Teams and cross-unit collaboration
Exchange Support Across Units
Clarify the support each unit needs, what it can provide, and unresolved issues, then decide how to hand support over.
- People
- 6–30
- Session time
- 180 minutes
- Format
- In person
English session plan
Original program status: draft. Source safety category: Low; this is not a guarantee of safety.
Preparation: More preparation. Facilitation team: Three operating roles.
What this session can decide
Agree support requests and handoff methods. Refer formal changes to duties, budget transfers, and staffing to the responsible person.
Outside its scope
- Do not transfer work unilaterally.
- Do not impose commitments on absent units.
- Do not turn reasons for declining into judgements of character.
Primary caution: Do not transfer work unilaterally.
Before starting
- Question and scope
- Clarify the support each unit needs, what it can provide, and unresolved issues, then decide how to hand support over. Before starting, state the subject and time period in one sentence.
- What this session decides
- Agree support requests and handoff methods. Refer formal changes to duties, budget transfers, and staffing to the responsible person.
- Output recipient
- The Recorder stores the final support-handoff map, matching sender, recipient, content, and completion checks.
- Participation and information boundaries
- Offer speaking, writing, or passing as participation choices. Keep personal information, confidential information, and attribute-based evaluation off the record surface.
- Operating roles
- Assign Lead facilitator, Recorder, and Timekeeper before starting, and confirm who announces switching and stopping.
- Next review
- Set a review date, viewers, and the person responsible for the next decision on the support-handoff map.
Who takes responsibility
- Lead facilitator
Keep Exchange Support Across Units within its purpose and exclusions, and announce the start and end of each stage.
From before the start through the end
- Recorder
Record each unit's support needs, the support request-and-response table, and the support-handoff map at each stage, then hand them to the recipient at the end.
From preparing record surfaces before the start through storage after the end
- Timekeeper
Notify the Lead facilitator 3 minutes before each stage ends and when switching to breaks or buffer time.
At the start of every stage and 3 minutes before its end
Session flow
Minutes are measured from the session start. Method time, transition time, breaks and buffer are shown separately; they are not additional overlapping activities.
0–33 minutes
Identify needed support individually
Method: Small groups and pairs · 0–30 minutes. Transition: 30–33 minutes (3 minutes).
In small groups mixing units, list needed information, actions, and checks. Add the intended recipient, deadline, and use to requests, then bring one item at a time to the whole group.
Responsible: Lead facilitator; Recorder; Timekeeper
Output: Support needs by unit
Handoff: Arrange proposed requests by unit and pass them to the response session.
This stage may be shortened only in accordance with the stated conditions.
33–96 minutes
Exchange support requests and responses
Method: What I Need from You · 33–93 minutes. Transition: 93–96 minutes (3 minutes).
The requester specifies whom they are asking, the action needed, deadline, and intended use. The recipient answers Accept, Accept with conditions, or Refuse, recording conditions and alternatives in separate fields. Refusal can accompany an alternative; proposing or adopting an alternative does not mean accepting the original request.
Responsible: Lead facilitator; Recorder; Timekeeper
Output: Support request-and-response table
Handoff: Distinguish accepted support, conditional acceptance, and refusal, and pass conditions, alternatives, and unresolved requests separately to handoff design. Proposing or adopting an alternative does not mean accepting the original request.
This stage is not marked as shortenable.
106–154 minutes
Design support handoffs
Method: Handoff Stations · 106–151 minutes. Transition: 151–154 minutes (3 minutes).
Place accepted support in chronological order as handoff points. For conditional acceptance, retain the status of checks on the conditions; do not turn it into a firm commitment to implement while they remain unchecked. Do not include refused requests or alternatives not agreed among items to implement. For each point, write the item to hand over, deadline, receipt check, and contact for exceptions.
Responsible: Lead facilitator; Recorder; Timekeeper
Output: Support-handoff map
Handoff: Pass the handoff map to each unit's responsible person and assigned staff.
This stage is not marked as shortenable.
What is retained and who receives it
Support needs by unit
Owner: Recorder
Collect proposed requests without favouring louder voices.
Support request-and-response table
Owner: Recorder
Distinguish Accept, Accept with conditions, and Refuse as responses; record conditions and alternatives in separate fields. Refusal can accompany an alternative, and proposing or adopting an alternative does not mean accepting the original request.
Support-handoff map
Owner: Recorder
Match sender, recipient, content, and completion checks. For conditional acceptance, retain the status of checks on the conditions; do not include refused requests or alternatives not agreed among items to implement.
Materials and setup
Material names, quantities, groups and handling instructions retain the fixed draft's original helper-derived guidance. Where a format is marked “Source material specification”, the entire bound English source material entry takes precedence over the old helper-derived format guidance. This format-only correction does not resolve other instruction or safety concerns. English names are not substituted into a Japanese-keyed lookup.
