Social Network Webbing

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Make visible the informal relationships surrounding a team's goal to plan targeted outreach, bypass blocks, and recruit needed contributors.

Use it when: Use when a project group has stalled, needs new partners or expertise, and wants to tap informal contacts rather than rely solely on formal org charts.

Skip it when: Skip when the group has no shared purpose or when participants do not have permission or willingness to name real working relationships.

Group arrangement: Whole-room activity around a large wall, with brief individual and pair generation moments.

Timing: Source specifies 60 minutes. Preserved full sequence across six focused steps.

Materials and tools

• Long blank wall or white tapestry paper (at least 3 meters wide)
• Sticky notes (50x50 mm / 2x2 inch) in at least 8 distinct colors
• Fine-tip black markers (one per participant)
• Chalk, markers, or thin painter's tape to draw connection lines between notes

Before participants arrive

1. Clear an expansive wall space and mount wide paper or clear whiteboards.
2. Set out colored sticky note pads and markers where everyone can reach them.
3. Write the team's shared core goal or project statement clearly at the top of the wall.

Say this to open

To reach our shared goal, we rely on relationships that rarely appear on formal org charts. Today we will build a visible web of who we already work with, who we need to invite in, and where our strongest ties and biggest gaps sit. Everyone will post actual names and help trace how we can reach them.

How to run it

1. Establish the group category legend 5 minutes

   Briefly brainstorm key departments, partner groups, community segments, or external functions needed for this goal (maximum 10 categories). Assign each category a distinct sticky note color or symbol. Post this legend in the corner of the wall.

2. Place the core group at the center 5 minutes

   Ask every core team member present to write their own name on a sticky note matching their functional color. Have everyone place their note in a cluster in the center of the wall.

3. Map current active partners 10 minutes

   Prompt participants: 'Who do you already work with directly on this goal?' Each person writes real names on appropriately colored notes (one name per note) and posts them around the core cluster, placing closer ties nearer to the core.

4. Add prospective allies and periphery 10 minutes

   Prompt participants: 'Who else should be involved to reach our goal?' Everyone writes prospective contacts, subject matter experts, or decision-makers on matching colored notes and sticks them further out on the periphery. Encourage naming specific people rather than vague titles.

5. Draw connection lines and identify dynamics 15 minutes

   Invite the team to step up and draw lines linking notes: who knows whom, who holds influence, who can champion progress, and where potential blockers sit. Ask participants to trace paths between core members and distant contacts through mutual acquaintances.

6. Define immediate weaving actions and debrief 15 minutes

   In pairs or small clusters, examine the web and agree on specific pairing actions: who will contact which periphery person this week, and how to navigate identified blockers. Collect up to four concrete action pairs on the room record, then close with a brief debrief.

Debrief questions

• Looking at our map, where do we see unexpected clusters or isolated islands?
• Who is one person on the edge that someone here can reach through a mutual acquaintance?
• What is one immediate outreach step an individual is ready to take this week?

Finished output: A visible social network diagram with labeled connection lines and an actionable list of specific individuals to contact with assigned team owners.

Remote

Use a collaborative whiteboard canvas with a pre-configured legend and colored virtual notes. In step 1, agree on color tags. In steps 2 to 4, participants create notes simultaneously. In step 5, use the canvas line connector tool to trace ties. Keep cameras on and verbalize placements.

Hybrid

In-person wall mapping creates an unfair experience for online members. Run hybrid sessions on a digital whiteboard that both in-room participants (on individual laptops or an interactive board) and remote participants edit in real time.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may suggest contacts privately to a peer or facilitator to place on the wall if they prefer not to write publicly.
• Use shape stamps or text symbols alongside note colors to support participants with color vision differences.

If the session gets stuck

Participants write vague group names like 'Marketing' or 'The Community' instead of people.

Remind the room that networks connect people, not departments. Ask: 'Who is one specific person you know or could reach inside that group?'

The map becomes a tangle of overlapping marker lines that nobody can read.

Pause line drawing. Ask people to only draw lines that represent an active path to reach a critical periphery contact or a known working alliance.

Terms used here

• Network Weaver: A person who actively connects people across boundaries and nurtures relationships to advance a shared purpose.
• Periphery: People on the outer edge of a network who bring fresh perspectives and contacts but are not yet involved in day-to-day work.