CONSENSUS EXERCISE
A classroom exercise toward consensus that can be highly challenging is the following. Seat everyone in circles, with up to 14 people in each circle. Heads are bowed and no communication other than the following may take place: one at time, going clockwise around the circle, each person says one word to express ______ (e.g. the highlight of this training, the best thing about our company, the prettiest place in the world, or you make up something). After going around the circle one time, there will undoubtedly be a variety of words. Now tell them to continue the circling, each person saying one word, until they have reached a consensus (i.e. everyone is saying the same word). If you have some strong people, that may take a dozen or more rounds. The folks who hold out the longest are often the visionaries of the group (sometimes instigators or rebels). It seems so simple but you may be surprised.
BLIND INSTRUCTIONS
Give each member of the group an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper, the facilitator needs one too. Have them close their eyes. The facilitator issues the instructions and follows them as well.
No questions are allowed. Instructions:
Fold the paper in half.
Rip off a corner
Fold the paper in half
Rip off a corner
Fold the paper in half
Rip off a corner
The group can now open their eyes and find that there are many different shapes of paper. The debrief covers the need for two way communication and that the different perceptions of the people caused the many different designs. If time permits the group can be put in pairs. Have the pairs sit back to back and repeat the exercise using two way communications and find that the patterns come out closer
SCRIBBLER (1)
Use as: Icebreaker or Game
Objectives: Finding commonalities
Team-building
Diversity
Activity:
(1) Divide the class or meeting into small groups (2-4 each).
(2) After dividing the group, designate a scribe for the group. This can be done by asking for each group to find out whose birthday is next, and then asking that person to select a scribe.
(3) Tell participants that this is a competition among groups, to see who can come up with the longest list. The topic of the list is: Things We All Have in
Common
(4) Tell participants that when you ring the bell or chimes (or clap your hands), they can begin. At that time they need to come up with a list of everything they can discover about one another that they have in common. Give them a couple of examples: Brown eyes; like to read mysteries. Tell them they’ll have five minutes, and to continue adding to the list until you ring the bell (or make the noise) again.
(5) Give them five minutes between chimes.
(6) Now find out who’s the winner. Ask first, who had five or more? Then, who had eight or more? And so on until you’ve established the winning group. Give a bag of candy to the winning group. (If you give each group a couple of open containers of candy, they’re likely to share with the others during the workshop.)
Time: About 15 minutes
Materials needed:
Flipchart paper (one for each small group)
Flipchart markers (one for each small group)
Chimes, bell, or other noisemaker (Your own hands clapping works just fine, too.)
Bag of candy
Useful when: A workshop or meeting is composed of people who either don’t know one another, or who don’t work closely together as part of the same
team, or who work in very different jobs.
WALKING BILLBOARDS (2)
A Get-Acquainted Activity
Objectives: To provide an active way for participants in the training to get acquainted and share interests with each other. To take the first step in creating a community of learners.
Supplies needed: Easel with pad of paper, colored marker pens, masking tape.
Procedure: Tell the group that they have an opportunity to design their own get acquainted session. Ask them to list the things that they would like to discover about the other participants in the training. List these on the pad of paper.
Examples:
1. Talents or hobbies
2. A person they admire
3. Best book recently read
4. All-time favorite movie
5. Ideal vacation
Ask for a quick vote on the three top preferences from the items listed. Using a rough tabulation, select the five or six items receiving the greatest support, and identify those for the group.
Provide every participant with a sheet of flip chart paper and markers. Ask them to place their name at the top, list the five or six categories down the left side, and answer each for themselves.
Now (and this will produce some laughter) use masking tape to attach the sheet to the person’s shoulders (they will look like walking billboards). Then invite them to walk around the room and discover what others wrote.
ENERGETIC ENERGIZER
One of the most energetic energizers I've seen recently was at a train the trainer session locally. The lady that was to conduct the session snuck in and sat at the back of the class. When she was introduced she stood up and greeted everybody by saying that those who purposely sat in the back of the room were now in the "front" of the room. (Good chuckle and got their attention).She then threw out wadded up "balls" of brightly colored paper and told the group if they caught one to throw it to someone else. They were to keep throwing the "balls" around until she said stop. If they were caught with one of the”balls" at that point they came to the "front" of the room. They then opened up the "balls" to find words written on them in big letters. Next they were given 3 minutes to arrange the words to form a sentence. The correct answer was "If you do what you always did you'll get what you always got." She then got into "changing" classroom situations to keep the learners involved.
PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE from Larry Dodge
Tell participants you want to do a quick psychological profile to
help them learn more about themselves. They will grade their own
papers at the end and no one else will see the results. It's strictly
confidential. NOTE: I will put the grading information further down
this letter in case you want to take this test yourself, it's kind of
fun. There will be four questions in all.
1. If you died and could come back as any animal you wanted,
what would that animal be? When you have decided what animal
you would like to be, write down 3 adjectives describing that animal.
2. What is your favorite color? Now write 3 adjectives describing
that color.
3. Close your eyes and try to imagine being in the situation I will
describe. You are surrounded by a brilliant whiteness. Everywhere
you turn, all you see is whiteness. Think about being in this situation
for a few seconds. Now open your eyes and write 3 adjectives that
describe your feelings when you thought about being in that situation.
Now we will grade the papers. Answers to follow
Question #1 The 3 adjectives you wrote are how you perceive yourself.
Question #2. The 3 adjectives are how other people perceive you.
Question #3. The 3 adjectives are how you perceive death. I had a
psychology teacher do this in her class many years ago and went on
to explain the validity of the test. It's not very valid but the
reasoning goes something like this.
Question #1 - We usually want to come back as an animal with
characteristics we admire. example: I said porpoise and wrote:
intelligent, graceful, free. (I have a high I.Q., have always been
very active in sports, and I'm an independent thinker. When we
admire certain characteristics we tend to want to emulate them.
Question #2 - We again usually like colors because they have
characteristics we identify with. I wrote red at the time but
can't remember why. I've have since change to purple. An example
would be a person who chooses sky blue because its peaceful, calm,
relaxing, or red because its exciting, dangerous, energetic.
Question #3. - Based on stories of people dying and coming back to
life and walking towards a bright light or being bathed in a bright
light.
The reason I like this icebreaker is that everyone writes good things
about themselves and gets them excited about taking it home and doing
it to their spouse. Feel free to leave out the river one or even the
death one if you like but I have never had any problems and get the
greatest laughter on the river question.
FAMILY FEUD from Barbara Batson
I've done this using the TV game show "Family Feud" as a format.
Using this with Commercial Bankers, I asked questions like "what
are the top five things customers like to hear from a teller?"
answers included "thank you", their own names, "how may I help
you today", etc. Also, did the "what do customers NOT want to
hear?" answers "you'll have to go see . . .", "that's against
our policy", "NO". etc. Ideas are unlimited and participants
really enjoyed it. Debrief as appropriate.
