Team Building ExercisesWARNING: THIS IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY. IT IS NOT A DO-IT-YOURSELF-GUIDE.please do not attempt to conduct these activities unless you are a trained facilitatorDISCLAIMER: THIS INFORMATION IS PROVIDED FOR INFROMATION. IZONE IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY UNDESIRABLE OUTCOMES, INJURY ETC OUT OF ACTIVITIES NOT CONDUCTED UNDER THE DIRECT SUPERVISION OF IZONE FACILITATORS. Teams spend part of their time learning how to work together and having fun. Two or three 1/2 hour exercises during the course of the day are plenty, when the team is having a planning, problem solving, or organizing session. The coach will usually introduce and lead the exercises, being careful to use exercises that relate to one or more of the issues that the team is struggling with at the moment. Once the exercise has been completed, and the team has celebrated its successful completion, it is important for the coach to ask about the behaviors that the team observed in themselves and others, then to ask how what they learned during the exercise can be used in by their team going forward.
Warp Speed ExerciseThis exercise requires a team of eight to 16 people and a tennis ball. Everyone stands in a circle. The coach explains that "during this exercise we will use the tennis ball to establish a process. The process starts with one team member receiving the ball from the coach and tossing it across the circle to another team member. The receiving team member then tosses the ball to another team member and so on until each team member has caught the ball one time. The last team member then tosses the ball back to the starting team member, thus completing the process." To facilitate establishing the process, team members are asked to hold out their hands in a ready to catch position until they have caught the ball one time. Team members who have already caught the ball, drop their hands to their sides so everyone can tell who has yet to catch the ball. Each team member is instructed to remember the person who threw them the ball and who they threw the ball to. Team members are told that if they drop the ball, just pick it up and continue the process. Once the process is established, the coach explains that he or she will now time the exercise with a stop watch to determine how long the process takes. After the initial timing run, the coach announces the time the team took to complete the process (usually around 35 to 45 seconds). The coach reminds the team that the process only requires that the ball start and end with the same person, that everyone must touch the ball, and that the order of touching the ball must remain the same. The coach then explains to the team that their customer needs a substantial decrease in the speed at which the process is being executed. In fact the customer would be pleased if the team could cut the time in half. The coach asks the team if they think they could achieve this objective. As the team begins to discuss the request, the coach interrupts and asks the team how much time they need to discuss how to achieve the customer request. The coach agrees to anything under two minutes. Longer requests are met with "I can't give you that much time - you may have two minutes." At the end of the discussion period, the coach hands the tennis ball to the starting team member and starts the stop watch. When the ball returns to the starting team member, the coach stops the watch and announces the time achieved. Invariably teams will improve the time to execute the process by about half, sometimes slightly better. However they will have to have made some change in order to achieve the objective-perhaps moving closer together. The coach again asks the team if they can cut the new time in half, reminds the team that the process only requires that the ball start and end with the same person, that everyone must touch the ball, and that the order of touching the ball must remain the same, asks how much time is needed to discuss the problem, provides up to two minutes, hands the ball to the starting team member, starts the stop watch and announces the result. This process is repeated three or four times until the team achieves a time under two to four seconds. The fastest process involves having the team members sort themselves into the perfect order of flow, that is, a straight flow in one direction, the starting/ending team member then swipes the ball across the outstretched hands of his fellow team members. The coach helps the team members to process the experience: Team members are asked to explain what they learned from this exercise. "How many of you thought it wasn't possible to cut the speed in half the first time? How about after you had achieved one success, did you think you could repeat the success a second time? What had to change in order for you to achieve success each time?" The coach points out that the team managed to get from 40 plus seconds to under two. "So what if you had been asked to achieve sub-second performance right off the bat? Would you have been able to achieve it in one try?" Probably not. "So what happened that allowed you to ultimately get to such a superior level of performance? (The team built on previous successful experiences). What can you take away from this experience and use on your team? After processing the exercise, the coach leads the team in a cheer to celebrate their success as a team: "1, 2, 3, YES!"
