How do we act with guidelines and rules?

• Experiencing how we act regarding rules/guidelines.
• Highlighting our strategies to negotiate with them.
• Raising awareness on how our behaviors can affect others.

Duration: 50 minutes

> Part 1: Setting a frame – Playing / Drawing

Place a long blank paper in the floor. At one end, place 3 different pots of painting, of 3 different colors, with 6 brushes (2 per pots).

Ask the participants to sit around the paper and feel comfortable.

Start the session by explaining them some basic guidelines, but don’t write them:

• Each participant has to draw one unique symbol in the paper, using only one color.
• They can draw their symbol as many times as they want, using always the same color.
• They can vary the size of their draw if they feel like;
• At least one brush has to be always available;
• Everyone has to have the chance of participating at least once;
• They can only paint if the music is playing but they can do it freely whenever they want;
• When the music is playing they are not allowed to talk.

Start the music (NB: Don’t tell the participants how long the workshop will be) and let it play for 20 minutes.

> Part 2: Sharing Circle

After you stopped the music, make a sharing circle, asking the participants how they felt during the exercise and how they feel now about the collective work.

Close the circle by reminding the guidelines and highlighting which ones were broken during the exercise.
Give the speech to those who didn’t respect them and ask them why they decided to do so.

> Part 3: Meta-analysis

Finish with a meta-analysis on how we negotiate with the guidelines in our everyday life, either because we forgot what they were (most probably because we don’t find them pertinent - external rules), either because we have a personal need, or because we judge that they are not that important and we tend to forget that breaking them can create tension, frustration or incomprehension around us.

Remind that rules are meant to be a contract between people in order to allow the group to reach an objective, but this doesn’t mean that they have to be rigid. They need to be reminded, modified, and redefined to always fit the needs of the group.

The participants better understand the importance of defining rules/guidelines together, to give space to every person in the group and to reach both their personal and collective objectives.

• Big space (outside or inside)
• Painting of different colors (at least 3)
• A long blank paper
• A music system and a playlist