Options Place

Structural Elements — Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

   "What burning questions or key topics do you want to explore within our theme? Let's build an agenda together."

2. Space and Materials

   An open wall with a large blank agenda, called a Breakout Board. Chairs arranged in small groups around the room, one station per session in each round. [Breakout rooms for each session.] Sticky notes and flip charts for each station [visual collaboration space with digital sticky notes]. Microphones for a large group. Simple Rules for Options Place to display. Preparing the Breakout Board: Estimate that three in ten participants will post a session (e.g., there will be about fifteen sessions for fifty participants). Include enough slots to accommodate one to three rounds of concurrent sessions, estimating fifteen minutes per session with two-minute transitions in between. [Preparing the Breakout Rooms: The number of breakout rooms will depend on the number of topics and rounds. For example, if a group generates fifteen topics, set up eight rooms for the first round and eight rooms for the second round. Label them with the session names.] Simple Rules for Options Place: 1. Go to where you are learning or contributing. 2. Use a liberating approach in your breakout (e.g. 1-2-4-All).

3. Participation Distribution

   Roles include host [tech host], session leaders, and participants. Minimum group size is ten. Everyone is invited and has an equal opportunity to contribute.

4. Group Configuration

   Small groups, whole group.

5. Steps and Time Allocation

   • Intro: Share the structuring invitation. Establish a purpose, theme, or shared challenge for the meeting. (1 min.)
   • Create the Agenda: Participants create an agenda for X rounds of sessions that are Y minutes long. To propose a session, they write the session title and their name on a sticky note and place it on the Breakout Board. (5–20 min.)
   • Individual Agendas: Participants choose which sessions to attend, following Simple Rule 1: If you find yourself in a session where you are not learning or contributing, go somewhere else! Session leaders prepare their stations by writing the name of their session, their name, and the LS they will use on a flipchart. Encourage everyone to jot down important notes, next steps, and key recommendations or actions during the sessions. (5 min.)
   • Attend Sessions: Participants move to their first session. Signal when it is time to move to the next session. (One to three sessions of ~15 min. each; 32–50 min. total)
   • All-Together Sharing: Everyone returns to plenary. A few participants debrief on the structure and share notes and next steps from the sessions. (10 min.)