ALIAS MINGLER from Roy Johnson
The second method I have used in more informal, social functions
when there are a bunch of folks. Get out a bunch of labels and
start writing down the names of well known characters such as:
Mickey Mouse, Caesar, Humphrey Bogart, Julia Roberts, Roy
Orbison, Michael Jackson and on and on... As the group gathers
together, you give them the instructions that they need to figure
out the name of the character that is written on their label. To
do that, they are allowed to ask one question only of each person
they talk to. Then you simply walk around and place the labels
on their backs. This forces them to mingle and it is really a
great ice-breaker. When someone successfully figures out the
name, they get to move the label to the front - then you put
another label on their back -- no one gets off too easily. The
one with the most labels wins if you even care about winning --
most people just enjoy talking to each other by that time.
FORCED CHOICE source unknown
Each corner of the room is labeled: Strongly agree, Agree,
Disagree, and Strongly disagree. The facilitator lists statements
related to the content of the workshop on a flipchart - one per
page. These statements should be clear and strong assertions that
will likely provoke a range of opinion. One at a time expose the
group to these statements and ask participants to go to the
corner that represents their opinion. Once there they find others
who share that opinion and they are given five minutes to discuss
the statement and their views. The facilitator then asks for a
report from each group and relates their opinions to the course
content. The next statement is shown to the group and
participants again move to the corner of their choice and repeat
the process. I usually use 3 or 4 such statements ( they might
represent common misperceptions about the topic) and by the end
of the exercise participants have engaged with most of the other
group members in a fun way. In addition they are more aware of
some of the key concepts they will be addressing during the
session.
Chalkboard Sentences
Tell participants they will be competing to see which team is the first to complete
a group sentence. Next, divide participants into two teams. If the group contains
an uneven number, one person may compete twice. The leader sets up blackboards
or newsprint for each team. The teams then line up 10 feet from their
board. After giving the first person in each team’s line a piece of chalk or marker,
explain the rules of the game. The rules are: Each team member needs to add
one word to the sentence. Payers take turns; after they go to the board and write
one word, they run back to give the next player the marker, and then go to the
end of the line. (The sentence must contain the same number of words as there
are members on the team.) A player may not add a word between words that
have already been written. After, discuss the value of anticipatory thinking and
the importance of individual cooperating in a group task).
Free Activity - Recognition: This Can Change Your Relationship With Your Colleagues
Here is a positive activity to boost the way people relate to each other at work. There are several variations to this activity which has been used in many training programs, including Dale Carnegie’s. The Activity creates a great deal of goodwill and appreciation among people working together in one department or team.
Each person is to prepare several sheets of paper, and write at the top of each the name of one of the other members of the team, one sheet for each name. They should then write down under each name a list of the qualities or behaviors they most admired in that person in the past year, or in general. The statements should start with words like, “I appreciated it when you…” or “ I really admire your way of…” or “It was great when you…” or “ Thank you for your outstanding help with…” When all members have completed all the sheets about each other, collect the sheets for each member at a time and place them in an envelop to be given to the named person to read and keep. You can make variations as needed to fit your work situation.
The result of this activity is that each member will receive a large number of specific compliments, commendations, and expressions of appreciation for their qualities and actions. Countless experiences, and the popularity of 360 feedback tools, have indicated that people deeply appreciate and are affected by others’ perceptions and opinions of them. The good thing about this activity is that it deliberately limits the feedback to only the positive side of people. The impact on the team spirit and working relationships can be dramatic.
Early Bird Gets The Worm
Wrap a small gift that could be for any gender. Keep an eye on who was the first guest to arrive but do not say anything about it. Sit everyone in a circle. You begin by holding the gift and saying, "State your name and a pretend form of transportation of how you came to be here today/tonight. The way you came here must begin with the same letter that begins your name. For example: my name is Dianne, therefore I would state: 'My name is Dianne and I came here today on a Donkey.' Notice Donkey starts with a D as my name does. After making that statement you would then say, while passing the gift to the next person, 'and this is a wiggly, squiggly, worm.' Now that person will do the same thing you just did only using their own name and transportation. Go around until everyone has done this. When all have done this you state, 'Who was the first guest to arrive?' Once that is established, you hand the gift to that person and state, 'We all know, the early bird gets the worm!' " It is a cute game.
Trying to Get Home
Participants stand behind their chair. Every time a player can answer 'yes' to a statement he/she may move to the chair on their left. If they must answer 'no', they stay where they are. (This is fun because people sometimes must stand 3 or 4 in a line before some can move on.) Try statements like these: You have granddaughters. You have tomatoes in your garden. You are retired. You have a blue vehicle. You were born in another state. The first person back to their chair wins.
The Last Word - The participants should stand in a circle. One participant moves and stands randomly in front of another. He/she makes a statement (e.g., “It is such a lovely day”). The person spoken to will move to another person and make a statement starting with the last word in the statement he/she received (e.g., “Day one of the course was very tiring”). Each participant takes turns to ensure that everybody gets a chance to participate.
Ball Toss Brainstorming - Announce a topic (things associated with a topic, a holiday, the course content, etc.). Then, toss around a ball. When someone catches the ball, they shout out something related to the topic and then toss the ball to someone else. Continue the exercise until everyone has had a chance to speak.
Variations:
When they catch the ball, each person tells what they thought was the most important learning concept was. Continue the exercise until everyone has caught the ball at least once and explained an important concept of the material just covered.
Each person tells one step of a process or concept when the ball is tossed to them. The instructor or learner, in turn, writes it on a chalkboard or flipchart. For example, after covering "client assessment," the trainer would start the ball toss by having everyone give one step in the client assessment process.
Boom! - All participants should sit in a circle. They are instructed to count out loud around the circle. Each person whose number is a multiple of 3 (3-6-9-12, etc.) or a number that ends with 3 (13-23-33, etc.) must say BOOM! instead of the number. The next person continues the normal sequence of numbers.
Example: The first person starts with 1, the next one says 2, and the person who should say 3 says BOOM! instead, and the next person says 4.
Anyone who fails to say BOOM! or who makes a mistake with the number that follows BOOM! is disqualified.
The numbers must be said rapidly (5 seconds maximum); if a participant takes too long to say her/his number, s/he is disqualified.
The last two participants left are the winners.
Note: You can have the participants “clap” once instead of saying Boom.
Note: To make this energizer more interesting, when a specific number is reached (e.g., 30) have the participants count backwards towards zero. The game can be made more complex by using multiples of bigger numbers, or by combining multiples of three with multiples of five.
