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Taiwa no FumenPractical methods for shared thinking

English edition: the full translation has not yet received an independent line-by-line review. Check the linked sources and method-specific limits before use. Japanese PDFs and videos remain labelled.

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Teams and cross-unit collaboration

Create a Collaboration Contract for a New Team

Gather voices, create collaboration commitments, and connect them with purpose, roles, and practices.

People
4–20
Session time
300 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

Decide collaboration rules and practices within the team. Do not change employment conditions, appraisal systems, or the formal division of duties.

Outside its scope

  • Do not force self-disclosure.
  • Do not change employment or appraisal conditions.
  • Do not make everyone's way of working identical.

Primary caution: Do not force self-disclosure.

Before starting

Question and scope
Gather voices, create collaboration commitments, and connect them with purpose, roles, and practices. Before starting, state the subject and time period in one sentence.
What this session decides
Decide collaboration rules and practices within the team. Do not change employment conditions, appraisal systems, or the formal division of duties.
Output recipient
The Recorder stores the final team purpose, principles, and practices, turning the collaboration contract into everyday actions linked to outcomes.
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 team purpose, principles, and practices.

Who takes responsibility

Lead facilitator

Keep Create a Collaboration Contract for a New Team within its purpose and exclusions, and announce the start and end of each stage.

From before the start through the end

Recorder

Record proposed collaboration conditions, collaboration commitments, and team purpose, principles, and practices 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.

  1. 0–33 minutes

    Gather needed collaboration conditions

    Method: Small groups and pairs · 0–30 minutes. Transition: 30–33 minutes (3 minutes).

    In each small group, write conditions and reasons for working well and achieving outcomes. Bring them to the whole group; even when duplicates are bundled, retain minority views as separate items.

    Responsible: Lead facilitator; Recorder; Timekeeper

    Output: Proposed collaboration conditions

    Handoff: Pass proposed conditions to the items for collaboration commitments.

    This stage may be shortened only in accordance with the stated conditions.

  2. 33–126 minutes

    Agree collaboration commitments

    Method: Social Contract · 33–123 minutes. Transition: 123–126 minutes (3 minutes).

    Organise candidates by theme and rewrite them as behaviours people can follow. Decide procedures for noticing, repairing, and reviewing issues rather than assigning blame for breaches.

    Responsible: Lead facilitator; Recorder; Timekeeper

    Output: Collaboration commitments

    Handoff: Pass commitments and unresolved items to purpose-and-practice design.

    This stage is not marked as shortenable.

  3. 136–259 minutes

    Connect purpose to everyday practice

    Method: Purpose to Practice · 136–256 minutes. Transition: 256–259 minutes (3 minutes).

    Define the team's purpose, principles, participants, session rules/roles/time allocation, and practices. Check how each collaboration commitment contributes to the purpose and set a review date.

    Responsible: Lead facilitator; Recorder; Timekeeper

    Output: Team purpose, principles, and practices

    Handoff: Pass the collaboration contract and practice table to all members and the team owner.

    This stage is not marked as shortenable.

What is retained and who receives it

Proposed collaboration conditions

Owner: Recorder

Develop rule candidates that include minority voices.

Collaboration commitments

Owner: Recorder

Show methods for meetings, communication, objections, support, and review.

Team purpose, principles, and practices

Owner: Recorder

Turn the collaboration contract into everyday actions linked to outcomes.

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.

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.

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.

Behaviour-proposal cards

Quantity: 6 per person

Format: Source material specification: Behaviour proposal cards: 6 per person, 75 × 75 mm

Source-bound format display correction; the other fixed helper-derived guidance is unchanged.

Do not buy special cards; write Behaviour proposal at the top of paper pieces. If participants fill them in, put one entry on each card and handwrite the necessary headings before starting.

Shared surface for writing a clean version of revisable collaboration rules

Quantity: 1 sheet per venue

Format: Source material specification: One final-copy sheet for the social contract per venue, A1 or larger

Source-bound format display correction; the other fixed helper-derived guidance is unchanged.

Divide the work surface into 5 fields: Desired behaviour, Behaviour to avoid, Display location, Procedure for proposing changes, and Next review date. Write a heading for each field rather than relying on colour alone.

Table recording agreement and reservations about behaviour rules

Quantity: 1 sheet per venue

Format: A4 copy paper

Divide the work surface into 5 fields: Items agreed, Items held, Reasons for holding, Next checking point, and Name (optional). Write a heading for each field rather than relying on colour alone.

Sheet linking purpose, principles, participants, facilitation structure, and practices

Quantity: 1 per group

Format: A4 copy paper

Divide the work surface into 5 fields: Purpose, Principles, Participants, Facilitation structure, and Practices. Write headings in text rather than relying only on colour.

