Sort and Mingle
Sort and Mingle is an arrival check-in exercise for relationship mapping: it helps participants build useful connections and understand how people, roles, or ideas relate.
How to run it
- Two parts to this relationship maker Part 1 Sort 5 minutes The moderator tosses out two contrasting choices and everyone must move either east or west of the room for example
- In this way, each person must move to somewhere and can't get "lost" in the crowd
- Part 2 Mingle The moderator shouts out a general category and the group is asked to mingle around to find others that have the same answer and they clump up to form a larger group
- After about thirty seconds to one minute, the moderator asks each group call out their answer
- If a person is unique and is the only one with an answer, that's okay
- Examples of mingles your favorite place on Earth your favorite dessert the kind of animal you like best if you could have dinner with someone, who would you choose your favorite hobby if you could be anyone, what would it be?
- Both halves of this game help people introduce themselves in a fun, interactive format Part 3 Relationship Check-in In each selected group, have participants form pairs based on someone they don't know
- Have each pair share their insights from the group and then agree to follow up with each other at different points in the gathering to help make introductions/close the triangle for each other
Run this exercise live
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Materials:
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Prompts to use +
Two parts to this relationship maker Part 1 Sort 5 minutes The moderator tosses out two contrasting choices and everyone must move either east or west of the room for example
In this way, each person must move to somewhere and can't get "lost" in the crowd
Part 2 Mingle The moderator shouts out a general category and the group is asked to mingle around to find others that have the same answer and they clump up to form a larger group
After about thirty seconds to one minute, the moderator asks each group call out their answer
If a person is unique and is the only one with an answer, that's okay
Examples of mingles your favorite place on Earth your favorite dessert the kind of animal you like best if you could have dinner with someone, who would you choose your favorite hobby if you could be anyone, what would it be?
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: Sort and Mingle. Readiness: Publishable Draft. Core moves: Two parts to this relationship maker Part 1 Sort 5 minutes The moderator tosses out two contrasting choices and everyone must move either east or west of the room for example; In this way, each person must move to somewhere and can't get "lost" in the crowd; Part 2 Mingle The moderator shouts out a general category and the group is asked to mingle around to find others that have the same answer and they clump up to form a larger group; After about thirty seconds to one minute, the moderator asks each group call out their answer. 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.