Warp Speed RevisitedThis exercise is most powerful when performed after the team has experienced the Warp Speed Exercise. The reason is that Warp Speed Revisited or Warp Speed II looks to the participant as if it is going to use the same principles as Warp Speed but it has a totally different emphasis. For materials you will need 10 to 12 different round objects or balls of approximately the size of a tennis ball i.e. tennis ball, wiffel ball, cosh ball, rubber ball, etc. A few minutes in a toy department will usually provide the needed variety. The coach forms the team of eight to 15 people into a circle. As in Warp Speed, the coach hands a team member a ball and asks the team to establish a pattern so that each person catches the ball. Instead of returning the ball to the starting team member, the last team member drops the ball into a box. Once the pattern has been established the coach explains that he will be handing 10 balls to the initial team member one at a time and that each ball will need to go through the process in exactly the same order as established by the initial pattern. The exercise begins, the coach starts the stop watch, and starts handing balls to the starting team member. When the last ball drops in the box the coach stops the stop watch and the reports the time elapsed to the team. At this point the coach explains that the customer is pretty impressed with the team's performance at this point and wants to know how long the team will require to pass all ten balls through the process without dropping any balls. The coach explains that, unlike Warp Speed, the team members must maintain their relative position to one another. As the team begins to discuss the question, the coach interrupts and asks how much time the team will need in order to respond to the customer's question. The coach allows up to five minutes for discussion. When the coach has the answer, he or she starts the stop watch, and hands the starting team member the first ball. When the last ball drops into the box, the coach stops the stop watch and reports the elapsed time. The process is repeated several times at which point the team has figured out that speed through the process is not what the customer requires. In essence, this is a just-in-time problem, where the customer is asking the team for a delivery schedule so that the customer can set his own production plans. Reliability of delivery is paramount versus throughput speed. Coaches should realize that team behavior is fairly variable in this exercise: When 10 balls, of different weights are being thrown around a circle at the same time the results can be chaotic, with balls banging into one another, or being shuffled too fast. Some teams will take steps to minimize the cross tossing and may come up with a solution that involves bringing the circle in very close where the starting team member's hand is on top, the box is directly below and all other team members hands are in the correct order between the starting team member's hand and the box. When the team has successfully passed 10 balls without dropping any and has performed the process within the committed time frame, the coach declares the exercise at an end, leads a team celebration, and helps the team process the experience: What did we learn from this exercise? What did we learn about team communication? What assumptions did the team make about the objective of this exercise that was not present? What can we take back to our work environment from this exercise?
Spider Web ExerciseThe Spider Web exercise is one of the most powerful exercises for teaching High Performance Team principles. The downside is that it takes three to four hours of preparation time to construct the web. Teams of 12 to 18 team members can tackle the web. A second or third web can be constructed for simultaneous experience by additional teams. Kick-off Instructions Position your team on one side of the web. The coach stands on the other side. Tell the team that the web represents a learning barrier for the team and that your customer needs to have all team members achieve a minimum level of new knowledge. This new knowledge will be represented by having each person successfully pass through the web. Explain that this is not an out-of-the-box thinking exercise. In other words, no props, tools or support items can be used. This exercise requires that everyone pass through a hole in the web. Touching the web is not allowed and has serious consequences. Touching by anything including clothing constitutes a touch. There is an invisible barrier around the web - above it, below it and to the sides. This barrier cannot be penetrated. The exception is that team members may extend their arms - but not legs or bodies -- below the web to support someone being passed. Once someone has passed through a hole, it will close. A closed hole will be represented by a piece of masking tape placed at the bottom of the hole. It is very important to stress the fact that running, diving, or throwing people through a hole is not allowed and is dangerous. Explain to the team that if a touch occurs, any team member who sees the touch will have to report it to the team and the team member who is being passed will have to be returned to the starting side. Stress to the team that when a touch occurs, it is very important for the supporting team members not to let down and drop the team member who is being passed. Once team members are through the hole they may assist in helping other team members get through the web. Explain to the team that some rules cannot be known at the outset and that they will have to be discovered as the exercise progresses. Offer the opportunity for anyone who is uncomfortable attempting this exercise to walk around to the other side. The coach needs to stress that in any