Social Network Webbing • WorkshopBank
Participants write names on sticky notes, arrange them in a web-like pattern showing degrees of separation from the core group, and then draw connecting lines to show who knows whom, who has influence, and where the gaps are.
How to run it
- A project team needs to spread an innovation, practice, or idea beyond their immediate circle and wants to understand who they can reach through existing relationships.
- A group is trying to scale something that has worked locally and needs to identify allies, bridges, and untapped connections across the wider system.
- You want to surface the informal network that actually drives how work gets done, as opposed to what the org chart says.
- A coalition or cross-organisational initiative needs to see which stakeholder groups are well connected and which are isolated.
- A team is stuck and suspects the problem is relational rather than technical, and needs to see the pattern before they can change it.
- Participants write names on sticky notes, arrange them in a web-like pattern showing degrees of separation from the core group, and then draw connecting lines to show who knows whom, who has influence, and where the gaps are.
- The group then uses the map to plan how to strengthen existing connections and weave new ones to advance their shared purpose.
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.
What participants need now
Materials:
This is a participant-safe snapshot, not a response form. It sends nothing back to the facilitator.
Prompts to use +
A group is trying to scale something that has worked locally and needs to identify allies, bridges, and untapped connections across the wider system.
Participants write names on sticky notes, arrange them in a web-like pattern showing degrees of separation from the core group, and then draw connecting lines to show who knows whom, who has influence, and where the gaps are.
The group then uses the map to plan how to strengthen existing connections and weave new ones to advance their shared purpose.
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: Social Network Webbing • WorkshopBank. Readiness: Publishable Draft. Core moves: A group is trying to scale something that has worked locally and needs to identify allies, bridges, and untapped connections across the wider system.; Participants write names on sticky notes, arrange them in a web-like pattern showing degrees of separation from the core group, and then draw connecting lines to show who knows whom, who has influence, and where the gaps are.; The group then uses the map to plan how to strengthen existing connections and weave new ones to advance their shared purpose.. 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 WorkshopBank; aggregators are listed as additional observations, not origin proof. (1 source observed, including WorkshopBank.)
- 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.