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Exercises/Relationship Mapping/What are you doing
Relationship Mapping

What are you doing

What are you doing is a relationship mapping exercise that helps participants build useful connections and understand how people, roles, or ideas relate.

5 to 15 minutesTIME
Medium group (9-25), PairsGROUP SIZE
ActiveENERGY
In person, RemoteSETTING
High cognitive loadCOGNITIVE LOAD
Strengthens Network Design This relationship mapping exercise strengthens Network Design, one of the eight Gathering Effectiveness pillars.

How to run it

  1. The first player answers something that has nothing to do with what he\ s hair, when asked what he\ m reading the newspaper".
  2. First player moves away, and the second player starts miming the activity stated by the previous player. A third player comes up to player 2, asks what he is doing, and so on.
  3. Play until everyone has mimed something, and has answered the question.
  4. 19 4 One person mimes an activity and the next person asks 'what are you doing' They then answer with a different activity that the asker then mimes.
  5. 8 9 In a circle Person 1 mimes an activity.
  6. 1502 110 This is a simple drama game in which participants take turns asking each other “What are you doing?” and acting out the various responses.
  7. Duration: Any Participants: Any by Erica Marx for Erica Marx Coaching Use Method Goal Warm up to
  8. CollaborationCollaboratively create agendas in real-time.
Live facilitator

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.

Prompts to use +

Play until everyone has mimed something, and has answered the question.

19 4 One person mimes an activity and the next person asks 'what are you doing' They then answer with a different activity that the asker then mimes.

1502 110 This is a simple drama game in which participants take turns asking each other “What are you doing?” and acting out the various responses.

Duration: Any Participants: Any by Erica Marx for Erica Marx Coaching Use Method Goal Warm up to

CollaborationCollaboratively create agendas in real-time.

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: What are you doing. Readiness: Publishable Draft. Core moves: Play until everyone has mimed something, and has answered the question.; 19 4 One person mimes an activity and the next person asks 'what are you doing' They then answer with a different activity that the asker then mimes.; 1502 110 This is a simple drama game in which participants take turns asking each other “What are you doing?” and acting out the various responses.; Duration: Any Participants: Any by Erica Marx for Erica Marx Coaching Use Method Goal Warm up to. 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 Improv Encyclopedia; aggregators are listed as additional observations, not origin proof. (2 sources observed, including Improv Encyclopedia, SessionLab.)
  • 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.

Pairs well with