Round of Introductions
Sticky Situations Ep. 00 (Pilot) · 2:13
The facilitator planned five minutes for a round of introductions. The team had other plans.
No real humans were harmed in the making of this series. The cast is AI-generated: every face, voice and scene. The situations, sadly, are real.
Why the round ran to 47 minutes
- The question was open. "Introduce yourself" invites a fun fact, a feelings check and a debate about whether to do it at all. Give one prompt with one answer.
- Nobody knew the time box. Say it out loud and make it visible: seven people, thirty seconds each, a timer everyone can see.
- The round had no job. If the group already knows each other, skip names and ask the one thing the session needs from them.
Methods for this situation
- Blind Name-Tag (1-2 min): Names on a sticky note on the forehead. A laugh and every name in the room in under two minutes.
- Chair Check-in (1-5 min): A check-in with a built-in limit, so it can't turn into a round of speeches.
- Weather Check-in (5-10 min): One word per person, which leaves nothing to align on first.
- Introduction Icebreaker Questions (15-30 min): For a new team that does need a longer round: pick the questions up front.
- Parking Space (2-5 min): For Diego's "do we even need this?" Park it and keep the round moving.
- The 90-Minute Rapid Team Kickoff Workshop (90 min): A full kickoff agenda where the introductions have a job and a time box.
From the script
Robin: Let's do a quick round of introductions.
Priya: Hi! I'm Priya, and my fun fact is that I have three fun facts.
Samira: Before I say more: are we aligned on what we share? Name, role, or feelings?
Robin: Name.
Samira: Aligned.
Diego: Just to play devil's advocate: do we actually need introductions?
Henk: Henk.
Mei: Hi! Sorry! I'm Mei, working from home today, because the dog... Biscuit, no!
Gerald: Gerald. VP. I have a hard stop.
Robin: Great. Now that everyone knows each other...
Gerald: Sorry. Who are you all?
Extra footage
Henk: I've done four hundred rounds of introductions. I'm still Henk.
Robin: A round of introductions takes five minutes. It has never taken five minutes.
Priya & Samira: "I love introductions." "We haven't aligned on what 'love' means."
Diego: Mei and I have worked together for six years.
Gerald: I'm a big believer in people. From a distance.
In this episode
- Robin Mensah, Facilitator
- Priya Raman, Innovation lead
- Samira El Amrani, Programme manager
- Diego Ortega, Strategy
- Henk, Operations, since 2004
- Mei Lin, Data analyst
- Gerald Voss, VP Transformation