Method guide · Progress through phases
Group Weather Check
Offer a correctable, provisional reading of observable group changes and choose a next way of proceeding without diagnosing individuals.
- People
- 3–30
- Base procedure time
- 12 minutes
- Recording
- Shared record
Purpose: Explore through dialogue; Build working relationships.
English guide
Text acceptance is not approval of this rendered page, its media, or publication.
How this method works
A method in which the facilitator returns changes in the group as a provisional reading. Separate observed facts such as silence or overlapping speech from interpretation, receive agreement, difference, or passing, and revise the reading. If needed, propose dialogue, a change of direction or pace, brief physical activity or a non-physical alternative, a break, or stopping. Do not diagnose individual emotions or causes; withdraw rejected readings without asking for explanations. Do not blur danger, harm, or harassment into the group's atmosphere; move to formal safety and consultation procedures. The outputs are a correctable understanding of the group's state and a change in facilitation. This description is a distinct adaptation, with changes, of Weather Reporting by Rhizome, published in Commons Library, under CC BY-SA 4.0, and is provided under the same terms.
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.
Use the arrow keys, Home or End while these controls have focus. The complete phase schedule remains below, including without JavaScript.
- Put an observable change into one sentence0–2 minutes from the start (2 minutes)
Action: Observe change. Participation: Facilitator and everyone.
Shared record
- Return an interpretation as a correctable provisional reading2–4 minutes from the start (2 minutes)
Action: Offer provisionally. Participation: Facilitator and everyone.
Shared record
- Briefly receive agreement, difference, or passing4–7 minutes from the start (3 minutes)
Action: Accept correction. Participation: Everyone.
Shared record
- Choose continuing, dialogue, redirection, a break, or stopping7–10 minutes from the start (3 minutes)
Action: Choose how to proceed. Participation: Everyone.
Shared record
- On resuming, check only changes in state10–12 minutes from the start (2 minutes)
Action: Recheck state. Participation: Everyone.
Shared record
Facilitation steps
- For 2 minutes, put an observable group-wide change, such as silence, overlapping speech, or a break request, into one sentence.
- For 2 minutes, return it to everyone as a correctable provisional reading, without asserting emotions or causes.
- For 3 minutes, briefly receive agreement, difference, or passing, and revise the reading without asking individuals for explanations.
- For 3 minutes, choose one of continuing, dialogue, a direction or pace change, a non-physical alternative, a break, or stopping.
- For 2 minutes, exclude individual feelings from the output and write only the change on resuming and the chosen way of proceeding on the record sheet.
If something changes
If
Even one person rejects the facilitator's reading or indicates passing.
Then
Withdraw the reading rather than retaining it as fact, and do not ask for reasons or explanations of feelings.
If
One or more instances of danger, harm, or harassment are indicated.
Then
Stop treating it as group atmosphere, separate the records, and switch to formal safety and consultation procedures.
If
Even one person is asked to participate in physical activity, explain personal feelings, or agree publicly.
Then
Switch to an equivalent non-physical pause, do not name individuals, and explain passing and individual support.
Preparation
Materials
- One whole-group self-made three-field sheet separating observed facts, provisional interpretation, and corrections
- One whole-group continue/dialogue/redirect/break/stop card set
- One agree/differ/pass card set per person
- One notice per person showing equivalent non-physical alternatives and an individual consultation contact
- 2 whole-group broad-tip pens
Room and setup
- Handle only observable changes such as silence, overlapping speech, or requests for a break; do not assert group or individual emotions or causes
- Explain that the reading is provisional and anyone can correct or pass without public explanation. Provide individual consultation routes and formal safety procedures
- Offer redirection, a pace change, brief physical activity, an equivalent non-physical alternative, a break, and stopping; close after one round without extending the end time
Adjust for people and time
With 3–30 people, do not split the whole group; receive agreement, difference, or passing in just one round. With 31 or more, do not treat the whole gathering as one atmosphere; use separate sessions for units that regularly talk together. Offer each reading provisionally, do not name individuals, and close within twelve minutes.
Safety and non-applicable situations
Separate observation from interpretation, allow correction and passing without explanation, withdraw rejected readings, and do not diagnose or record individual feelings. Offer equivalent non-physical participation and individual support without naming people or demanding public agreement. Danger, harm, and harassment require separate formal safety procedures, not an interpretation of group atmosphere. Keep the existing end time.
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.
- Setup and guide include brief physical activity with an equivalent non-physical alternative, while the fourth timed step lists only the non-physical alternative. Both source option lists remain without adding a physical-activity step.
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.
- Commons Library / Rhizome Facilitation Tools and Techniques: Weather Reporting
https://commonslibrary.org/facilitation-tools-and-techniques/#h-weather-reporting
Adaptation under CC-BY-SA-4.0; changes made
- Conditions for applying CC-BY-SA-4.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
CC-BY-SA-4.0
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.
English video-library navigation. Original Japanese audio, subtitles and transcripts remain labelled Japanese resources. Their translations are separate later work. No remote player is embedded here.
The manual English phase controls are a navigation aid, not a live facilitation timer. Interactive diagram motion remains pending.
Editorial provenance
Japanese source status and logs are provenance only. They do not mean this English text or interface was field-tested. Historical fixed-text acceptance and hold records remain specific to their recorded versions; displaying them neither asserts current acceptance nor resolves source-specific restrictions.