My Experience With Using Liberating Structures, Online
If you're looking for activities to use in your Zoom classes that help build community and social presence, the Liberating Structures (adapted here for online use) are incredibly valuable. Overeem describes a number of Structures that work well online and offers his tips for facilitating these activities.
Liberating Structures that work really well online
It’s interesting that some of the more complex Liberating Structures are actually easy to use online. For example Ecocycle Planning, Panarchy, and Critical Uncertainties. These ones might even be easier to use online, than in person. This probably is due to the focus on identifying patterns. An online whiteboard makes it very easy to spot patterns and differences. Structures that are quite straightforward, and don’t require any “breakout room magic” also work perfectly fine online.
- Ecocycle Planning & Panarchy. With Ecocycle Planning and Panarchy you explore what it is that you’re keeping in the air (but shouldn’t), and what it is that you aren’t (but should). You can do this for activities, relationships, basically everything you do as a team, organization, or community. Both structures work exceptionally well online. They help you to see the “forest AND the trees”. When using an online whiteboard, it’s easy to zoom in and out and identify patterns across the different Ecocycles. I’d say these structures work even better online, compared to in-person.