Words - Divide the participants into three or four small groups. Write the word INTERACTIVE on the flipchart. The groups have 5 minutes to create as many three-letter words as possible from the word INTERACTIVE.
For example, some of the words could be:
• It
• Rat
• Retain
After the their time is gone, the group with the most words wins. Note: Depending on the topic, other words can be used in this way, such as “demonstration,” “counseling,” etc.
The Post Office - The participants should sit in a circle, each having her/his own chair. The facilitator takes one chair away and the participant who is left standing stands in the center of the circle and begins the activity.
The participant in the center of the circle says something like:
“I bring a letter for all of my colleagues who have brown hair.”
All of the participants who have the characteristic stated (e.g., brown hair) and the person in the center of the circle change places. Whoever ends up without a chair to sit on, stands in the center of the circle and again states that s/he is bringing a letter, but for people with a different characteristic, such as:
“I bring a letter for all of my colleagues who are wearing black shoes.”
“I bring a letter for all of my colleagues who have never inserted a Copper T 380A IUD.”
The activity can continue as long as the group is interested and enthusiastic, but no longer than 10 minutes.
The Post Office - The participants should sit in a circle, each having her/his own chair. The facilitator takes one chair away and the participant who is left standing stands in the center of the circle and begins the activity.
The participant in the center of the circle says something like:
“I bring a letter for all of my colleagues who have brown hair.”
All of the participants who have the characteristic stated (e.g., brown hair) and the person in the center of the circle change places. Whoever ends up without a chair to sit on, stands in the center of the circle and again states that s/he is bringing a letter, but for people with a different characteristic, such as:
“I bring a letter for all of my colleagues who are wearing black shoes.”
“I bring a letter for all of my colleagues who have never inserted a Copper T 380A IUD.”
The activity can continue as long as the group is interested and enthusiastic, but no longer than 10 minutes.
The Magic Wand
You have just found a magic wand that allows you to change three work related activities. You can change anything you want. How would you change yourself, your job, your boss, coworkers, an important project, etc.? Have them discuss why it is important to make the change. Another variation is to have them discuss what they would change if they become the boss for a month. This activity helps them to learn about others' desires and frustrations.
POSITIVE BOMBARDMENT: One member is selected to be the recipient of positive feedback from the rest of the group. Once everyone has had a chance to give that member the “gift” of feedback, another person is chosen and the process is repeated. This can be done in writing with members writing a positive comment to each member and putting them all in an envelope with the person’s name on it, or verbally. This also can be adapted so the members first give some constructive criticism and then some positive feedback.
1. POSITIVE RECOGNITIONS
a. Explain the value of positive recognition, and then demonstrate the unique way that you will be showing this to each other the rest of the day. Perform, in rapid sequence, 2 hand-to-thigh slaps, 2 hand claps, 2 finger snaps, and then show both "thumbs-up" like the Fonz while saying, ever so cooly, "yeah."
Bigger and Better
Bigger and Better is a team building activity in which teams compete by trading ordinary objects. The winner is the team that ends up with the biggest and best items when time expires.
This active teambuilding exercise requires six people at minimum, and can support very large groups if the teams are divided evenly. Teams should be about three to six people in size. This game involves interacting with lots of strangers in a public place such as a school campus. Props required include small objects such as paper clips or pens (one for each team). Recommended age is 18 and up. This game can be played with adults and even in corporate settings. When playing with younger people, please be sure to provide proper supervision when necessary.
Setup for Bigger and Better
To prepare for Bigger and Better, get several paper clips or some small objects that are low in value. Be sure to have enough to provide one per team.
Playing Bigger and Better
Explain the rules to everyone: You will give each team a small object, and their job is to keep trading and upgrading their team’s object to obtain the largest and most valuable item possible. They may not offer anything other than the item they have, and they must stick together as a group. Set a time limit, such as one or two hours, and tell everyone that they must be back in time or else they will be disqualified. Announce that each team’s item will be judged in three categories: size, value, and creativity.
Divide the group into teams of three to six. Pass out the paper clip (or other small object) to the each group and send them off. When time expires, the judging process begins. Each team presents their item before the entire group. They explain why their item is biggest and best. At the end, choose winners for each of the three categories, or judge the items in any other way you wish. This activity involves good teamwork and creativity as each team coordinates their efforts and decides what strategies they will approach when playing. Camaraderie will be built, and surprises will come out of the activity. Who knows, a group might be able to turn a paper clip into a car! Well, maybe a toy car.
ICE CUBES: Divide the players into two equal teams. At a starting signal, each team picks up an ice cube and tries to melt it as quickly as possible. Players can rub it between their hands or against their clothes, but they may NOT put it in their mouths. While they are trying to melt the ice cube, it should be passed around the team frequently - no player should keep it for more than a few seconds at a time. Players should keep it off the ground too. The first team to melt its ice cube, wins. On a really hot day, you may want to play more than one round of this one!
[edit] Set Up
Draw a line in the center of the space to split the space into a center space (with enough room for the group to run around) and then draw a line on each end for a safety zones.
[edit] Directions
• Split the group into 2 teams and explain the directions and show the actions.
• Each team huddles and picks a character for the round choosing between giants, wizards or elfs. The team must agree on a character and everyone on the team must act out the same character for that round.
• Each character has an action:
o Giants put their hands up over their heads (to make them look taller),
o Wizards put their hands out straight in front of them wiggling their fingers (as if they are casting a spell)
o Elfs make pointy ears on their head with their pointer fingers and bend their knees (to make them look smaller).
• And each character beats one other character:
o Giants beat Elves
o Elves beat Wizards
o Wizards beat Giants.
o If both team picks the same character it is a draw.
• Once each team has decided what character they will be for that round, the teams come up to the center and line up face to face. * On the count of 3, everyone does the action their team character.
• The team whose characters win that round chase the other team, trying to tag as many members on the other team as possible before they reach the safety zone. e.g. if team one picks giants and team 2 picks elves, team one chases team 2 and tries to tag as many of the elves as they can before they reach the safety zone.
• Members from the team that are tagged become part of the winning team, so one group grows and the other group shrinks.
• You then repeat the process, giving the new teams a minute to decide what character they want to be, and then call them back to the middle to begin again.
• The game ends when one team has completely absorbed the other team, or when you run out of time.
Materials
None
[edit] Set Up
None
[edit] Directions
Stand in circle with elbows in, arms out to the side. Stand with left palm facing up and right palm facing down. Now connect the circle so that palms facing up are flat against the palms facing down of the person on both sides. Using the bottom hand, the object is to gently tap the top of the person’s hand resting on yours. Simultaneously, the object is to avoid being tapped on the hand you have facing palm down.
