LS – Pros & Cons

What is meant by liberating structures?

Liberating structures are a group of 33 different structures which can be used for enhancing the way you hold a conversation with someone, and it can also facilitate, the way you conduct a meeting. It is an agile way to get project management tasks done.

Why should you use liberating structures?

Wondering what can liberating structures actually do? When using liberating structures, you will be able to engage everyone regardless of the fact how big the group or audience is. In this way, by involving everyone, you will produce better ideas and get the work done faster. People will not be hesitant to put forward their ideas. Therefore solutions would be found easily. As they are very easy to learn, they can be used in improving the relational coordination and trust among people. It can be used in meetings, discussions, brainstorming sessions, and building status reports. It can also be useful in making sure that everyone is doing equal amount of work and no one is being left behind without any tasks being assigned to them.

When not to use it?

As mentioned earlier, liberating structures can be used in meetings, open discussions, when you have to brainstorm to come up with the solution of a complex problem, so when you don’t require doing any of these tasks, then you should not use liberating structures.

What are the disadvantages of liberating structures?

There are not many disadvantages of liberating structures except the fact that it can be very time consuming and if you are not someone who has patience, then you may not do well during it. If you are a busy person, then liberating structures are not for you as they require several rounds to get the job done. Also, sometimes people don’t respect the privacy of other people and leak confidential stories so trusting other people with your story can be a bit risky.

— Slimane Zouggari