gdinwiddie, 5 months ago

@ASegar
When I've run a fishbowl, I've used a rule that when all the chairs are full, one of the occupants must leave, usually the one who's been in the circle the longest.

The empty chair is more inviting than standing by until someone leaves.

BTW, you can use 5 chairs to accommodate 4 concurrent speakers.

ASegar, 5 months ago

@gdinwiddie I like your approach. On reflection, I prefer mine because it:

• avoids the facilitator keeping track of who's been up the longest;
• allows people to finish speaking before someone leaves; and
• covers times when the person who leaves might be someone who's said all they wanted to say, not necessarily the person who's been up longest.

IME it's rare for someone not to leave when they've spoken at length. I'm happy to nudge them!

I also use 5 chairs when working w/larger groups.

gdinwiddie, 5 months ago

@ASegar
I've not, as facilitator, kept track of who's been up the longest. I just set that as a normal case in the initial explanation.

I've generally found the fishbowl to be self-facilitating, requiring very few nudges.

ASegar, 5 months ago

@gdinwiddie Me too. It’s another example of the power of setting clear, reasonable group norms at the start.