Method guide · Progress through phases
Returning a Question to the Group
Return a facilitator-directed question to the group only with the questioner's consent, while keeping formal answers with accountable responders.
- People
- 3–40
- Base procedure time
- 10 minutes
- Recording
- Shared record
Purpose: Explore through dialogue.
English guide
Text acceptance is not approval of this rendered page, its media, or publication.
How this method works
A method for returning a question directed to the facilitator to everyone with its owner's consent. Check what the questioner wants to know, briefly rephrase without adding a conclusion, and receive at most three different answers or suggestions for proceeding. The questioner chooses the next handling from four options: the facilitator answers, an individual answer later, a formal responsible person answers by a deadline, or treatment as a whole-group proposal. Do not return questions about law, safety, contracts, or factual verification to everyone; name the responsible responder and deadline. The outputs are the question, chosen handling, owner, and reply date. This description is a distinct adaptation, with changes, of Throwing it Back by Rhizome, published in Commons Library, under CC BY-SA 4.0, and is provided under the same terms. Do not use this where responses turn into blame or speculation about absent people.
Phase schedule
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- Check intent and consent to return the question0–2 minutes from the start (2 minutes)
Action: Check returning. Participation: Questioner and facilitator.
Shared record
- Return the question without adding a conclusion2–4 minutes from the start (2 minutes)
Action: Return the question. Participation: Facilitator and everyone.
Shared record
- Receive at most three different responses4–7 minutes from the start (3 minutes)
Action: Collect responses. Participation: Everyone.
Shared record
- Let the questioner choose what helped and what comes next7–10 minutes from the start (3 minutes)
Action: Choose handling. Participation: Questioner and everyone.
Shared record
Facilitation steps
- For 2 minutes, check what the questioner wants to know about the facilitator-directed question and the scope they allow to be returned to everyone.
- For 2 minutes, separate questions needing formal answers, and have the facilitator briefly return the question to everyone without adding a conclusion.
- For 3 minutes, receive at most three different answers or suggestions for proceeding, without recording blame or speculation.
- For 3 minutes, write what the questioner found useful and their next handling choice: facilitator answer, individual answer, hold for the responsible person, or whole-group proposal.
If something changes
If
The questioner does not want the question returned to everyone.
Then
Do not return it; let the person choose a facilitator answer, an individual answer, or holding for the responsible person.
If
One or more questions about law, safety, contracts, or accurate facts need an answer from a responsible person.
Then
Do not gather the group's speculation; write the formal answer owner and answer deadline in the holding field.
If
Even once, a response turns into blame, speculation, or personal information about the questioner or absent people.
Then
Stop responses and recording; at the questioner's choice, move to individual consultation or checking with a supporter.
Preparation
Materials
- One self-made check sheet per question for the question, the person's intent, and permitted scope of return
- One whole-group surface for 3 responses and the questioner's next handling choice
- One facilitator-answer/individual-answer/hold-for-responsible-person card set for the questioner
- One whole-group holding field for the formal responder and deadline
- 2 whole-group broad-tip pens
Room and setup
- Handle only questions directed to the facilitator, first asking the questioner whether they may be returned to everyone
- Provide a holding field for questions needing formal answers, such as law, safety, contracts, or factual verification, with an answer owner and deadline
- Receive at most three responses and let the questioner choose what helped and what comes next. Do not retain unwanted records, personal information, or speculation about absent people
Adjust for people and time
With 3–40 people, do not split the whole group; receive at most three different responses and return the choice to the questioner. With 41 or more, do not elect representative speakers; use separate sessions and obtain the questioner's own consent again each time. Regardless of numbers, do not return questions needing formal answers to the group.
Safety and non-applicable situations
Get the questioner's consent and permitted scope before returning a question. Keep formal legal, safety, contract, and fact answers with a named responsible responder and deadline, not group speculation. Stop blame, speculation, and personal-information responses and recording, then follow the questioner's chosen individual-support route. Do not retain unwanted records or elect representatives in place of renewed personal consent.
Historical translation and source notes
These original notes are retained verbatim with their fixed source versions. This historical label does not resolve a source-specific concern or establish current acceptance.
- The guide lists an owner and reply date among the outputs, but the final timed step explicitly records useful points and the chosen next handling. A formal answer owner/deadline is separately specified for held formal questions; no extra timed entry step for all other handling choices has been invented.
Manuscript's recorded references
These translate the original manuscript's source and rights claims. They remain separate from any current-page notice below; they do not establish new verification.
- Commons Library / Rhizome Facilitation Tools and Techniques: Throwing it Back
https://commonslibrary.org/facilitation-tools-and-techniques/#h-throwing-it-back
Adaptation under CC-BY-SA-4.0; changes made
- Conditions for applying CC-BY-SA-4.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Diagram, print, and video language
Original Japanese guide, diagram, and print view. Their labels and print text have not been translated; an English print edition is not provided here.
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Editorial provenance
Japanese source status and logs are provenance only. They do not mean this English text or interface was field-tested. Historical fixed-text acceptance and hold records remain specific to their recorded versions; displaying them neither asserts current acceptance nor resolves source-specific restrictions.