Objectives
Icebreakers/Warmups | Communication | Breaking Down Stereotypes
[edit] Group Size
Medium Large
[edit] Materials
Flip Chart and Markers
[edit] Set Up
[edit] Directions
• Split the group into 2 or more teams of ~5-10 people per team.
• Select a word that is commonly found in songs such as love, baby, rain, etc.
• Each team has 10 minutes to brainstorm as many songs as possible that contain the selected word.
• The team with the most songs, not duplicated by other teams, wins the challenge.
• Once time is up (5 or 10 min), teams come back to together as a group to compare lists.
Sharing and scoring:
• Every unique song is worth 1 point. Team 1 shares the first song on their list followed by Team 2.
• Then teams move on to the 2nd song on the list so that each team shares 1 song and then passes to the next team.
• In order to receive a point, a member of the team must SING the line of the song containing the buzz word, and each team member must sing at least one song in order for the team to continue receiving points.
• Duplicate songs are cancelled out and do not count toward the team total.
[edit] Materials
None
[edit] Set Up
None
[edit] Directions
In pairs, ask participants to sit holding hands, toe to toe. The object is for the pair to stand up simultaneously and connected with toes touching. Once the pair has mastered the activity, ask the group to try with 4 people and then six, etc. still touching toes.
[edit] Variations
[edit] Debrief Questions
[edit] Facilitator Notes about Trust Activities
• Safety Check: All Trust Activities require the facilitator to pay extra close attention to physical and emotional safety. Introduce safety before starting any activities in this series.
• Challenge by Choice is especially important for Trust Activities: Each participant has the right to decide his or her own level of participation. It is recommendd that you re-introduce Challenge by Choice before starting any Trust Activities.
Retrieved from "http://www.teampedia.net/wiki/index.php?title=Toe_to_Toe"
Objectives
Communication | Collaboration | Team Strategy
• Illustrate the importance of collaboration among groups working to achieve similar goals.
• Demonstrate how competition can be potentially destructive.
[edit] Group Size
Medium
[edit] Materials
1 package of candy (with enough for each participant to have some)
1 pre-built tower made from:
• 15 Paper Cups
• 25 Popsicle Sticks
• 5 sheets of Construction Paper
• enough Masking Tape to hold it together
3 packets containing the following items:
Packet #1
• 1 roll of Masking Tape
• 10 Paper Cups
• 25 Popsicle Sticks
• 4 sheets of construction paper
Packet #2
• 12” strip of Masking Tape
• 25 Paper Cups
• 15 Popsicle Sticks
• 8 sheets of construction paper
Packet #3
• 6” strip of Masking Tape
• 10 Paper Cups
• 35 Popsicle Sticks
• 3 sheets of construction paper
[edit] Set Up
The setup requires pre-builing a tower and dividing the materials into each packet. There is no model for the pre-built tower - it can look like anything you want - the more complicated it is the harder it will be for the groups to replicate.
[edit] Directions
Big Picture: Participants will work in three groups build towers that look like a pre-built tower. Each group will be missing some of the supplies necessary to build their tower, but between the groups they will have enough to build 3 towers identical to the pre-built tower if they decide to collaborate and share supplies. The facilitators should make sure this is not immediately obvious, and once it becomes more obvious, the facilitators should neither discourage or encourage collaboration. The groups will be purposely set against each other through competition (and therefore they will be less likely to collaborate). Use appropriate additional debrief questions based on the groups choice to collaborate or not to collaborate.
Procedure: 15 min Begin by randomly dividing participants into three groups and organizing the groups in three corners of the room. In the fourth corner you should have the pre-built tower (hidden from view). Introduce the activity by saying: “Your goal is to build a tower that matches the pre built tower located in the corner.” Ask for one volunteer from each group to be their group’s representative, and explain that only the representative will be allowed to see the pre-built tower. Announce that a prize will be awarded for the group that builds the tower that most closely replicates the pre-built tower. While one facilitator is showing the representatives the pre-built model, another facilitator should be distributing the supply packets to the group. The representatives should only have 30 seconds to see the model and no one but the representative should be allowed to see the model. Answer any questions at this point, and then announce that the representatives will return to the groups, and once they return, the facilitators will not answer any questions.
[The facilitators should not answer any questions so that the groups are forced to figure out how to build their tower on their own. If the groups figure out they need to collaborate, the facilitators should neither encourage or discourage them (this will come up in the debrief).]
Send the representatives back to their groups and announce that each group has 10 minutes to build the tower. 5 minutes into the building, ask for the representatives to come to the center of the room and report to the other representatives one thing they are doing well and one challenge they are having. Then let them see the model again for 30 seconds.
[Again, the facilitators should not answer any questions, encourage or discourage collaboration! ]
After 10 minutes of building, have a representative from each group present their tower to the other groups.
Report Back: 10 min Give some candy to everyone who participated, and announce that everyone is a winner.
Debrief: 15 min
The facilitators should ask the following questions of the entire group.
Raise your hand if your group built a tower.
• Did you achieve the tower in the picture? Why or why not?
• What challenges did you encounter and how did you overcome them?
• How did competition add from or detract from what you were trying to achieve?
• What will you take away from this activity?
• How does building the tower in this activity compare to your daily work?
• How does this activity relate to being part of the larger company or organization, or group?
• How can we encourage collaboration and healthy competition among team members?
Additional Debrief (add the following questions if the groups did not collaborate):
• Why did you not to collaborate?
• Was it a conscious choice or did it not occur to you?
• What would have been possible if you had decided to share resources?
(add the following questions if the groups collaborated):
• How did you come to the decision to collaborate?
• What became possible once you made the decision to share resources?
[edit] Materials
10 – 20 Various Objects (Dog Toys, Cones, Balls, etc.), 1 Blindfold, 1 Rope Activity Description
[edit] Set Up
Select one volunteer to be blindfolded (this person will be "the collector") and one volunteer to give vocal instructions. The remaining members of the group are not allowed to speak. Set up the room and position participants according to the diagram below.
[edit] Directions
This activity works on alternative methods of communication. Inform the group that the blindfolded member can speak, but will need to be told what to do in order to accomplish a given task. The person in the middle can only look at the large group but must tell the blindfolded member what to do. The large group will know the task and must communicate that to the middle person without speaking and without crossing the barrier represented by the rope. Lastly, inform the large group of the task (the more specific the task, the more challenging). Tasks may include: collect as many objects as possible or collect specific objects (by color, shape, type, etc.)
