Method guide · Progress through phases
Troika Consulting
Receive peer advice without having to answer throughout the discussion.
- People
- 3–60
- Time by group size
- 30–46 minutes
- Recording
- Shared record
Standard groups of 3 take 30 minutes. Allow 38 minutes if any group has 4 people, or 46 minutes when there are only 5 participants. One client round takes 8 minutes; the final common 3 minutes begin only after every group has completed its client rounds.
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 small-group conversation in which two consultants develop advice while the client turns away and listens. Use it when presenting a challenge immediately leads to a barrage of questions or one-to-one advice, leaving the client little space to think. The client briefly states the challenge and the help they want, answers clarifying questions, then turns away to listen to the consultants talk. The consultants explore possibilities together, and the client records only the advice they choose to take. In groups of 3, rotate roles every 8 minutes so everyone is the client once. Groups with remainder participants include observers and need additional consultation time. Each person leaves with selected advice and a first step. Do not use it for challenges that cannot be kept confidential.
Phase schedule — standard groups of 3
The cumulative 0–30-minute schedule is for standard groups of 3. Add one 8-minute round if a group has 4 people, or two rounds when there are only 5 participants. Groups of 3 use the additional 8 minutes to organise their advice. Take the final common 3 minutes only after every group has finished its client rounds.
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.
- Choose a challenge0–3 minutes from the start (3 minutes)
Action: Choose. Participation: Individually.
Individual record
- Rotate consultations3–27 minutes from the start (24 minutes)
Action: Consult. Participation: Groups of 3.
Shared record
- Confirm a first step27–30 minutes from the start (3 minutes)
Action: Confirm. Participation: Groups of 3.
Individual record
Facilitation steps
- For 3 minutes, use groups of 3 as the standard. Each person writes one sentence about their challenge and the help they want from two others.
- For 2 minutes, the two consultants clarify the challenge and the help the client describes, each asking one question to check the facts.
- The client turns away to listen to the two consultants talk for the next 4 minutes.
- For 4 minutes, only the two consultants discuss possibilities, experience, and cautions with each other.
- The client turns back towards the two consultants before recording the advice.
- For 2 minutes, the client records the advice they will take and a first step in one sentence.
- For 16 minutes, rotate roles to the remaining two people. Add 8 minutes for a group of 4, or 16 minutes for a group of 5.
- For 3 minutes, after all groups finish their consultations, each person adds one point in time when they will act on their first step.
If something changes
If
The challenge explanation exceeds 1 minute 30 seconds, with no specific request for help.
Then
Stop the explanation and write one sentence answering: ‘What do you want the two consultants to think about?’
If
Two minutes into the turned-away discussion, only one consultant is still speaking.
Then
Switch speakers until the other consultant has offered one different possibility or caution.
If
After 1 minute of the client's recording period, they have chosen no advice to take.
Then
In the remaining 1 minute, record one piece of advice they will not use and why, and identify a different kind of help they need.
Preparation
Materials
- One consultation sheet per person, with space for the challenge, questions, and advice to take away
- One dark-coloured pen per person
- Role cards for each group: 1 client, 2 consultants, and 1–2 observers for groups with remainder participants
- One facilitator’s timer for the room
Room and setup
- One seating area per group of 3, arranged so the client can turn slightly away; groups with remainder participants need seating for 4–5
- Space to rotate roles clockwise once around each group
Adjust for people and time
Do not use this method with fewer than 3 people. For up to 60 people, form as many groups of 3 as possible, then add each remaining participant to a different group. Four or five participants form one group. Allow 8 minutes per person so everyone is the client once: 30 minutes for groups of 3 only, 38 minutes when there is a group of 4, and 46 minutes for a single group of 5. The next two people after the client are the consultants; the remaining 0–2 people are observers. Where groups of 4 need more time, groups of 3 use their spare 8 minutes to organise advice. After all groups finish their consultations, close together for 3 minutes. Above 60 people, use separate venues.
Safety and non-applicable situations
Do not use this method for a challenge that cannot be kept confidential. The client chooses what advice to take; receiving advice does not require accepting it.
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.
- Liberating Structures Fieldbook (2026): Troika Consulting — Henri Lipmanowicz / Keith McCandless / Nancy White
https://www.liberatingstructures.com/troika-consulting
Adaptation under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes made
- CC BY-SA 4.0
Current-page licence notice
This explanation is an adaptation for Taiwa no Fumen based on the official Liberating Structures page linked below. The manuscript's recorded references are listed separately from the web page checked on 17 October 2026.
Changes: the Japanese explanation and facilitation plan have been edited for Taiwa no Fumen. The English edition translates that Japanese manuscript; it is not a verbatim translation of the official page.
The LS-adapted text on this page, including this site's editorial and translation contributions, is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. When reusing it, credit the creators, identify the source and licence, indicate changes, and follow the licence's ShareAlike terms when sharing adaptations.
This site's notation diagrams and on-screen illustrations explain the facilitation process. They are not presented as official LS icons.
Method names are used to identify their sources. This is not an official LS website, and no endorsement or approval by the creators or rights holders is implied.
This notice does not grant blanket permission to reuse third-party photographs, logos or linked materials. Trademark, personality and other rights are addressed separately.
Materials created before June 2026 may carry different terms. Check the terms attached to an older item before reusing it.
To the extent permitted by law, the source materials and adaptations are provided without warranties. See the legal code for details.
This site's revised plan allows 8 minutes per client and 30 minutes overall for standard groups of three. Where the participant count leaves a remainder, allow 38 minutes in general, or 46 minutes if there are only five participants. Split seven participants into groups of three and four, and eight into two groups of four. These timings are this site's edited facilitation plan, not official LS timings.
Credits on the checked source page
- Developed by: Henri Lipmanowicz, Keith McCandless
Source page checked on 2026-10-17: Troika Consulting.
Source lineage
- Original repertoire (2013): Henri Lipmanowicz, Keith McCandless
- 2026 Fieldbook: Keith McCandless, Nancy White
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International · Legal code · Official source policy
This material-specific notice does not itself establish publication clearance. Preserved manuscript references above remain separate from the current page's credits and licence evidence.
Diagram, print, and video language
This English text uses the approved revised plan: 8 minutes per client, 30 minutes for standard groups of 3, with the 38/46-minute exceptions stated above.
Earlier records preserve the older 9-minute rotation. The revised Japanese edition's main and print diagrams use 8 minutes per client. Their labels remain Japanese; an English print edition is not provided here.
Revised Japanese guide, diagram, and print viewEnglish 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.