group there may be one or more people with physical or psychological concerns about participating and that that is OK. However, anyone who elects to walk around will not be able to help their teammates until the first person successfully passes through the web. Explain to the participants that they will have 25 minutes for 12 people to complete the exercise (add 2 minutes per person over 12). Ask the team if they have any questions before the exercise begins. Start the exercise and note the time. If the team touches the web, use a strip of masking tape to make the hole slightly smaller, but not so small that no one in the team can pass through that hole. If a team member calls a touch and the team responds by returning the person being passed to the starting side, you may go to another place on the web and increase the opportunity by widening an unused hole slightly or removing a closed hole tape marker. The team is demonstrating accountability and quality and should be rewarded about half the time, but not every time. Each time the team passes a person through the web, you step up and say, "Did we have a successful pass?" The team shouts "YES". "Did we have a touch?" The team shouts, "NO." "How do we celebrate success?" "1, 2, 3, YES!" If you see a touch, AND you see that one or more of the team members also say the touch, but decided not to report it: When you ask the question, "Did we have a touch?" and the answer is NO, you look the person in the eye who touched and say "Remember, quality is everyone's concern." Then you say "How do we celebrate success?" and flag the hole as closed. The team should not be rewarded in any way for knowingly fudging on the rules. However a successful pass, with no touch may be rewarded by surreptitiously widening a open hole, removing the tape from a closed hole, or forgetting to close a hole that has just been used. In the beginning most teams chew up about a third to a half of their available time trying to plan an approach to the problem. Some teams will draw diagrams and try to measure people, others may try to prototype passing a person through an imaginary hole. If a team is bogging down on planning, and 10 to 15 minutes have passed, you will want to announce to the team how much time it has left. During this initial stage, its normal for one or two people to pull apart from the team and just stand around. If you see this going on, walk over and blindfold the watchers. If the team asks what's going on, explain that they have some unused resources standing around and that the team knows what happens to unused resources, they get even less useable. When, and if, the team starts using the blindfolded people, walk over and remove their blindfolds. As the team approaches the deadline, determine if another minute or two will allow them to successfully complete the exercise. If so, give it to them. If they obviously have no chance, meaning they have four or five people left to pass and are out of time, stop the exercise at the deadline. Give the team a short break and when they return form them in a sitting circle to process the exercise. Processing the Exercise The coach asks the team the following questions and gives everyone a chance to contribute their thoughts:
Spider Web ConstructionThis very powerful team building exercise requires four to five hours of advance preparation: Materials required are:
Construction of Web Posts:
Bottom View With one 8' post lying on the ground, place a single two foot length of 2 x 4 perpendicular to the end of the post. Square the 2 X 4 with the edge and end of the post. At this point you should have about 4" of the 2 x 4 overlapping the bottom of the post. Using two 4" nails, nail the 2 x 4 to the post. Now, using the 2 x 4, roll the post over 1/4 of a turn. Take the end of the second 2 x 4 and butt it into the standing 2 x 4 that is nailed to the post, making sure to square the edge of the second 2 x 4 with the end of the post. Rotate the post one more time. Take the third 2 x 4 and butt it into the second, now standing, 2 x 4 and square the third 2 x 4 with the end of the post. Now stand the post up so that it is supported by the three 2 x 4s. Butt the fourth 2 x 4 into the third 2 x 4 and nail the fourth 2 x 4 to the post. You now have a stable post standing 8' tall supported by the four 2 x 4s. You are going to need two posts, so repeat the process and build the second post with stand Construction of the Web: Place the posts 14' apart. Using the colored string, one end of the string to one post at a point 6 1/2 ' off the ground. Attach the trailing end of the string to the second post at 6 1/2 ' off the ground. Tie another piece of string 3 ' off the ground between the posts. Tie a third piece of string between the two posts positioned half way between the first and second pieces of string. Now, standing midway between the posts tie a piece of string vertically to the top, middle, and bottom horizontal strings. As you tie this first vertical piece of string, you want to tie it so that the center of the horizontal lines are about 8" closer together than they are on the posts. Continue to tie vertical lengths of string between and connecting the three horizontal lengths of string. Each vertical length should be about 18" to 2' apart. As you tie these additional vertical length to the horizontal lengths do not decrease the natural distance between the horizontal strings as you did with the first string. Now, we are almost done. Leaving the center vertical string alone, gently slide the upper and lower knots of all other vertical strings four or five inches to the left or right. You should now have something that looks very much like a very large spider web. If you use your imagination, you can vaguely visualize people being passed ever so carefully through these holes.