[edit] Variations
[edit] Debrief Questions
[edit] Diagram
Pair & ribbon game
Management Game – lego Factory
From India, Mumbai
49A classroom exercise toward consensus that can be highly challenging is the following. Seat everyone in circles, with up to 14 people in each circle. Heads are bowed and no communication other than the following may take place: one at time, going clockwise around the circle, each person says one word to express ______ (e.g. the highlight of this training, the best thing about our company, the prettiest place in the world, or you make up something). After going around the circle one time, there will undoubtedly be a variety of words. Now tell them to continue the circling, each person saying one word, until they have reached a consensus (i.e. everyone is saying the same word). If you have some strong people, that may take a dozen or more rounds. The folks who hold out the longest are often the visionaries of the group (sometimes instigators or rebels). It seems so simple but you may be surprised.
BLIND INSTRUCTIONS
Give each member of the group an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper, the facilitator needs one too. Have them close their eyes. The facilitator issues the instructions and follows them as well.
No questions are allowed. Instructions:
Fold the paper in half.
Rip off a corner
Fold the paper in half
Rip off a corner
Fold the paper in half
Rip off a corner
The group can now open their eyes and find that there are many different shapes of paper. The debrief covers the need for two way communication and that the different perceptions of the people caused the many different designs. If time permits the group can be put in pairs. Have the pairs sit back to back and repeat the exercise using two way communications and find that the patterns come out closer
SCRIBBLER (1)
Use as: Icebreaker or Game
Objectives: Finding commonalities
Team-building
Diversity
Activity:
(1) Divide the class or meeting into small groups (2-4 each).
(2) After dividing the group, designate a scribe for the group. This can be done by asking for each group to find out whose birthday is next, and then asking that person to select a scribe.
(3) Tell participants that this is a competition among groups, to see who can come up with the longest list. The topic of the list is: Things We All Have in
Common
(4) Tell participants that when you ring the bell or chimes (or clap your hands), they can begin. At that time they need to come up with a list of everything they can discover about one another that they have in common. Give them a couple of examples: Brown eyes; like to read mysteries. Tell them they’ll have five minutes, and to continue adding to the list until you ring the bell (or make the noise) again.
(5) Give them five minutes between chimes.
(6) Now find out who’s the winner. Ask first, who had five or more? Then, who had eight or more? And so on until you’ve established the winning group. Give a bag of candy to the winning group. (If you give each group a couple of open containers of candy, they’re likely to share with the others during the workshop.)
Time: About 15 minutes
Materials needed:
Flipchart paper (one for each small group)
Flipchart markers (one for each small group)
Chimes, bell, or other noisemaker (Your own hands clapping works just fine, too.)
Bag of candy
Useful when: A workshop or meeting is composed of people who either don’t know one another, or who don’t work closely together as part of the same
team, or who work in very different jobs.
WALKING BILLBOARDS (2)
A Get-Acquainted Activity
Objectives: To provide an active way for participants in the training to get acquainted and share interests with each other. To take the first step in creating a community of learners.
Supplies needed: Easel with pad of paper, colored marker pens, masking tape.
Procedure: Tell the group that they have an opportunity to design their own get acquainted session. Ask them to list the things that they would like to discover about the other participants in the training. List these on the pad of paper.
Examples:
1. Talents or hobbies
2. A person they admire
3. Best book recently read
4. All-time favorite movie
5. Ideal vacation
Ask for a quick vote on the three top preferences from the items listed. Using a rough tabulation, select the five or six items receiving the greatest support, and identify those for the group.
Provide every participant with a sheet of flip chart paper and markers. Ask them to place their name at the top, list the five or six categories down the left side, and answer each for themselves.
Now (and this will produce some laughter) use masking tape to attach the sheet to the person’s shoulders (they will look like walking billboards). Then invite them to walk around the room and discover what others wrote.
ENERGETIC ENERGIZER
One of the most energetic energizers I've seen recently was at a train the trainer session locally. The lady that was to conduct the session snuck in and sat at the back of the class. When she was introduced she stood up and greeted everybody by saying that those who purposely sat in the back of the room were now in the "front" of the room. (Good chuckle and got their attention).She then threw out wadded up "balls" of brightly colored paper and told the group if they caught one to throw it to someone else. They were to keep throwing the "balls" around until she said stop. If they were caught with one of the”balls" at that point they came to the "front" of the room. They then opened up the "balls" to find words written on them in big letters. Next they were given 3 minutes to arrange the words to form a sentence. The correct answer was "If you do what you always did you'll get what you always got." She then got into "changing" classroom situations to keep the learners involved.
PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE from Larry Dodge
Tell participants you want to do a quick psychological profile to
help them learn more about themselves. They will grade their own
papers at the end and no one else will see the results. It's strictly
confidential. NOTE: I will put the grading information further down
this letter in case you want to take this test yourself, it's kind of
fun. There will be four questions in all.
1. If you died and could come back as any animal you wanted,
what would that animal be? When you have decided what animal
you would like to be, write down 3 adjectives describing that animal.
2. What is your favorite color? Now write 3 adjectives describing
that color.
3. Close your eyes and try to imagine being in the situation I will
describe. You are surrounded by a brilliant whiteness. Everywhere
you turn, all you see is whiteness. Think about being in this situation
for a few seconds. Now open your eyes and write 3 adjectives that
describe your feelings when you thought about being in that situation.
Now we will grade the papers. Answers to follow
Question #1 The 3 adjectives you wrote are how you perceive yourself.
Question #2. The 3 adjectives are how other people perceive you.
Question #3. The 3 adjectives are how you perceive death. I had a
psychology teacher do this in her class many years ago and went on
to explain the validity of the test. It's not very valid but the
reasoning goes something like this.
Question #1 - We usually want to come back as an animal with
characteristics we admire. example: I said porpoise and wrote:
intelligent, graceful, free. (I have a high I.Q., have always been
very active in sports, and I'm an independent thinker. When we
admire certain characteristics we tend to want to emulate them.
Question #2 - We again usually like colors because they have
characteristics we identify with. I wrote red at the time but
can't remember why. I've have since change to purple. An example
would be a person who chooses sky blue because its peaceful, calm,
relaxing, or red because its exciting, dangerous, energetic.
Question #3. - Based on stories of people dying and coming back to
life and walking towards a bright light or being bathed in a bright
light.
The reason I like this icebreaker is that everyone writes good things
about themselves and gets them excited about taking it home and doing
it to their spouse. Feel free to leave out the river one or even the
death one if you like but I have never had any problems and get the
greatest laughter on the river question.
FAMILY FEUD from Barbara Batson
I've done this using the TV game show "Family Feud" as a format.
Using this with Commercial Bankers, I asked questions like "what
are the top five things customers like to hear from a teller?"
answers included "thank you", their own names, "how may I help
you today", etc. Also, did the "what do customers NOT want to
hear?" answers "you'll have to go see . . .", "that's against
our policy", "NO". etc. Ideas are unlimited and participants
really enjoyed it. Debrief as appropriate.
