; Ask them to pay special attention to The periods of silence and what causes them in the group; the highest performing teams all have balanced conversations This exercise can also be done with everyone taking a turn being silent in a group; You can also have the entire group sit in silence to reflect on each subject or module as you progress through your gathering. Return a concise facilitator script with timing, wording, safety notes, and remote/in-person adjustments.

Origin unverified

  • Where we observed it: The strongest current observations come from Relationship Makers Handbook; aggregators are listed as additional observations, not origin proof. (1 source observed, including Relationship Makers Handbook.)
  • What that means: we track where an exercise has been observed in public sources. We do not claim to know who created it, or how popular it is.
  • No efficacy claims: appearing in this library is not a claim that the exercise is proven effective. Facilitator judgment and context decide whether it works for a given room.
  • Corrections: if you have evidence of an earlier or more accurate source, read our methodology and trust boundary and tell us.

Pairs well with