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Seating Chart
The toolkit says to have people get up and move tables on their own. Or that's how I read it. Based on past events we've had, people tend to migrate in their flock and don't sit by different people. When we do our World Cafe event in January I want to develop a seemingly random plan for everyone to sit at each table with different people each time. I've been working on this in Excel most of the day. I just can't quite get the same number of people at each table and sitting with mostly different people.
How have others handled this? Has anyone tried to pre-determine where people would sit? Or is it best to let everyone move on their own? Thanks!
Tags: seating
Replies to This Conversation
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Permalink Reply by Ria Baeck on
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I always make it simple: I tell one person to stay and be the table host; and then to ask the three other to all go to different tables - as to make the cross-polination of ideas the highest. That's all I do.
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Permalink Reply by juanita brown on
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Me, too.....you could also have a diagram on a large chart pad (there are several images in the book) that helps show the movement between tables and that can anchor the process in people's minds and how the cross-pollination with people you don't know who may have a different perspective as a contribution than you is a key aspect of discovering new insights
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Permalink Reply by Crystal Hopper on -
Thanks for the input!
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Permalink Reply by Charlotte Henley on -
I make it part of the principles and I am very up front with what may be a tendency... to hang out with your friends... The purpose is to generate new conversations and new ideas and not the status quo, so you must speak to many others not traditionally in your social group or department. So I say, One person remains behind and the rest of you say good bye to each other and look for someone you don't know or don't know well. I would not do a seating chart... part of the process includes people learning to be comfortable roaming and finding new spaces and places. I like to think they get more comfortable with this as time goes on.
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