ALIAS MINGLER from Roy Johnson
The second method I have used in more informal, social functions
when there are a bunch of folks. Get out a bunch of labels and
start writing down the names of well known characters such as:
Mickey Mouse, Caesar, Humphrey Bogart, Julia Roberts, Roy
Orbison, Michael Jackson and on and on... As the group gathers
together, you give them the instructions that they need to figure
out the name of the character that is written on their label. To
do that, they are allowed to ask one question only of each person
they talk to. Then you simply walk around and place the labels
on their backs. This forces them to mingle and it is really a
great ice-breaker. When someone successfully figures out the
name, they get to move the label to the front - then you put
another label on their back -- no one gets off too easily. The
one with the most labels wins if you even care about winning --
most people just enjoy talking to each other by that time.
FORCED CHOICE source unknown
Each corner of the room is labeled: Strongly agree, Agree,
Disagree, and Strongly disagree. The facilitator lists statements
related to the content of the workshop on a flipchart - one per
page. These statements should be clear and strong assertions that
will likely provoke a range of opinion. One at a time expose the
group to these statements and ask participants to go to the
corner that represents their opinion. Once there they find others
who share that opinion and they are given five minutes to discuss
the statement and their views. The facilitator then asks for a
report from each group and relates their opinions to the course
content. The next statement is shown to the group and
participants again move to the corner of their choice and repeat
the process. I usually use 3 or 4 such statements ( they might
represent common misperceptions about the topic) and by the end
of the exercise participants have engaged with most of the other
group members in a fun way. In addition they are more aware of
some of the key concepts they will be addressing during the
session.
Chalkboard Sentences
Tell participants they will be competing to see which team is the first to complete
a group sentence. Next, divide participants into two teams. If the group contains
an uneven number, one person may compete twice. The leader sets up blackboards
or newsprint for each team. The teams then line up 10 feet from their
board. After giving the first person in each team’s line a piece of chalk or marker,
explain the rules of the game. The rules are: Each team member needs to add
one word to the sentence. Payers take turns; after they go to the board and write
one word, they run back to give the next player the marker, and then go to the
end of the line. (The sentence must contain the same number of words as there
are members on the team.) A player may not add a word between words that
have already been written. After, discuss the value of anticipatory thinking and
the importance of individual cooperating in a group task).
Free Activity - Recognition: This Can Change Your Relationship With Your Colleagues
Here is a positive activity to boost the way people relate to each other at work. There are several variations to this activity which has been used in many training programs, including Dale Carnegie’s. The Activity creates a great deal of goodwill and appreciation among people working together in one department or team.
Each person is to prepare several sheets of paper, and write at the top of each the name of one of the other members of the team, one sheet for each name. They should then write down under each name a list of the qualities or behaviors they most admired in that person in the past year, or in general. The statements should start with words like, “I appreciated it when you…” or “ I really admire your way of…” or “It was great when you…” or “ Thank you for your outstanding help with…” When all members have completed all the sheets about each other, collect the sheets for each member at a time and place them in an envelop to be given to the named person to read and keep. You can make variations as needed to fit your work situation.
The result of this activity is that each member will receive a large number of specific compliments, commendations, and expressions of appreciation for their qualities and actions. Countless experiences, and the popularity of 360 feedback tools, have indicated that people deeply appreciate and are affected by others’ perceptions and opinions of them. The good thing about this activity is that it deliberately limits the feedback to only the positive side of people. The impact on the team spirit and working relationships can be dramatic.
Early Bird Gets The Worm
Wrap a small gift that could be for any gender. Keep an eye on who was the first guest to arrive but do not say anything about it. Sit everyone in a circle. You begin by holding the gift and saying, "State your name and a pretend form of transportation of how you came to be here today/tonight. The way you came here must begin with the same letter that begins your name. For example: my name is Dianne, therefore I would state: 'My name is Dianne and I came here today on a Donkey.' Notice Donkey starts with a D as my name does. After making that statement you would then say, while passing the gift to the next person, 'and this is a wiggly, squiggly, worm.' Now that person will do the same thing you just did only using their own name and transportation. Go around until everyone has done this. When all have done this you state, 'Who was the first guest to arrive?' Once that is established, you hand the gift to that person and state, 'We all know, the early bird gets the worm!' " It is a cute game.
Trying to Get Home
Participants stand behind their chair. Every time a player can answer 'yes' to a statement he/she may move to the chair on their left. If they must answer 'no', they stay where they are. (This is fun because people sometimes must stand 3 or 4 in a line before some can move on.) Try statements like these: You have granddaughters. You have tomatoes in your garden. You are retired. You have a blue vehicle. You were born in another state. The first person back to their chair wins.
The Last Word - The participants should stand in a circle. One participant moves and stands randomly in front of another. He/she makes a statement (e.g., “It is such a lovely day”). The person spoken to will move to another person and make a statement starting with the last word in the statement he/she received (e.g., “Day one of the course was very tiring”). Each participant takes turns to ensure that everybody gets a chance to participate.
Ball Toss Brainstorming - Announce a topic (things associated with a topic, a holiday, the course content, etc.). Then, toss around a ball. When someone catches the ball, they shout out something related to the topic and then toss the ball to someone else. Continue the exercise until everyone has had a chance to speak.
Variations:
When they catch the ball, each person tells what they thought was the most important learning concept was. Continue the exercise until everyone has caught the ball at least once and explained an important concept of the material just covered.
Each person tells one step of a process or concept when the ball is tossed to them. The instructor or learner, in turn, writes it on a chalkboard or flipchart. For example, after covering "client assessment," the trainer would start the ball toss by having everyone give one step in the client assessment process.
Boom! - All participants should sit in a circle. They are instructed to count out loud around the circle. Each person whose number is a multiple of 3 (3-6-9-12, etc.) or a number that ends with 3 (13-23-33, etc.) must say BOOM! instead of the number. The next person continues the normal sequence of numbers.
Example: The first person starts with 1, the next one says 2, and the person who should say 3 says BOOM! instead, and the next person says 4.
Anyone who fails to say BOOM! or who makes a mistake with the number that follows BOOM! is disqualified.
The numbers must be said rapidly (5 seconds maximum); if a participant takes too long to say her/his number, s/he is disqualified.
The last two participants left are the winners.
Note: You can have the participants “clap” once instead of saying Boom.
Note: To make this energizer more interesting, when a specific number is reached (e.g., 30) have the participants count backwards towards zero. The game can be made more complex by using multiples of bigger numbers, or by combining multiples of three with multiples of five.
Words - Divide the participants into three or four small groups. Write the word INTERACTIVE on the flipchart. The groups have 5 minutes to create as many three-letter words as possible from the word INTERACTIVE.
