“Whatever the problem, the answer is in the circle. When we gather in circles, people’s energy is released in ways that create order, coherence, and new possibilities.” … Margaret Wheatley, Leadership and the New Science
Have you ever sat around in a circle? Perhaps it was at a campfire sing-along, or at a circular table or perhaps just informally standing around with friends. There’s something magical that seems to happen in those social configurations.
MIT professor Sandy Pentland has studied high-performing teams up close to find what makes them so. He had team members wear digital monitors to track their verbal interactions all day long. What he discovered is that the most effective teams were the ones where everyone had roughly equal time to speak.
It seems when every voice is heard, teams perform better, innovate more, and navigate challenges more smoothly.
Perhaps that’s what makes circles feel so good. They are a way of communicating that allows each person a turn to speak equally while everyone listens.
There are different terms for circles that might fit better in workplaces. One such term is “roundtables” which are a common corporate and industry term. The word ‘roundtable’ actually harkens back to Arthurian legend, where the Knights of the Round Table sat around a round table, in a circle. No knight’s voice dominated, symbolizing equality and shared leadership.
Today, the word is used to describe collaborative discussions where each participant has a chance to contribute to a roundtable discussion. In workplaces, and other type of community & group settings, such a process can provide the blueprint to structure small group dialogue. Roundtables have a history of being the more accessible, workplace-friendly adaptation, designed to bring the benefits of circles to professional teams.
Roundtables and Circles Across Cultures and History
Circular communication practices exist across time and cultures because humans naturally gravitate to arrangements that support equality, visibility, and engagement:
- Ancient & historical gatherings: Greek and Roman councils, medieval guilds, and religious or spiritual assemblies often used circle-like arrangements to ensure each participant could contribute.
- Modern organizational and educational contexts: Governance models like sociocracy, restorative justice circles, and collaborative learning structures use roundtable arrangements to facilitate equal voice and shared decision-making.
- Peace-oriented and conflict-resolution practices: As Bill Ury documents in The Third Side, peace-oriented cultures worldwide use circles to prevent conflict, strengthen collective responsibility, and foster collaboration.
Talking Pieces: A Tool for Equal Voice
What can help with taking turns in a circle or roundtable is a talking piece. A talking piece is an object passed around so only the person holding it may speak. This practice fosters attentive listening, and slows the conversation down for deeper reflection.
Talking pieces are well-known in Indigenous circle practices in North America, where they play an important cultural and ceremonial role. Similar practices also appear in other traditions: Quaker meetings historically relied on turn-taking in a structured, respectful way, and some African councils or medieval European guilds used symbolic objects to indicate whose turn it was to speak.
Today, in professional and educational settings, a talking piece can serve as a practical tool to ensure equal voice, helping teams engage thoughtfully and collaboratively while honouring the concept’s diverse roots.
Kegan & Lahey in their book Immunity to Change and Edgar Schein in Humble Inquiry highlight that structured, intentional dialogue – where people are given space to speak and be heard – improves psychological safety, fosters idea generation, and strengthens group cohesion. Using tools like rounds or talking pieces helps to apply these principles in teams.
Circles have appeared in many cultures and communities because they reflect something deeply human: when we gather in a circle, we see one another more clearly and listen more wholeheartedly. While certain traditions hold specific circle practices, the act of sitting together in this way is universal.
In a professional setting, using a circle or roundtable is simply about creating a space where people can speak openly, listen with curiosity, and find coherence together – without invoking or claiming traditions that are not one’s own. It’s a way of bringing more order, more presence, and more possibility into how we meet.
Key Practice for Teams
For those who lead teams, and Human Resources leaders, circles or roundtables are useful to know about and to try out in different contexts. They offer a low-cost, high-impact approach to building team cohesion. A simple approach can include:
- Share the idea of a roundtable or circle with your team (could be this article).
- Decide on when you want to use a roundtable or circle. Do you want to build it into daily meeting life or try it out at a retreat or other more unique time.
- Confirm using a talking piece – choose one with meaning or ask your group for input.
- Choose the direction of the circle. Do not go backwards or “popcorn” style. Keep within the circle format.
- Share that the guideline will be that each person is invited to speak in turn when holding the talking piece. Passing is also okay.
- Encourage attentive listening and speaking from the heart.
- You can open and close with intentionality as well if wanted (a quote is a classic).
Even such a simple version like this can impact a group’s culture – shifting it from transactional communication to a deeper, more meaningful collaborative exploration. People notice when everyone’s input is genuinely valued and this is one efficient way to bring that to life.
For teams seeking additional guidance, there are many resources, including Maureen Fitzgerald’s book Corporate Circles as well as the Way of Council.
Ultimately, circles and roundtables work because they align with basic human instincts inherited across time and cultures: people naturally form circular arrangements to communicate, collaborate, and connect. Using roundtables in your team is about harnessing a proven structure to make teams more effective, resilient, and engaged.
As always, I welcome hearing your experiences.
