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

Help me prepare and run the exercise below. First ask for my participant count, time, setting, access needs and intended result. Check these against the stated limits. Use the supplied rules and materials. Explain any proposed changes before using them, and label them as adaptations. Do not invent source claims or require personal disclosure. Give me one step at a time when I say start. I manage the people, physical activity and clock; do not claim to observe the room. Ask me what happened before choosing a next step.

Reference revision: a25e325e54f55a0429e7feee850972b5a170a60922b3a42241b6faf6d543c75d

# The Relationship Start-up

Participants review six startup development themes and translate them into practical habits for building and maintaining professional working relationships.

**Time:** 25 minutes. Source specifies 15 to 30 minutes; 25 minutes allows full review and small group application.
**People:** 4 to 24. Trios or quartets of 3 to 4 participants

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Map six stages of venture creation onto interpersonal networking to identify concrete relationship-building actions.
**Use it when:** Use when teams need to audit their professional network, onboard new collaborators, or rethink how they initiate and maintain cross-functional partnerships.
**Skip it when:** Skip when the group is dealing with active interpersonal conflict, or when participants need basic interpersonal ground rules rather than conceptual networking frameworks.

## Materials and tools

- One printed Six Themes Reference Sheet per participant
- One Relationship Action Card per participant
- Pens or pencils (one per participant)

## Before participants arrive

1. Print the Six Themes Reference Sheet and Relationship Action Card for each attendee.
2. Arrange seating into clusters of 3 or 4 people.

## Say this to open

Startup frameworks usually describe how to launch products, but the same stages apply to working relationships. Today we will review six startup themes and choose one or two practices to strengthen our own professional networks. Look at the reference sheet in front of you.

## How to run it

### 1. Introduce the six themes (4 minutes)

Facilitator delivers the opening script and introduces the six themes on the handout: Customer Discovery, Value Proposition, Acquisition, Business Model, Product Scaling, and Retention. Give a neutral example: for Customer Discovery, instead of pitching an idea immediately, schedule a coffee chat solely to learn what the other person is working on and what problems they face.

### 2. Individual reflection (5 minutes)

Ask participants to work individually on their Relationship Action Card. Each person selects one theme where their professional network feels neglected and drafts one concrete action they can take this month. Note that participants may keep their notes private or use anonymous relationship examples.

### 3. Small-group discussion (10 minutes)

Direct participants to discuss their ideas in their table groups of 3 or 4. Each person takes up to two minutes to share their chosen theme and their proposed action. Group members offer feedback or alternative ways to apply the theme. Anyone wishing to pass may simply listen or ask a question to another member.

### 4. Plenary debrief (6 minutes)

Bring the room together. Invite 3 or 4 volunteers from different groups to share one insight or action step that surfaced in their discussion.


## Debrief questions

- Which startup theme felt most natural to apply to working relationships, and why?
- Where does the startup metaphor break down when dealing with human relationships?
- What is one concrete habit you will test this month based on your discussion?

**Finished output:** A completed individual Relationship Action Card with at least one concrete action to maintain or expand a professional connection.

## Remote

Distribute the reference sheet and action card as digital documents. Run the opening in the main video room, then create breakout rooms of 3 to 4 participants for 10 minutes. Return to the main room and collect 3 to 4 shared takeaways via mic or text chat.

## Hybrid

Pair in-person attendees with in-person peers and online attendees in their own virtual breakout rooms. Ensure all participants have access to digital copies of the handouts. Call on both room types equally during the debrief.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants may choose whether to discuss an internal colleague, external peer, or a generic relationship archetype.
- Participants may pass on sharing during the small group turn without explanation.

## If the session gets stuck

**Participants interpret startup language as cold or transactional when applied to relationships.**

Remind the group that themes like discovery and retention prioritize listening and follow-through over self-promotion.

**One person dominates the small-group conversation.**

Remind tables to rotate every two minutes so all participants have an opportunity to speak.


## Terms used here

- Customer Discovery: In startups, asking questions to understand customer needs; in relationships, actively listening to understand a colleague's context.
- Retention: Keeping existing relationships active through regular check-ins rather than only reaching out during an emergency.

## Participant material: Six Themes Reference Sheet

THE SIX STARTUP THEMES FOR RELATIONSHIPS

1. Who Is Your Counterpart? (Customer Discovery)
Understand who you want to connect with. What are their priorities, pressures, and goals before you ask for anything?

2. What Can You Offer? (Value Proposition)
Clarify how you can genuinely support them. Do you share information, offer technical help, or make useful introductions?

3. How Do You Initiate? (Acquisition)
Decide how to make first contact thoughtfully without cold pitching. Examples include warm introductions, common projects, or mutual interests.

4. How Does Mutual Benefit Work? (Business Model)
Ensure the relationship is balanced. Support cannot flow in only one direction over time.

5. How Do You Deepen the Bond? (Scaling)
Move from shallow transactional interactions to collaborative problem solving and shared work.

6. How Do You Stay in Touch? (Retention)
Set up light routines to maintain connection over time, such as quarterly check-ins or congratulatory notes on milestones.

## Participant material: Relationship Action Card

RELATIONSHIP ACTION CARD

1. Target Area:
Which of the six themes does your network need most right now?
[ ] Discovery  [ ] Value  [ ] Initiation  [ ] Mutual Benefit  [ ] Deepening  [ ] Retention

2. Current Gap:
Describe the current habit or challenge you want to address (you do not need to name specific people):


3. Action Step:
What specific, low-friction action will you take within the next two weeks?


4. Follow-up Routine:
How will you check whether this relationship is healthy in three months?

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Relationship Makers Handbook, pages 415-416, which references an MIT startup innovation framework.

The source material in the Relationship Makers Handbook references applying MIT startup methodology (six themes and 24 steps) to relationship networks, but provides broken URLs and incomplete fragments. UWT synthesized the six core startup innovation themes into a clear six-category reference sheet and paired it with a structured reflection card to make the exercise functional in 25 minutes.

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/the-relationship-start-up/