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Taiwa no FumenPractical methods for shared thinking

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Method guide · Work with a structured grid

Owner Deadline Collision Sort

Place agreed work within each person's available half-day slots and separate work that still cannot fit for an authorised decision.

People
2–12
Base procedure time
35 minutes
Recording
Shared record

Purpose: Make a decision; Build working relationships.

English guide

Text acceptance is not approval of this rendered page, its media, or publication.

How this method works

A method for placing work by owner and finding what cannot be done in the planned period. Give each task an earliest start date, deadline, required number of half-days, owner, work that must finish first, and whether it can be split. Place prerequisite work first; for work of the same priority, place earlier deadlines first. Work exceeding the owner's available time is separated into four treatments: postpone it, transfer it to another owner, reduce its scope, or ask the responsible decision-maker to decide. The result is a feasible schedule and unresolved work. Do not use it where people's own reports would be treated as a substitute for health accommodations or labour management.

Phase schedule

Minutes are cumulative from the start of the base plan, not a live timer. Read scaling for any additional time. Phase controls do not advance automatically.

  1. Divide the two weeks0–5 minutes from the start (5 minutes)

    Action: Reorganise. Participation: Small groups gathered around a record.

    Shared record

  2. Place work and available slots5–12 minutes from the start (7 minutes)

    Action: Draw. Participation: Small groups gathered around a record.

    Shared record

  3. Reposition daily overflow12–20 minutes from the start (8 minutes)

    Action: Draw. Participation: Small groups gathered around a record.

    Shared record

  4. Reallocate work20–30 minutes from the start (10 minutes)

    Action: Arrange. Participation: Small groups gathered around a record.

    Shared record

  5. Escalate unresolved work30–35 minutes from the start (5 minutes)

    Action: Read. Participation: Small groups gathered around a record.

    Shared record

Facilitation steps

  1. For 5 minutes, each owner divides 14 days into half-day slots and records the available ones on their own sheet.
  2. For 7 minutes, write each task's earliest start date, deadline, required slots, owner, predecessor work, and whether splitting is allowed.
  3. For 8 minutes, place predecessor work first and equally ranked work in deadline order, using empty slots on or after the earliest start date and on or before the deadline. Work that cannot be split uses consecutive slots.
  4. For 10 minutes, scan all tasks once while preserving predecessor order and separate remaining overflow into postponement, transfer, scope reduction, and escalation.
  5. For 5 minutes, compare required slots after repositioning with the slots each person declared and retain only unresolved work.

If something changes

If

Predecessor work is absent from both the task list and records of completion before the 14-day period, or predecessor relationships contain a cycle.

Then

Move the task to escalation as unschedulable and record who can decide how to correct the relationship and their response deadline.

If

At least one overflow task has no person present with authority to decide postponement, transfer, or scope reduction.

Then

Move it to escalation and record the decision-maker and response deadline.

If

A person chooses not to disclose their capacity.

Then

Do not display specific numbers; move only tasks the person identifies as conflicting into the four treatments.

Preparation

Materials

  • One owner-specific sheet per person for them to enter available slots on each of 14 days
  • One six-field sticky note per task: earliest start date, deadline, required half-day slots, owner, predecessor work, and whether splitting is allowed
  • Three cards for each of four treatments per group: postpone, transfer, reduce scope, and escalate
  • One writing implement per person

Room and setup

  • Limit the scope to work already agreed and the next 14 days
  • Explain that only each person decides their available slots, without giving reasons, and no slots beyond prescribed working hours are placed

Adjust for people and time

Use at most 8 tasks per person and whole numbers of half-day slots for each task. With 2–6 people, process each person's 14-day sheet. With 7–12, divide into two groups by working unit. With 13 or more, do not display individual available slots to the whole group; work in separate sessions by working unit of no more than 12 people.

Safety and non-applicable situations

Only each person determines their available slots, without having to explain why; do not add slots beyond prescribed working hours. Respect the choice not to disclose capacity by showing no specific numbers and treating only conflicts the person identifies. Do not substitute self-reported capacity for health accommodations or labour management. Escalate missing/cyclic dependencies and decisions whose authorised person is absent, recording the decision-maker and response deadline.

Historical translation and source notes

These original notes are retained verbatim with their fixed source versions. This historical label does not resolve a source-specific concern or establish current acceptance.

  • The guide uses priority, and the steps use equal ranking, to break ties before deadline order, but the six task fields do not specify a priority field or how ranks are assigned. No ranking procedure is invented.
  • The source splits 7–12 people into two groups by working unit and larger groups into working-unit sessions of no more than 12, without a remainder-allocation rule. That instruction is retained without adding one.

Manuscript's recorded references

These translate the original manuscript's source and rights claims. They remain separate from any current-page notice below; they do not establish new verification.

  • Designed by the Taiwa no Fumen editorial team

    This description is original.

Diagram, print, and video language

Original Japanese guide, diagram, and print view. Their labels and print text have not been translated; an English print edition is not provided here.

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The manual English phase controls are a navigation aid, not a live facilitation timer. Interactive diagram motion remains pending.

Editorial provenance

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