Low-Tech Social Network

Purpose

The Low-Tech Social Network makes invisible relationship structures visible. By drawing people as nodes and their connections as lines on a large poster, teams discover who actually talks to whom, where information bottlenecks exist, and which connectors or bridges the organization relies on — all without any software.

At a glance

• Group size: 5–30
• Duration: 20 minutes
• Difficulty: Beginner
• Facilitation style: Interactive, participatory mapping
• Setting: In-person (large wall space needed)

How to run

1. Prepare the wall (2 min). Post a large sheet of paper. Explain that participants will draw themselves and their connections.
2. Add yourself (3 min). Each participant draws a small self-portrait or writes their name on the poster, placing themselves intuitively.
3. Draw connections (8 min). Participants draw lines to people they regularly interact with. Optionally, use line thickness or colour to indicate frequency or type of relationship.
4. Observe patterns (5 min). Step back as a group and look: Who is central? Who is isolated? Where are clusters? Where are bridges between clusters?
5. Discuss implications (2 min). Identify one or two actions: strengthen weak ties, include isolated nodes, diversify bottleneck connections.

Materials needed

• Very large paper sheet (2m+ wide) or joined flip-chart sheets
• Markers in multiple colours
• Sticky dots (optional, for highlighting key nodes)

Pitfalls & common mistakes

• Making it feel like surveillance. Frame it as a positive exploration, not an audit of who talks to whom.
• Over-interpreting isolated nodes. Some roles are naturally independent; isolation isn’t always a problem.
• Skipping the debrief. The map is only useful if the team discusses what it means.

Inclusion & accessibility

• Let participants choose how to represent themselves — name, initials, or a symbol.
• For participants who cannot reach the poster, offer a buddy to draw on their behalf.
• Photograph and share the final map digitally for those who couldn’t attend.

Variations

• Directed network: Use arrows instead of lines to show information flow direction.
• Affinity version: Colour-code connections by type (mentoring, project, social).
• Cross-team map: Focus specifically on connections between two departments.

When NOT to use this

• In environments with high political tension where revealing connections could be used against people.
• With very large groups (50+) where the map becomes unreadable.

Source & further reading

• Gray, D., Brown, S., & Macanufo, J. (2010). *Gamestorming.* O’Reilly Media.
• Krebs, V. (2006). Social Network Analysis. orgnet.com.