Win, Win, Win: UWT Three-Circle Version

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Document and compare personal motivations alongside group and external priorities.

Use it when: Use at project launch to articulate what individual members, the immediate group, and external stakeholders stand to gain.

Skip it when: Skip when members face active conflicts over resource allocation where private motivations should not be shared casually.

Group arrangement: Individual work, then pairs or trios of 2 to 3 people

Timing: Matches the 5 to 15 minute range observed in Relationship Makers Handbook

Materials and tools

• One sheet of blank paper per person
• One pen or pencil per person
• Optional copies of the Three-Circle Worksheet
• A countdown timer

Before participants arrive

1. Ensure each seat has blank paper and a pen, or hand out copies of the participant worksheet.

Say this to open

Take a sheet of paper and draw three concentric rings that fill the whole page, or use the three boxes on the worksheet. We will identify personal, team, and wider benefits for this effort.

How to run it

1. Set up template 3 minutes

   Hand out paper or the worksheet. If using blank paper, instruct participants to draw three concentric circles filling the whole sheet: a small center circle, a middle ring, and a wide outer ring. Label the center 'Personal', the middle ring 'Group', and the outer ring 'Wider benefit'. Alternatively, have them draw three nested boxes or use the text template. State the three prompts clearly and write them on a visible board.

2. Silent reflection 4 minutes

   Participants reflect silently and write or sketch one response in each area. Center: What would make this work worthwhile for you? Middle: What useful result could the people here achieve together? Outer: Who beyond this group could benefit, and how? For example, someone might write 'learn project leadership' in the center, 'ship the tool on time' in the middle, and 'cut client wait times' on the outside. Anyone may choose to leave any section blank or keep notes private.

3. Small group exchange 5 minutes

   Divide the room into pairs or trios. Each person takes up to 90 seconds to share one answer they feel comfortable discussing, or simply pass. Partners listen without debate or critique. If time remains, each person adds one practical action connecting any two circles, such as linking a personal skill goal to a group deliverable.

4. Whole-room debrief 3 minutes

   Call the room back together. Ask two or three volunteers to share a common theme or surprising connection between individual and wider priorities. Stop when the timer sounds.

Debrief questions

• Where did personal goals and team goals line up naturally?
• What difference between individual priorities might need coordination later?
• How can the group protect what matters to individual members while working toward shared outcomes?

Finished output: Completed individual diagrams showing personal, group, and wider outcomes, with optional shared notes.

Remote

Display the template layout and prompts on a shared screen. Participants draw on paper at their desks or use a three-ring digital whiteboard frame. Send participants into breakout rooms of 2 or 3 for 5 minutes, then return to the main room for debrief.

Hybrid

Provide remote participants with a digital slide showing the three rings or text boxes while in-person participants use paper. Form separate all-remote and all-in-person pairs or trios so conversation audio remains clear.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may sketch simple icons or write short bullet points instead of full sentences.
• Sharing is completely voluntary; participants may pass or discuss only one ring while keeping others private.

If the session gets stuck

Participants draw rings too small to write inside.

Demonstrate on a flipchart how the outer ring touches the edge of the sheet, or supply the pre-printed worksheet.

One person speaks for the entire small group period.

Remind groups to allocate roughly 90 seconds per speaker and announce the half-way mark.

Terms used here

• Concentric circles: Circles of different sizes sharing the same center point, nested inside one another like a target.