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The ColourBlind Activity

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Here’s a great team challenge for illustrating the need for effective leadership, good planning, and a little patience.

ColourBlind

  • Have the group sit down and put on blindfolds.
  • Explain the objective and rules of the activity – answer any questions.
  • pass out items – I use 5 sets of 5 wooden toys, with 3 or 4 of them missing.ColourBlind - a Teamwork Exercise
  • Ask the group to pass each toy around the circle until every toy is handed out, and everyone has at least one toy.
  • Remind the team that their goal is to identify each set of toys, how many toys are in each set, and which toys are missing from the sets.
  • Chaos!
  • Let the team go on without making a plan for a few minutes – experience the frustration and the confusion of not having a leader or a plan.
  • If the team does not redirect their efforts towards selecting a leader and a plan, then give them a little prompt.
  • Watch as things begin to fall into place, and the team begins to work together.
  • Debrief – “What happened?” “Describe the process” “How is this like life?” etc.

For many groups, this activity erupts into a lengthy discussion about the challenges of working together, the need for strong leadership, and more.

Very powerful tool!

Here’s a picture from a recent ropes course program

Build Trust in 20 Minutes or Less

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As a teambuilding facilitator, I am constantly asking my clients, “what are your goals and expectations for your teambuilding experience.”  Almost without fail, the answer is “increased trust between the members of our team.”

Building a foundation of trust has lasting benefit, long beyond the teambuilding experience.  Trust leads to cohesion, cohesion leads to an environment where team members are willing to take a chance with their ideas and suggestions.  Those fresh ideas often lead to innovation, and an environment that supports innovation is more likely to breed success.  It all begins with trust.

Here’s an activity that doesn’t require much in the way of expert facilitation.  I run it with nearly every group whose main focus is building trust.  The activity  is almost always received positively, and often leads to a rapid gain in vulnerability-based trust.

My Favorite Scar -

Find a quiet place for a discussion.  Frame the activity as a trust activity, and one that should be taken relatively seriously.  Ask your group to select and share a story about one of the following topics:

  • Your favorite scar – where is it and how it happened
  • A funny childhood story
  • The coolest thing that ever happened to you
  • The scariest thing that ever happened to you
  • Something people would be surprised to learn about you

This is not meant to be a therapy session, but the activity does give the group an opportunity to share stories that they might not normally share with their fellow team members.

I always hold a short debrief, often asking quite simply, “what is the value of an activity like this?” and then follow with a quick, fun, moving activity.  For many of my corporate groups, this simple trust activity has been one of the highlights of the day.

Hope it works for you!

‘Tell Me’ – A Rotational ‘Getting to Know You’ Activity

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A Rotational ‘Getting to Know You’ Activity

Here’s an easy teambuilder that can be run by anyone, and gets the group working on foundational trust with very little lead-in.

‘Tell Me’

The idea of this exercise is for two ‘partners’ to share with one another answers from a list of questions.  Once the two partners have shared with each other, the ‘number 1′s’ rotate to the next person on their right.

  • split the group into partners, and have them choose who will be “number 1″ and “number 2″.
  • ask the number 1′s to form a circle facing away from the center of the circle.
  • ask the number 2′s to form a circle around the number 1′s and facing towards their partner.
  • during this exercise, the inner circle (number 1′s) will rotate clockwise, while the outer circle (number 2′s) remains in their fixed position.

Once you have asked around 15 questions, take a few minutes to ‘debrief’ the activity.  Here are a few appropriate debriefing questions:

  • What was the most surprising thing you learned about someone in the group?
  • What did you have in common with someone in the group?
  • What is the benefit of doing an activity such as this?
  • Was this challenging for anyone?  If so, why?
  • What was the funniest joke you heard from someone in the group?
  • What other questions do you think would work for this activity?
  • What does an activity like this have to do with improving the cohesion of the group?

I’ve run this activity with 4th graders up to adults, and the outcome is almost always the same – increased cohesion among the members of the group with minimal effort.

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List of Questions:

  1. What is your favorite scar?  Tell the story behind an injury that you sustained.
  2. Describe your ultimate vacation – either one you’ve taken, or one you dream of taking.
  3. Describe a dream that you remember – either from last night or from your past.
  4. Describe your last meal – what would you eat if you could only have one more meal – and why?
  5. Describe your first or oldest memory.
  6. If you could be any animal, what would you be and why?
  7. Describe your least favorite thing to do, and why you hate it.
  8. Describe a moment when you felt like a winner.  What happened, and how did you do it?
  9. Tell your favorite short and repeatable joke.
  10. Describe something you fear, why you fear it, and how you cope with that fear.

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Any other questions you can add to the list?
Good Luck – and if you have any feedback, variations, or criticisms, leave a comment!