For example, some of the words could be:
• It
• Rat
• Retain
After the their time is gone, the group with the most words wins. Note: Depending on the topic, other words can be used in this way, such as “demonstration,” “counseling,” etc.
The Post Office - The participants should sit in a circle, each having her/his own chair. The facilitator takes one chair away and the participant who is left standing stands in the center of the circle and begins the activity.
The participant in the center of the circle says something like:
“I bring a letter for all of my colleagues who have brown hair.”
All of the participants who have the characteristic stated (e.g., brown hair) and the person in the center of the circle change places. Whoever ends up without a chair to sit on, stands in the center of the circle and again states that s/he is bringing a letter, but for people with a different characteristic, such as:
“I bring a letter for all of my colleagues who are wearing black shoes.”
“I bring a letter for all of my colleagues who have never inserted a Copper T 380A IUD.”
The activity can continue as long as the group is interested and enthusiastic, but no longer than 10 minutes.
The Post Office - The participants should sit in a circle, each having her/his own chair. The facilitator takes one chair away and the participant who is left standing stands in the center of the circle and begins the activity.
The participant in the center of the circle says something like:
“I bring a letter for all of my colleagues who have brown hair.”
All of the participants who have the characteristic stated (e.g., brown hair) and the person in the center of the circle change places. Whoever ends up without a chair to sit on, stands in the center of the circle and again states that s/he is bringing a letter, but for people with a different characteristic, such as:
“I bring a letter for all of my colleagues who are wearing black shoes.”
“I bring a letter for all of my colleagues who have never inserted a Copper T 380A IUD.”
The activity can continue as long as the group is interested and enthusiastic, but no longer than 10 minutes.
The Magic Wand
You have just found a magic wand that allows you to change three work related activities. You can change anything you want. How would you change yourself, your job, your boss, coworkers, an important project, etc.? Have them discuss why it is important to make the change. Another variation is to have them discuss what they would change if they become the boss for a month. This activity helps them to learn about others' desires and frustrations.
POSITIVE BOMBARDMENT: One member is selected to be the recipient of positive feedback from the rest of the group. Once everyone has had a chance to give that member the “gift” of feedback, another person is chosen and the process is repeated. This can be done in writing with members writing a positive comment to each member and putting them all in an envelope with the person’s name on it, or verbally. This also can be adapted so the members first give some constructive criticism and then some positive feedback.
1. POSITIVE RECOGNITIONS
a. Explain the value of positive recognition, and then demonstrate the unique way that you will be showing this to each other the rest of the day. Perform, in rapid sequence, 2 hand-to-thigh slaps, 2 hand claps, 2 finger snaps, and then show both "thumbs-up" like the Fonz while saying, ever so cooly, "yeah."
Bigger and Better
Bigger and Better is a team building activity in which teams compete by trading ordinary objects. The winner is the team that ends up with the biggest and best items when time expires.
This active teambuilding exercise requires six people at minimum, and can support very large groups if the teams are divided evenly. Teams should be about three to six people in size. This game involves interacting with lots of strangers in a public place such as a school campus. Props required include small objects such as paper clips or pens (one for each team). Recommended age is 18 and up. This game can be played with adults and even in corporate settings. When playing with younger people, please be sure to provide proper supervision when necessary.
Setup for Bigger and Better
To prepare for Bigger and Better, get several paper clips or some small objects that are low in value. Be sure to have enough to provide one per team.
Playing Bigger and Better
Explain the rules to everyone: You will give each team a small object, and their job is to keep trading and upgrading their team’s object to obtain the largest and most valuable item possible. They may not offer anything other than the item they have, and they must stick together as a group. Set a time limit, such as one or two hours, and tell everyone that they must be back in time or else they will be disqualified. Announce that each team’s item will be judged in three categories: size, value, and creativity.
Divide the group into teams of three to six. Pass out the paper clip (or other small object) to the each group and send them off. When time expires, the judging process begins. Each team presents their item before the entire group. They explain why their item is biggest and best. At the end, choose winners for each of the three categories, or judge the items in any other way you wish. This activity involves good teamwork and creativity as each team coordinates their efforts and decides what strategies they will approach when playing. Camaraderie will be built, and surprises will come out of the activity. Who knows, a group might be able to turn a paper clip into a car! Well, maybe a toy car.
ICE CUBES: Divide the players into two equal teams. At a starting signal, each team picks up an ice cube and tries to melt it as quickly as possible. Players can rub it between their hands or against their clothes, but they may NOT put it in their mouths. While they are trying to melt the ice cube, it should be passed around the team frequently - no player should keep it for more than a few seconds at a time. Players should keep it off the ground too. The first team to melt its ice cube, wins. On a really hot day, you may want to play more than one round of this one!
[edit] Set Up
Draw a line in the center of the space to split the space into a center space (with enough room for the group to run around) and then draw a line on each end for a safety zones.
[edit] Directions
• Split the group into 2 teams and explain the directions and show the actions.
• Each team huddles and picks a character for the round choosing between giants, wizards or elfs. The team must agree on a character and everyone on the team must act out the same character for that round.
• Each character has an action:
o Giants put their hands up over their heads (to make them look taller),
o Wizards put their hands out straight in front of them wiggling their fingers (as if they are casting a spell)
o Elfs make pointy ears on their head with their pointer fingers and bend their knees (to make them look smaller).
• And each character beats one other character:
o Giants beat Elves
o Elves beat Wizards
o Wizards beat Giants.
o If both team picks the same character it is a draw.
• Once each team has decided what character they will be for that round, the teams come up to the center and line up face to face. * On the count of 3, everyone does the action their team character.
• The team whose characters win that round chase the other team, trying to tag as many members on the other team as possible before they reach the safety zone. e.g. if team one picks giants and team 2 picks elves, team one chases team 2 and tries to tag as many of the elves as they can before they reach the safety zone.
• Members from the team that are tagged become part of the winning team, so one group grows and the other group shrinks.
• You then repeat the process, giving the new teams a minute to decide what character they want to be, and then call them back to the middle to begin again.
• The game ends when one team has completely absorbed the other team, or when you run out of time.
Materials
None
[edit] Set Up
None
[edit] Directions
Stand in circle with elbows in, arms out to the side. Stand with left palm facing up and right palm facing down. Now connect the circle so that palms facing up are flat against the palms facing down of the person on both sides. Using the bottom hand, the object is to gently tap the top of the person’s hand resting on yours. Simultaneously, the object is to avoid being tapped on the hand you have facing palm down.
Objectives
Icebreakers/Warmups | Communication | Breaking Down Stereotypes
[edit] Group Size
Medium Large
[edit] Materials
Flip Chart and Markers
[edit] Set Up
[edit] Directions
• Split the group into 2 or more teams of ~5-10 people per team.
• Select a word that is commonly found in songs such as love, baby, rain, etc.