Toxic Rescue ExerciseThis is an exercise for 12 to 18 person teams. Before the start of the exercise, the coach pours 2-3 inches of water in a 2 lb. coffee can. The can is placed on a round piece of paper that is approximately 2 feet in diameter. Around this is placed a 25 foot rope with the loose ends tied together. At the beginning of the exercise, the coach divides the team into 3 sub-teams. One team is given 6 ropes, each approximately 8 feet long. The second team is given 6 carabieners. The third team is given a bungie cord. The coach tells the team that they are going to be given a rescue mission. The can is sitting on an island belonging to their customer. The island is surrounded by a lake of toxic chemicals. The can contains a precious commodity that their customer needs rescued from the island. If anyone touches the lake they will be severely injured. If anything touches the lake, it will be destroyed. The coach then tells the team that they have 20 minutes to complete the rescue. The solution calls for the three sub-teams to get together and pool their resources. Ropes are tied to carabieners, which are hooked to the bungie cord, which in turn has its ends hooked together to form a small circle. Team members holding the ends of the ropes, then distribute themselves around the lake and pull evenly on the ropes to expand the bungie cord to pass over and around the can. Pressure is released and the can is captured by the bungie cord. Gentle, even pressure is exerted on the ropes and the can lifts and passes safely over the lake. If successful, the team can be asked to put the can back. If the coach sees that the team is having no trouble figuring this solution out, the people who are holding the rope ends are blindfolded and the team is told that only the blindfolded people can touch the ropes. After 25 minutes, or when the team has successfully completed the mission, the coach forms the team in a circle of chairs and processes the exercise. Questions the coach should ask the team:
Supplies needed for this exercise: Six pieces of rope, each 8' in length Six Carabieners (These are oblong circles of metal that mountaneers use to attach gear to their climbing harnesses). Carabieners are available for under $5 each at outdoor experience stores. One empty two pound coffee can One large brown paper bag, opened and cut to roughly a two foot circle. One bungie cord (experiment to find one that holds the can fairly tightly when released) Twenty-five foot length of rope (used to make the border or shore of the toxic lake) The River ExerciseThis team building exercise can be used with teams of 16 to 60. Participants are divided into two groups and are placed behind pieces of masking tape that are taped to the floor 50 feet apart. Participants are told that these pieces of tape represent the banks of a fast flowing river. A two foot by two foot square is created in the middle of the river using masking tape. Participants are told that this square represents an island in the middle of the river. Participants are issued two foot long pieces of two by four wood boards. Each team is given 5 boards. Participants are told that these boards represent boats to get them across the river. Participants are told: that the object of the exercise is for each team to get to the other side of the river. That once a boat leaves the shore that it must go all the way to the other side before it can return. That no more than four people can stand on the island at one time. That participants must stay in physical contact with the boats at all times while they are in the river or the boats will float away. That there are monsters in the river and that they are attracted by noise and that the facilitator will let them know when monsters are present and that when they are present everyone must be absolutely silent or that person will lose the use of one of their arms. The facilitator will let the participants know when the monsters are gone. If anyone steps into the river the entire team must return to the starting shore. Participants are given 30 minutes to get across the river-20 minutes for smaller teams. The facilitator monitors the efforts of the team. If a boat is left untouched, it is kicked out of play by the facilitator. At the end of the allotted time, or upon earlier completion of the exercise, the facilitator calls a halt, gathers both teams in a circle and processes the exercise:
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