Element cards

Quantity: 10 per person

Format: Sticky notes about 75 × 75 mm, or A4 copy paper cut into 4 pieces

Write Element at the top with a Reason field below. Leave room for one item per card.

Strips marking broken connections

Quantity: 5 per group

Format: Masking tape or A4 copy paper cut into long strips

On a long strip, write the two unconnected elements, such as Purpose → Principles. Place it between the five elements, leaving room to add which side to revise. Do not buy special strips. Also write which two adjacent elements are unconnected on the strip.

Revision cards

Quantity: 3 per group

Format: Sticky notes about 75 × 75 mm, or A4 copy paper cut into 4 pieces

Create Before change and After fields on one sheet. Write headings in text rather than relying only on colour.

Practice cards

Quantity: 2 per group

Format: Sticky notes about 75 × 75 mm, or A4 copy paper cut into 4 pieces

Create Owner, Start, and Review fields on one sheet. Write headings in text rather than relying only on colour.

Available at the venue

Wall space for sorting

Quantity: 1 surface per group of 3–6; number of surfaces is the participant count divided by 6, rounded up

Format: Source material specification: Wall areas for classification: one per group of 3–6; divide the participant count by 6 and round up for the number of areas, each at least 90 cm wide

Source-bound format display correction; the other fixed helper-derived guidance is unchanged.

Write Wall space for sorting 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.

Setup for each method

Small groups and pairs

  1. Space where at most six groups are unlikely to interfere with one another's voices
  2. Common instructions everyone can read before moving

Social Contract

  1. Island tables for groups of 3–6: divide the participant count by 6 and round up for the number of tables; group sizes differ by no more than one person
  2. One shared surface per venue where everyone can read the final-copy sheet; keep passageways at least 60 cm wide

Purpose to Practice

  1. Form groups of 3–5 whose sizes differ by no more than 1 person
  2. Give each group one five-element connection sheet and five inconsistency strips
  3. One whole-group connection surface for displaying all groups' practice slips

When to switch or stop

Fallbacks

There are more than 20 proposed conditions at the 20-minute mark.

Each group selects 2 important items and retains the rest in the deferred-items field.

Method guide: Small groups and pairs

Stop conditions

Disclosure of individual personality, health, or family circumstances is requested.
Stop sharing and address only the collaboration conditions needed.
A commitment conflicts with employment rules or conditions.
Leave it unresolved and refer it to the responsible authority for checking.

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

  • 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.

Social Contract

  • Source: Matt Takane; Tim Beattie: Social Contract | https://openpracticelibrary.com/practice/social-contract/ | Adaptation under CC BY 4.0; changes made
  • Source: CC BY 4.0 | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
  • Attribution: Matt Takane; Tim Beattie | 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
  • 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: Individual contributors are credited. Text covered by CC BY 4.0 was adapted with changes into Japanese facilitation scores. Exception notices, the site logo and third-party embedded material were excluded.

Current-page credit and licence companion for this method

Purpose to Practice

  • Source: Liberating Structures Fieldbook (2026): Purpose to Practice — Henri Lipmanowicz / Keith McCandless / Nancy White | https://www.liberatingstructures.com/purpose-to-practice | 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.

Current-page credit and licence companion for this method

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 sorting-wall sourceRaw requires at least 90 cm width and the clean social-contract sourceRaw requires A1 or larger, while display formats name large paper or a whiteboard without dimensions. The size requirements remain in exact sourceRaw metadata.

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: 887c22b3460939d227ecf01e5d3074424e0bc803317b5eedc357b36b9e356b2c

Fixed source context SHA-256: 8f63d0b20bc14e8323b9892721b1c6a80baa152a2bb13e06b3ba4fd5984e96b7

English draft SHA-256: 8f235a2cb569f0a453b9f7d5fbfd768d3cfd52c809ad469480b7544806d22e1a

  • opl-social-contract: source ecaa856db53f5649d584126fdfb44d81fb6730f3ca68a0bb05b74f584b2d3439; English draft 6fb3c1c1624710a0d0ba575f2412a743e64b3ec32825b0c88dc8dc4efd1927e1
  • purpose-to-practice: source 0b6ee5f8c38ee4b0d5cb9e539a91fc2e3f3cb71461066c1de13f80c34ef224f2; English draft 4f967ab55c16f88327cd5d6c288f01b52d3012e9e7bfe8ac0921117f96210741
  • seeds-parallel-small-groups: source b755feb6304e580b22d397760760eb36c1653637f36bc26206a289b3344de2ff; English draft ca1e1b32116f2e403aa1c1175ddf92b74d14bfdbbd646d5984fa6716bf173a03

These hashes identify the checked inputs; they do not grant independent acceptance or publication clearance.