1.2(c) Agree – Disagree

To agree the group’s top ten priorities and to reflect on how the group works together.

The pyramid from the last activity, a piece of string or wool and about an hour.

a) Knock out the bottom 15 cards or bricks (be careful) from the pyramid and keep them safe. You will need them later for activity 1.3(b). Take the ten remaining issues from the pyramid and shuffle them. Hand them round the group face down. Make a line with the wool or string down the room and mark one end ‘Agree’ and the other end ‘Disagree.’

b) Each person now looks at your cards or bricks and, in turn, places each one at a point along the line, depending on how much they agree or disagree with it. They can say why, but people should not interrupt or move it at this stage. When they are all laid down, they will form a line from agree to disagree. The cards or bricks can’t overlap.

c) Now anyone can say that they want to move someone else’s card or brick one way or the other as long as they explain why. Gradually, an agreed list from one to ten of the top priorities will emerge.

Record the priorities from one to ten on a flip chart. How easy was it to agree? Does anyone feel something really important has been left out? What can you do about that? Is it harder to have to put things in a strict order than in a pyramid? How might the priorities look if the group had different people in it? Does anyone feel their voice was not heard? Make sure everyone is okay before moving on.