Featuring expert facilitators: Jan Keck, Manal Sayid, Romy, Adam Rosendahl, and Chad Littlefield.
Come to the Connectors Summit online December 10 – 12 to experience this group live online!
Five brilliant facilitators are about to bring you five uncommon, creative strategies to make group connection easy, impactful, and truly human. These ideas are simple to implement and pack a powerful punch, whether you’re leading a team meeting, classroom, training, or retreat online of off.
1. The Cell Phone “Sleeping Bag” – A Ritual for Presence
Shared by Jan Keck
One sentence I hope we can all eliminate from our meetings is:
“Let’s wait until everybody’s here.”
It devalues the time of the people who did show up on time and kills momentum. Instead, why not immediately engage your group in something intentional—even before the “official” start?
Jan’s tool of choice? A “cell phone sleeping bag.” It may look like a simple envelope, but here’s the twist:
- Invite people to customize their own sleeping bag with stickers, drawings, or doodles.
- Then, they tuck their phones away inside.
This small physical act becomes a powerful ritual of presence. It signals to the group and to themselves: I’m here, fully. When phones stop buzzing, attention returns to real human connection—exactly where it belongs.
📌 This is a perfect setup icebreaker for meetings or training sessions where presence and connection matter.
2. Intertwine Futures to Uncover What Matters
Shared by Chad Littlefield
Once presence is established, it’s time to intertwine your group’s futures.
Try asking this question:
“What’s something you really care about or want to do more of in the next year?”
Collecting these answers early on serves two key purposes:
- It gives you (as facilitator or leader) insight into what matters most to people.
- It allows you to customize your session to align with their hopes, concerns, and goals.
It’s like gaining 50 antennas tuned into what your group truly values. Then you get to steer your meeting to reflect that energy. This isn’t about random connection. It’s about relevant connection.
3. Tell the Story Behind the Work, Not Your Role
Shared by Manal Sayid
Before diving into tasks or content, connect as humans first. Manal practices a principle we live by here at We and Me:
Connection before content.
One of her go-to group activities is asking people to share the story behind their work—not their title. Questions like:
- “What inspires you to do what you do everyday?”
- “What’s a moment that shaped how you lead?”
- “Who taught you the importance of this role?”
These questions disarm formality, humanize authority, and build authentic trust. When people connect through values and lived experiences rather than job descriptions, collaboration becomes easier—and more meaningful.
This is a beautiful example of going beyond a “fun icebreaker” for small groups or team building activity for work and deepens connection to the core values and reasons why people are in the room.
4. Turn Learning Into a Live Experience
Shared by Romy Alexandra
Let’s be real: no one remembers the bullet points on your slides.
What people do remember is how they felt.
Romy invites her groups to recall their earliest positive learning experience. Whether from kindergarten, grad school, or last week, participants reflect on:
- What made it positive?
- What stuck with them?
- What feelings or moments stood out?
Then, she asks them to write down a word or two that captures that memory. Answers might range from play to presence to love.
This kind of live reflection helps people realize:
Learning sticks when it’s emotional, experiential, and personal.
💡 This strategy is a goldmine for educators, facilitators, or team leaders looking to transform training from content delivery into transformation.
5. End With a Group Tapestry to Create Collective Meaning
Shared by Adam Rosendahl
Many facilitators overlook the power of a meaningful closing ritual. But as Adam shares, the ending is often what people remember most.
His go-to closing strategy?
A Group Tapestry.
Here’s how it works:
- Everyone shares a reflection in the chat—something like a word, phrase, or takeaway from the session. (But don’t stop there.)
- These individual reflections are woven into a collective poem or group anthem. AI can make this happen in a matter of moments.
- The facilitator reads it aloud. If the context is right, feel free have everybody turn off their cameras to invite immersion.
This simple yet powerful practice creates a sense of “we”—a cohesive identity that lingers long after the session ends. People feel seen, heard, and part of something bigger.
At last year’s Connector Summit, we used a version of this by inviting participants to share “I” statements—like I am, I believe, or I will. Then, we compiled them into a collective set of we statements. The result? Chills. Every time.
Want More Like This?
All of the facilitators featured in this video will be co-leading sessions at the Connector Summit this December. If you’re hungry to surround yourself with a community of genius “professional gatherers” filled and fresh engaging ideas, consider joining us.