Everyday tools
- Broad-tip pens
Quantity: 2 per group
Format: Dark broad-tip pens or whiteboard markers
Check that ink flows and place them within participants' reach. Avoid pale-coloured pens.
- Timer
Quantity: 1 for the whole group
Format: A venue clock or smartphone timer; dedicated equipment may also be used if available
A venue clock is also sufficient. Decide who announces the end and how participants can see the remaining time.
- Dark writing implements
Quantity: 1 per person
Format: Dark broad-tip pens or whiteboard markers
Check that ink flows and place them within participants' reach. Avoid pale-coloured pens.
- Floor tape
Quantity: 1 roll per group
Format: Low-tack masking tape
Check removability on an inconspicuous part of the floor or wall. Keep edges flat and do not obstruct routes.
Sheets to prepare by hand
- Common instructions for each group
Quantity: 1 per group
Format: A4 copy paper
Divide the work surface into 3 fields: Question to address, Finish time, and Output to retain. Write a heading for each field rather than relying on colour alone.
- Record paper
Quantity: 1 per group
Format: Two A4 sheets placed side by side; join with masking tape if more space is needed
Write Record paper at the top. Leave enough space for sticky notes or paper pieces not to overlap, and use lettering readable from a distance for whole-group sharing.
- Role-specific support table
Quantity: 1 sheet per role
Format: Source material specification: Support sheets organised by role (1 per role, approximately A3)
Source-bound format display correction; the other fixed helper-derived guidance is unchanged.
Before starting, write the role name, responsibilities, and times covered. Add the person's name only after the assignment is decided. For each request, record the response, conditions, and alternatives separately. Use Accept, Accept with conditions, or Refuse as the response; proposing or adopting an alternative does not mean accepting the original request.
- Request cards
Quantity: 5 per role
Format: Sticky notes about 75 × 75 mm, or A4 copy paper cut into 4 pieces
Do not buy a special product; write Request at the top of paper pieces. If participants fill them in, use one item per card and handwrite needed headings before starting.
- Request-response labels
Quantity: 1 of each response per request
Format: Sticky notes about 75 × 75 mm, or A4 copy paper cut into 4 pieces
Write Accept, Accept with conditions, and Refuse on separate pieces, preparing enough of each type. Distinguish them by written headings even when using the same colour. Record conditions and alternatives in separate fields on the support table; do not add a fourth response label for alternatives. Refusal can accompany an alternative, and proposing or adopting an alternative does not mean accepting the original request.
- Headings for handoff points
Quantity: 1 per stage per group
Format: Source material specification: One station card per group for each stage, approximately A3 size
Source-bound format display correction; the other fixed helper-derived guidance is unchanged.
Write one work handoff point per sheet. Leave space to add sender, recipient, item handed over, and the state that counts as complete.
- Stop-condition cards
Quantity: 3 per station per group
Format: Sticky notes about 75 × 75 mm, or A4 copy paper cut into 4 pieces
Do not buy special cards; write Stop condition at the top of paper pieces. If participants fill them in, put one entry on each card and handwrite the necessary headings before starting.
Information to gather before the session
- Actual outputs handed between stages, or safe substitutes
Quantity: 1 per stage per group
Format: The actual output; if it cannot be moved, use a photograph, sample, or A4 sheet stating its name, key points, and storage location
Prepare the output actually handed over at each stage. Only if it cannot be moved for reasons such as confidentiality, safety, or weight, make a substitute that lets the next person judge its content. Do not replace it with a blank sheet.
Setup for each method
Small groups and pairs
- Space where at most six groups are unlikely to interfere with one another's voices
- Common instructions everyone can read before moving
What I Need from You
- Tables where participants with the same role sit together (1 table per role)
- One whole-group support matrix with rows showing requesting roles and columns showing responding roles
Handoff Stations
- Groups of 3–6; 1–5 groups
- 3–6 floor stations per group, in process order and at least 3 m apart
- One passage per group, at least 1 m wide, allowing people to carry the output through all stations
When to switch or stop
Fallbacks
- There are more than 20 proposed requests at the 20-minute mark.
Select up to 2 requests per group with a large impact on work stoppages.
Method guide: Small groups and pairs
Stop conditions
- Absent units or people without authority are made to commit to tasks.
- Hold them as proposals and set a deadline for checking with the responsible person.
- Reasons for declining become personal attacks.
- Return to wording about constraints, necessary conditions, and alternatives.
Sources, rights and limits
This site has composed this programme's purpose, connections between methods, facilitation, roles, outputs, and switching conditions. See each method's individual page for its sources and licence.