• Each team has 10 minutes to brainstorm as many songs as possible that contain the selected word.
• The team with the most songs, not duplicated by other teams, wins the challenge.
• Once time is up (5 or 10 min), teams come back to together as a group to compare lists.
Sharing and scoring:
• Every unique song is worth 1 point. Team 1 shares the first song on their list followed by Team 2.
• Then teams move on to the 2nd song on the list so that each team shares 1 song and then passes to the next team.
• In order to receive a point, a member of the team must SING the line of the song containing the buzz word, and each team member must sing at least one song in order for the team to continue receiving points.
• Duplicate songs are cancelled out and do not count toward the team total.
[edit] Materials
None
[edit] Set Up
None
[edit] Directions
In pairs, ask participants to sit holding hands, toe to toe. The object is for the pair to stand up simultaneously and connected with toes touching. Once the pair has mastered the activity, ask the group to try with 4 people and then six, etc. still touching toes.
[edit] Variations
[edit] Debrief Questions
[edit] Facilitator Notes about Trust Activities
• Safety Check: All Trust Activities require the facilitator to pay extra close attention to physical and emotional safety. Introduce safety before starting any activities in this series.
• Challenge by Choice is especially important for Trust Activities: Each participant has the right to decide his or her own level of participation. It is recommendd that you re-introduce Challenge by Choice before starting any Trust Activities.
Retrieved from "http://www.teampedia.net/wiki/index.php?title=Toe_to_Toe"
Objectives
Communication | Collaboration | Team Strategy
• Illustrate the importance of collaboration among groups working to achieve similar goals.
• Demonstrate how competition can be potentially destructive.
[edit] Group Size
Medium
[edit] Materials
1 package of candy (with enough for each participant to have some)
1 pre-built tower made from:
• 15 Paper Cups
• 25 Popsicle Sticks
• 5 sheets of Construction Paper
• enough Masking Tape to hold it together
3 packets containing the following items:
Packet #1
• 1 roll of Masking Tape
• 10 Paper Cups
• 25 Popsicle Sticks
• 4 sheets of construction paper
Packet #2
• 12” strip of Masking Tape
• 25 Paper Cups
• 15 Popsicle Sticks
• 8 sheets of construction paper
Packet #3
• 6” strip of Masking Tape
• 10 Paper Cups
• 35 Popsicle Sticks
• 3 sheets of construction paper
[edit] Set Up
The setup requires pre-builing a tower and dividing the materials into each packet. There is no model for the pre-built tower - it can look like anything you want - the more complicated it is the harder it will be for the groups to replicate.
[edit] Directions
Big Picture: Participants will work in three groups build towers that look like a pre-built tower. Each group will be missing some of the supplies necessary to build their tower, but between the groups they will have enough to build 3 towers identical to the pre-built tower if they decide to collaborate and share supplies. The facilitators should make sure this is not immediately obvious, and once it becomes more obvious, the facilitators should neither discourage or encourage collaboration. The groups will be purposely set against each other through competition (and therefore they will be less likely to collaborate). Use appropriate additional debrief questions based on the groups choice to collaborate or not to collaborate.
Procedure: 15 min Begin by randomly dividing participants into three groups and organizing the groups in three corners of the room. In the fourth corner you should have the pre-built tower (hidden from view). Introduce the activity by saying: “Your goal is to build a tower that matches the pre built tower located in the corner.” Ask for one volunteer from each group to be their group’s representative, and explain that only the representative will be allowed to see the pre-built tower. Announce that a prize will be awarded for the group that builds the tower that most closely replicates the pre-built tower. While one facilitator is showing the representatives the pre-built model, another facilitator should be distributing the supply packets to the group. The representatives should only have 30 seconds to see the model and no one but the representative should be allowed to see the model. Answer any questions at this point, and then announce that the representatives will return to the groups, and once they return, the facilitators will not answer any questions.
[The facilitators should not answer any questions so that the groups are forced to figure out how to build their tower on their own. If the groups figure out they need to collaborate, the facilitators should neither encourage or discourage them (this will come up in the debrief).]
Send the representatives back to their groups and announce that each group has 10 minutes to build the tower. 5 minutes into the building, ask for the representatives to come to the center of the room and report to the other representatives one thing they are doing well and one challenge they are having. Then let them see the model again for 30 seconds.
[Again, the facilitators should not answer any questions, encourage or discourage collaboration! ]
After 10 minutes of building, have a representative from each group present their tower to the other groups.
Report Back: 10 min Give some candy to everyone who participated, and announce that everyone is a winner.
Debrief: 15 min
The facilitators should ask the following questions of the entire group.
Raise your hand if your group built a tower.
• Did you achieve the tower in the picture? Why or why not?
• What challenges did you encounter and how did you overcome them?
• How did competition add from or detract from what you were trying to achieve?
• What will you take away from this activity?
• How does building the tower in this activity compare to your daily work?
• How does this activity relate to being part of the larger company or organization, or group?
• How can we encourage collaboration and healthy competition among team members?
Additional Debrief (add the following questions if the groups did not collaborate):
• Why did you not to collaborate?
• Was it a conscious choice or did it not occur to you?
• What would have been possible if you had decided to share resources?
(add the following questions if the groups collaborated):
• How did you come to the decision to collaborate?
• What became possible once you made the decision to share resources?
[edit] Materials
10 – 20 Various Objects (Dog Toys, Cones, Balls, etc.), 1 Blindfold, 1 Rope Activity Description
[edit] Set Up
Select one volunteer to be blindfolded (this person will be "the collector") and one volunteer to give vocal instructions. The remaining members of the group are not allowed to speak. Set up the room and position participants according to the diagram below.
[edit] Directions
This activity works on alternative methods of communication. Inform the group that the blindfolded member can speak, but will need to be told what to do in order to accomplish a given task. The person in the middle can only look at the large group but must tell the blindfolded member what to do. The large group will know the task and must communicate that to the middle person without speaking and without crossing the barrier represented by the rope. Lastly, inform the large group of the task (the more specific the task, the more challenging). Tasks may include: collect as many objects as possible or collect specific objects (by color, shape, type, etc.)
[edit] Variations
[edit] Debrief Questions
[edit] Diagram
Pair & ribbon game
Management Game – lego Factory
From India, Mumbai
Hi pranati -
I see that some of these came from Teampedia (http://www.teampedia.net) but where did the the others come from?
I am always interested in learning more energizers, icebreakers, and team building games.
Thanks, -Seth
I see that some of these came from Teampedia (http://www.teampedia.net) but where did the the others come from?
I am always interested in learning more energizers, icebreakers, and team building games.
Thanks, -Seth
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Master List of Games and Stories(1).xls
List of Holidays Karnatka.pdf