# 1-2-4-All exercise: hear from everyone in 15 minutes

> Get ideas from every meeting participant, not only from the most active ones. 12–15 minutes, a group of any size. Flow, debrief questions and tips for the facilitato

Source: https://couchinfo.com/en/exercises/1-2-4-all/

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Exercise · Facilitation for Managers

## 1-2-4-All

Get ideas from every meeting participant, not only from the most active ones.

Time **12–15 minutes**

Participants **A group of any size**

Materials **Paper, pens**

From the training **Facilitation for Managers**

### Why this exercise

In a typical meeting three or four people talk and the rest stay silent. Research on brainstorming shows that in spoken discussion people wait their turn, forget ideas and adjust to the first and loudest voices. The 1-2-4-All format from the Liberating Structures collection starts with silent work and gathers the best ideas step by step.

### How to run it

1. Ask a question that needs ideas. For example: "How can we make our team's meetings shorter?"
2. 1 minute: everyone silently thinks and writes down their ideas.
3. 2 minutes: in pairs, share and build on each other.
4. 4 minutes: pairs join into fours and pick the best.
5. 5 minutes: each four names one key idea. The facilitator writes them on the board.

### Debrief questions

- How many people spoke compared with a typical meeting?
- Which ideas appeared only in the pairs and fours?
- Where in your meetings will this format help first?

 **Tips for the facilitator**

- Keep strict time — the short steps are what keep the format lively.
- The manager takes part as an equal or observes: what matters is that they don't speak first.

This exercise is part of a training kit

#### [Facilitation for Managers](https://couchinfo.com/en/training/facilitation-for-managers/)

2 days · 13 hours · 18 exercises · trainer guide with what to say, slide deck, workbook, cards and tests.

 [The kit from $229](https://couchinfo.com/en/training/facilitation-for-managers/)

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 [The whole library](https://couchinfo.com/en/exercises/)

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