Original source records and their required notices are retained below. Their presence does not mean a new legal or cultural-safety clearance. Original citation titles are kept in their source language.
Sources and required notices for the 3 methods used
Small groups and pairs
- Seeds for Change Facilitation Tools: Small groups and pairs — anti-copyright adaptation; changes made
- anti-copyrightの適用条件 — anti-copyright
- Source: Seeds for Change Facilitation Tools: Small groups and pairs | https://www.seedsforchange.org.uk/tools | anti-copyright adaptation; changes made
- Source: Conditions for applying anti-copyright | https://www.seedsforchange.org.uk/resources | anti-copyright
- Attribution: Taiwa no Fumen Editorial Team | This site's text and diagrams
- Cultural caution: This manifest contains no structured cultural-safety assessment. A person checks context, the option to decline participation, and power differences.
- Limits of this record: Only the notices displayed in the public YAML were transcribed. No claim is made that individual rights do not exist.
What I Need from You
- Liberating Structures Fieldbook (2026): What I Need from You — Henri Lipmanowicz / Keith McCandless / Nancy White — Adaptation under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes made
- CC BY-SA 4.0
- Source: Liberating Structures Fieldbook (2026): What I Need from You — Henri Lipmanowicz / Keith McCandless / Nancy White | https://www.liberatingstructures.com/what-i-need-from-you | Adaptation under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes made
- Source: CC BY-SA 4.0 | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
- Attribution: Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless; Keith McCandless and Nancy White | Original-source author and contributor credit
- Attribution: Taiwa no Fumen Editorial Team | Japanese adaptation and this site's own diagrams
- Changes and adaptation: Adapted as a Japanese facilitation score; changes made
- ShareAlike: Provided under CC-BY-SA-4.0
- Cultural caution: open-method screening complete: No closed, ritual, or sacred cultural practice is used as a source; declining participation, sensitive information, and power differences are addressed in each method's limits and branches.
- Limits of this record: Adapted with changes as a Japanese facilitation score under CC BY-SA 4.0 and provided under the same licence. Only the current page is covered; material from June 2026 or earlier, official icons, and third-party material were excluded.
Handoff Stations
- 対話の譜面編集部: 引継ぎの駅 — Original description and diagrams
- Source: Taiwa no Fumen Editorial Team: Handoff Stations | Original description and diagrams
- Attribution: Taiwa no Fumen Editorial Team | This site's text and diagrams
- Cultural caution: open-method screening complete: No closed, ritual, or sacred cultural practice is used as a source; declining participation, sensitive information, and power differences are addressed in each method's limits and branches.
- Limits of this record: The editorial team independently created the text, procedure, and diagram. No exclusive rights are claimed over general dialogue operations or ideas themselves.
Confirmed programme clarification
The user confirmed the current programme text and programme-specific material instructions. Original methods, quantities, timing and print diagrams are unchanged. Earlier fixed notes are retained below as historical notes; they are not removed or treated as independently resolved. User confirmation of programme wording is distinct from independent acceptance of its English translation, rendered screens, rights and release checks.
Historical fixed-draft notes
The original fixed draft notes are retained without deletion as historical records of those fixed source versions. Current material format corrections are separately identified above; these notes do not imply that other concerns have been resolved.
- The artifact description distinguishes implementation, conditional implementation, alternatives, and inability to implement, while catalogue practice asks for yes, conditional, or no with conditions or an alternative recorded. Both source descriptions are retained without inventing a fourth required response.
Japanese resources and historical source records
Original Japanese plan and its print view · Japanese operation pack or starter materials
An English print edition is not provided here. The linked plans, print views and operation materials are Japanese resources.
Historical recorded publication holds
The following original hold statements are retained verbatim with their fixed source versions. They are not a statement of current acceptance, nor does this historical label resolve a source-specific restriction.
- English translation and rendered-page independent acceptance pending
- Method dependency source/text SHA binding and current source-specific rights verification pending
- Publication not cleared
Historical fixed-source and English-draft provenance
Japanese program SHA-256: a9453a0077c23ca436116c1007de3b0a3877214f6f659e04679e05acb34f615a
Fixed source context SHA-256: 437644a511c958618c00b84acff89ac424585f8cb04323137b8325e20147610a
English draft SHA-256: 980973f7ac17c3168990bffd284bce19bde9d7f0a74d15aa29c7a3d37916ff7a
- handoff-stations: source
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b755feb6304e580b22d397760760eb36c1653637f36bc26206a289b3344de2ff; English draftca1e1b32116f2e403aa1c1175ddf92b74d14bfdbbd646d5984fa6716bf173a03 - what-i-need-from-you: source
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These hashes identify the checked inputs; they do not grant independent acceptance or publication clearance.