Liberating Structures: Simple rules for more inventiveness in project management
Why traditional workshops are often idea killers
We’ve all been there: the flipchart is ready, the post-its are at the ready, the projector is humming amiably – and yet: little happens. Two people talk, ten remain silent. The agenda is dutifully worked through, the minutes are complete, and yet you leave the room with the vague feeling that you have just spent precious time in a meeting coma. But there is another way. In project management, where time, focus and real ideas make the difference between success and frustration, methods are needed that not only please the moderators, but also activate all participants. This is exactly where Liberating Structures come into play.
What are Liberating Structures?
Liberating Structures (LS for short) are 33 simple but effective microstructures that have been developed to democratize group processes. Instead of relying on PowerPoint slides or frontal moderation, they enable every participant to contribute their ideas, perspectives and knowledge.
The concept was developed by Keith McCandless and Henri Lipmanowicz and has been growing in popularity for several years, not only in innovation and creative teams, but also in project management. The basic idea is that a good structure promotes creativity instead of suppressing it. The methods are designed to free meeting participants from traditional restrictive or controlling structures, which is where the name Liberating Structures comes from. When these methods are used, control over a meeting no longer lies solely with the presenter or moderator, but is distributed evenly among all group members so that they can all participate equally in the outcome. At the same time, however, these structures provide an orderly framework that enables meetings to proceed in a targeted manner.
Why are Liberating Structures so valuable in project management?
Projects often involve complex decisions, changing requirements and a large number of stakeholders with their very own expectations. The classic meeting logic (presentation + discussion + consensus) quickly reaches its limits here:
- Loud voices dominate the discussion.
- ntroverted or non-specialist participants withdraw.
- Good ideas are quickly lost.
- Decisions are postponed or do not get to the heart of the problem.
This is where Liberating Structures come in and ensure that all voices are heard, ideas are developed in a structured way and decisions are made on a sound basis. This is particularly valuable in:
- Kick-off meetings: Where vision, goals and cooperation need to be clarified.
- Sprint reviews or retrospectives: To receive constructive feedback.
- Stakeholder workshops: When different interests need to be balanced.
- Lessons-learned rounds: So that not only the project manager speaks.
5 steps to your own force field analysis
- 1-2-4-All – when everyone really should have their say
This structure is as simple as it is effective: first each person thinks for themselves (1 minute), then there are two (2 minutes), then four (4 minutes), before the results are collected in plenary (All). Result: no silence, no “I agree with what was said before” bubbles.
Possible uses: Finding ideas for project goals, collecting risks, feedback on previous results. - TRIZ – The paradoxical creativity technique
TRIZ asks provocatively: What would we have to do to guarantee the failure of our project? What sounds crazy often leads to revealing insights. We then reflect on which of these (deliberately harmful) practices may already be in use and what can be changed.
Possible applications: Project launches, retrospectives, change processes. - What, So What, Now What? – Structured reflection
This method guides groups through three simple questions:
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- What happened? (Facts)
- What does that mean? (interpretation)
- What do we do now? (Action)
Ideal for clearing your head after milestones or in difficult project situations, for example.
