Free team building games, free team building activities and free team building exercises for building teams and corporate employee motivation. Many of these exercises can be adapted for young people and children. Employee motivation benefits from team building games, exercises, activities, puzzles and quizzes. Use free team building games and exercises ideas to warm up meetings, training, and conferences. These free team building games are also great ice breakers for training sessions, meetings, workshops, seminars or conferences. Team building games and activities are useful also in serious business project meetings, where games and activities help delegates to see things differently and use different thinking styles. Games, exercises and quizzes help to stimulate the brain, improving retention of ideas, learning, and increasing fun and enjoyment. Most of these games can be used or adapted for children's development and education, or for kids party games.We cannot accept responsibility for any liability which arises from the use of any of these free team building exercises ideas or games - please see the disclaimer notice below, and see the guidelines for creating and running teambuilding sessions. Always ensure that you have proper insurance in place for all team building games activities, and take extra care when working with younger people, children and if organising kids party games. If you find these materials helpful please try to contribute something of your own to the Businessballs self-publishing Space. Here are details about the Space on Businessballs and the philosophy behind it. New activities and exercises are now being added to the additional team building ideas page 2 on this website. See also the Quizballs quizzes, especially the management and business quiz for aspiring managers and trainers, and anyone interested in managing people and organisations. |
Before you decide to use any team building games with a group of people, think about whether the activities are appropriate for the team members and the situation. Kirkpatrick's learning model is a good reference point for this assessment: team members should ideally enjoy the activity, learn something from it, which they can apply, and which will improve results.
See the Team-Building Activities Evaluation Form and Outcomes Notes (Excel file).
Bloom's Taxonomy of learning domains, which provides a useful template or checklist for designing and evaluating training and learning activities of all sorts.
Ensure that team-building activities comply with equality and discrimination policy and law in respect of gender, race, disability, age, etc.
Age discrimination is a potential risk given certain groups and activities. Team-building facilitators should be familiar with the Employment Equality Age Regulations, effective 1st October 2006, (UK and Europe).
Note that team building games are not necessarily the best way to improve team morale and attitude if there are problems in these areas. Workshops are often a better starting point for fragile or bruised teams, which need basic bonding, confidence and help to strengthen their sense of responsibility and purpose.
If using team building to develop mutual respect, care and compassion, etc., look at the love and spirituality at work section - it explains about bringing compassion and humanity to work and teams.
Effective relationships and behaviour at work involve the same principles as everyday life - respect for others, integrity, honesty, compassion, courage - all the good things that we all naturally possess deep down. Sometimes people have insecurities or stresses which create difficulties on the surface, to which others in the team then react. Emotional maturity, or Emotional Intelligence is a useful perspective. However, if you approach a behavioural problem head-on, or try to resolve it with a team building exercise, this can cause people to clam up and become defensive (just like we all tend to do when someone is critical or implies a weakness). Instead, ask the people what they'd enjoy and find helpful for their lives in general. Move the issue away from work and skills and 'team-building' per se. Help the person (and people) rather than treat the symptoms. If you help people with their life-balance and personal fulfilment they become more emotionally mature, tolerant, positive independent, self-sufficient, etc. When the person is okay, so is everything else, including their relationships and communications at work. Developing people involves more than behaviour, relationships, skills, knowledge and processes. It's often more about helping people feel better about themselves; helping the person to feel happy and fulfilled. A good leader can facilitate this. Team building doesn't have to involve games and exercises - team building might be better achieved by arranging other things which appear to be unconnected to work. Perhaps the sort of things that people would otherwise seek out at evening classes. Perhaps lunchtime yoga or reiki or relaxation sessions might be of interest? Maybe go bowling? Horse riding? Ask the people. In the Summer maybe play softball on the park? Or maybe ask if they would like to run a lunch-time barbecue for clients and suppliers. If you focus on the problem it will become a battlefield. Instead focus on fun, new positive experiences and self-fulfilment.
The subjects on this website increasingly feature ideas for developing the whole person. In the same way, you are not restricted to providing traditional work skills development. Explore everything, and show your people that you have a broader view about development - they'll have lots of ideas of their own if you let them see it's okay to think that way. Team building games are just a part of a very wide mix of learning and and development experiences that you can explore and facilitate for your people - try anything. If it helps your people to feel good and be good, then it will help your organisation be good too.
