--- title: "Terms of Art" description: "Participants walk around the room to review posted project terms and write edits, questions, or refinements directly on the sheets. The whole room then reviews the most annotated terms to agree on working definitions." last_updated: "2026-09-07" canonical: "https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/terms-of-art/" --- # Terms of Art Participants walk around the room to review posted project terms and write edits, questions, or refinements directly on the sheets. The whole room then reviews the most annotated terms to agree on working definitions. **Time:** 15 minutes. Based on the 5 to 15 minute band in source records, organized as a focused 15-minute sequence. **People:** 4 to 24. Individual gallery walk followed by whole-group review ## Choose this exercise **Purpose:** Establish a shared working vocabulary by giving participants a direct way to annotate and refine operational terms. **Use it when:** Use at the start of a cross-functional initiative, technical workshop, or project kickoff where people use the same jargon to mean different things. **Skip it when:** Skip when the subject relies on legally fixed or non-negotiable statutory definitions that cannot be modified by the group. ## Materials and tools - 4 to 8 large wall posters or flipchart sheets with draft terms and definitions - Blue painter tape or wall-safe adhesive - 1 felt-tip marker per participant - 1 pad of sticky notes per 4 participants - Printed handout containing all draft terms and definitions (optional seated alternative) - Shared digital whiteboard platform (for remote or hybrid sessions) ## Before participants arrive 1. Select 4 to 8 critical terms for the upcoming work. 2. Write one term and a brief starter definition at the top of each poster sheet. 3. Hang the posters around the room with at least six feet of space between them. 4. Place felt-tip markers and sticky notes near each station. 5. Print optional paper handouts for seated reading if needed. ## Say this to open Different teams often use the exact same words to mean completely different things. We have posted draft definitions for key terms around the room. Please walk around, read them, and write directly on the sheets. You can cross out words, add examples, or write questions if something is unclear or incomplete. ## How to run it ### 1. Introduce the gallery walk (2 minutes) Speak the opening script. Point out the posted sheets around the room. Hand out printed sheets to anyone who requests them. Ensure everyone has a marker or sticky notes. ### 2. Annotate terms independently (6 minutes) Participants move freely among the posted definitions. They read each item and write edits, corrections, or questions directly on the paper or on sticky notes. For example, if a sheet defines 'Milestone' as 'a weekly progress check,' a participant might cross out 'weekly' and write 'major deliverable completion.' People may also simply read and observe without writing. ### 3. Review priority terms as a whole group (5 minutes) Gather the room. Select only the 2 or 3 posters that received the heaviest edits or contradictory notes. Read the proposed adjustments aloud. Ask whether the room accepts the revision as the working definition for this session, or if a distinction between contexts is needed. ### 4. Debrief and confirm definitions (2 minutes) Ask one targeted debrief question to 2 or 3 volunteers. Confirm where the finalized posters will remain displayed during the remainder of the session. ## Debrief questions - Which term showed the biggest difference in how people understand it? - Did any definition change how you plan to speak about your work today? **Finished output:** A set of edited term posters with visible group markup and agreed working definitions for key terms. ## Remote Set up a shared digital whiteboard with one frame per term and its draft definition. Give participants 6 minutes to add text edits, comments, or digital sticky notes asynchronously. Bring everyone back to the main room to review the 2 or 3 most revised frames together for 5 minutes. ## Hybrid Maintain the digital whiteboard as the single shared canvas. If in-person participants have laptops and reliable connectivity, have all participants use the digital board directly. Otherwise, have an in-person scribe transfer poster notes to the digital canvas. The facilitator reads comments aloud across both groups during the whole-group review. ## Access and participation choices - Provide a printed handout containing all draft terms for anyone who prefers seated reading and writing. - Allow participants to observe the gallery walk without writing; silent observers still participate in the whole-group verbal confirmation. ## If the session gets stuck **Participants crowd around the first poster and create a bottleneck.** Direct people to start at different posters around the room so the spread is even from the start. **Two participants write conflicting definitions on the same poster.** Highlight both views during the review step. Ask the group if both meanings apply in different contexts or if one specific meaning is needed for this session. ## Terms used here - Term of art: A word or phrase that holds a specific, specialized meaning within a particular field, team, or trade. ## Sources and adaptation Observed in Relationship Makers Handbook, page 393. The core mechanic of posting terms in an open space and inviting participants to walk around and edit them with felt-tip pens comes directly from observation-0. UWT structured the timing, limited whole-group review to the 2 or 3 most contested terms to fit the 15-minute format, added hybrid/remote logistics, and supplied accessibility options. Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/terms-of-art/