Further Liberating Structures in the project context – a compact overview
|
Liberating Structure |
Application in project management |
Briefly explained |
|
Appreciative Interview |
Identify success factors in retros or project closures |
Partner interview about particularly positive experiences in order to derive strengths from them |
|
Troika Consulting |
Collegial advice on specific challenges in the project |
One person presents a concern, two others take turns advising them |
|
25/10 Crowd sourcing |
Evaluate ideas for measures, features or suggestions for improvement |
Everyone writes an idea, which is then evaluated by everyone over several rounds. This is how the top ideas prevail |
|
Nine Whys |
Clarification of overarching project goals and motivations |
By asking “Why?” 9 times, a deeper purpose becomes visible |
|
Celebrity Interview |
Communicate goal clarification or change topics in a clear and entertaining way |
One person takes on the role of a well-known personality and is interviewed on the subject of |
|
Drawing Together |
Making complex relationships or processes visible |
Participants visualize their project vision or collaboration, for example |
|
Impromptu Networking |
Entry into workshops, promotion of personal exchange |
Several short 1:1 conversations on prepared questions |
|
Heard, Seen, Respected |
Empathic understanding of conflicts or emotional issues in the team |
Partners share difficult situations – without judgment, just listening |
|
Helping Heuristics |
Promote knowledge sharing or coaching within the team |
Mutual aid guidelines are reflected upon and improved |
|
Open Space |
Topic-centered work in large groups |
Participants bring in their own topics and organize sessions themselves |
|
Panarchy |
Expand understanding of system interrelationships and dynamics in the project environment |
Consideration of topics at different system levels (e.g. micro/macro) |
|
Ecocycle |
Gain an overview of ongoing, planned and blocked activities |
activities into four fields: Birth, Maturity, Creative Destruction, Renewal |
|
Integrated Autonomy |
Reflecting on the balance between personal responsibility and team coordination |
Reflection on tensions between freedom and coordination |
|
Social Network Webbing |
Analyze stakeholder networks |
Making relationships and communication flows visible |
|
Simple Ethnography |
Understanding user needs |
Observation of real behavior instead of just questioning |
|
Design storyboards |
Making projects or processes visible as “history” |
Create a sequence of images or scenes to make processes understandable |
|
Wicked Questions |
Making contradictory requirements visible in the project |
Formulate opposing but equally important questions |
|
Wise Crowds |
Making complex decisions in a participatory manner |
One person describes a concern, group discusses in a structured way with observers |
|
Discovery & Action Dialogue |
Joint problem solving for difficult situations in the project |
Participants jointly analyze causes and develop practicable solutions |
|
Min Specs |
Focus on the essentials in project rules or framework conditions |
Distinction between mandatory and optional criteria |
|
What I Need From You (WINFY) |
Clarification of expectations and support in the team or with stakeholders |
People clearly formulate what they need from others – and what they can offer
|
|
Critical Uncertainties |
Develop scenarios for unclear project dynamics |
Confronting two uncertainties and developing strategies |
|
Agree/Certainty Matrix |
Clarifying how to deal with complex decision-making situations |
Classify problems according to the degree of unity and security and find suitable strategies |
|
Purpose-to-Practice |
Structure project start from vision to implementation |
Jointly define goal, principles, participants, structures, practices |
|
Impromptu prototyping |
Making ideas tangible at an early stage, generating feedback |
Concepts or processes are quickly sketched or played to encourage reactions and insights |
|
User Experience Fishbowl |
Experience user feedback directly and openly |
Users speak in an inner circle, team listens actively |
|
Generative Relationships |
Strengthening collaboration through relationship quality |
Reflection on which relationships are beneficial in the project and how to actively maintain them
|
|
Shift & Share |
Disseminate best practices within the project team |
Small groups rotate through stations with success stories |
|
15% Solutions |
Strengthen personal responsibility, identify small, feasible steps |
Everyone thinks about what he or she can implement immediately – without additional resources or approval |
|
Conversation Café |
Open dialog on complex or sensitive topics |
In rounds, everyone talks about a key question, with a focus on listening, understanding and changing perspectives |
Best practices for use in the project environment
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Start small: You don’t have to turn the entire project upside down immediately with LS. One method in a workshop is enough to get you started and to test whether the Liberating Structures work for your team and your needs.
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Prepare the moderation: Even if LS seem simple, a clear process, time frame and roles are essential.
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Prepare participants: Especially in formal settings, a brief context helps, e.g. why everyone stands up or writes cards at the same time.
Common pitfalls – and how to avoid them
- “Let’s do something new” without a goal: LS are not an end in themselves. Every structure needs a clear objective that it is intended to achieve. The appropriate structure is then selected depending on the objective.
- Too many methods at once: one, well-applied structure is enough. Otherwise, “unfolding freely” quickly becomes “wildly tangled”.
- False expectations: LS do not work miracles immediately, but invite you to develop together. Those hoping for finished results may be happier with a classic brainstorming session.
Conclusion
Liberating Structures offer project teams the opportunity to make new perspectives visible, make better decisions together and transform meetings into productive, inspiring formats. They are a simple but effective antidote to the unimaginativeness of many workshop formats.
However, the creativity from workshops is only sustainable if it becomes concrete: in the form of tasks, decisions and documented findings. With myPARM ProjectManagement, the results from Liberating Structures sessions can be seamlessly transferred to operational project work. Whether as tasks in workflows, documented lessons learned or as a basis for the next retrospective – myPARM offers the right platform to intelligently combine structure and freedom. This means that no good idea remains stuck on a post-it note, but becomes part of a successful project implementation.
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