On which point, see:
abstract images for feelings, challenge and change
love and spirituality in management and business - bringing compassion and humanity to work
buddha maitreya's japanese garden and meditation centre
the Sales Activator® games system for sales training and development - a remarkable sales training and team building system
free quizzes - questions and answers - trivia, general knowledge, management and business quiz
role playing process and tips for role play games and exercises
fantasticat - the Fantasticat ideas for motivating, teaching and developing young people - grown-ups too..
team building games ideas and theory, which explains about preparation, organization and training for team building games and exercises
free puzzles (and free answers) for quizzes
free tips on running teambuilding workshops
These free team building games and exercises generally last less than one hour, and can be adjusted to create longer team building activities, depending on team building, ice-breaker, training development required. The development forum gameshow activity is an example of a sophisticated activity that ideally takes two hours or more, but can be adapted to fit into an hour if session time requires this. Ensure exercises are clearly explained, and where appropriate - mostly - that a review takes place afterwards. Review and discussion are often useful and helpful after exercises which have raised relationship issues, or changed people's perceptions. Plan and practise all unknown aspects of the activities before using them. Logistics, facilitation and especially how you split the group into the numbers of team members per team are factors which have a big effect on how the exercises work and the experience for all. See the team building activities guidelines for tips and techniques.
Simple quick ice-breaker and point-maker for opening our awareness and being less focused on our own narrow priorities.
See the money exercise/ice-breaker on team building games page 2.
Seasonal obviously, although other links between nature and learning can be found through the year.
See the conkers and acorns ideas on the teambuilding games page 2.
For market and competitor strategies, and for team-building and team-working.
See the competitor-partner exercises and grids on the teambuilding page 2.
This is the age of collaboration - what are you doing about it?
Use puzzles and fact-finding scenarios to show and practise the use of open and closed questions.
See the questioning exercise on teambuilding games page 2.
Flexible exercise for groups of all sorts to focus on diversity in an entertaining and enjoyable way.
See the diversity quiz game on team building games page 2.
Flexible activity - easy to set up - for discussion and teaching of problem-solving, crisis-mangement, solution-focused thinking.
See the causes and solutions activity on the team building games page 2.
Imagine a cross between a quiz and a treasure hunt... this is it.
See the public research quiz game on the team building games page 2.
You can probably guess...
See the bin toss game on teambuilding games page 2.
An exercise for goals and objectives planning.
The importance of components and process in realising aims and changes.
See the Bricks in the Wall exercise on the teambuilding games page 2.
Quick easy idea for ice-breakers, with potential to adapt and develop for more complex learning.
Good for explaining difference between knowledge and skill, and why skills and knowledge need developing differently.
See the ampersand activity ideas on the teambuilding games page 2.
See the Seasonal Team Activities Ideas on teambuilding games page 2.
See Quizballs 29 - twenty questions and answers for parties and team games.
Do you struggle sometimes to find or compile case-studies for role-playing activities?
Easy quick ideas for enjoyable role-plays - for appraisals, interviews, counselling, discipline, coaching and more.
See the cartoon role-play ideas on the teambuilding games page 2.
For encouraging a deeper review of personal potential and life purpose.
See the obituaries exercise on teambuilding games page 2.
Home-based staff and remote teams miss out on the valuable social contact normally available to office-based teams.
Personal interaction between staff (typically chatting and engaging in the canteen, elevator, lounge areas, etc) is crucial for developing relationships and mutual awareness among teams, so if teams do not meet frequently then the leader must devise ways to enable this personal interaction to happen.
More background and some ideas in the chatting exercises on the teambuilding games page 2.
Ideas you can develop and have fun using. See the quickies on the teambuilding exercises page 2.
A simple activity for groups or teams of any size - individuals too - for visualising and imagining doing something different and special with our life.
See the visulisation exercise on the other team exercises page 2.
The quick stress reduction techniques on the stress management page aren't teambuilding activities as such.
However they can provide interesting ideas for dealing with stress and helping and teaching others about stress reduction.
The ideas can also be used to reduce tension in certain types of teams and meetings, for ice-breakers or diversions, to demonstrate aspects of mind-body connection and its relevance to attitude, frame of mind, self-control, and also aspects of NLP, positive visualisation, lateral thinking, lifting limits, and no doubt lots more too.
The chief effect of these very simple exercises is to change the environment and atmosphere, and thereby the 'mindset', which is a basis for all sorts of development, quite aside from the benefits of reducing someone's stress levels.
The 'I am' page helps to illustrate and explain the power of positive visualisation and 'self-talking' which is a strong element within the second of the three stress reduction ideas.
Looking for something very different, lively and flexible?
With lots of fun and team-work and interaction?
See the team skipping activities ideas on the teambuilding games page 2.
Two team exercises for groups of any size exploring intuition and isolation, which can be used to support learning about relationships and feelings.
The isolation and intuition activities are on the other teambuilding games page 2.
Both activities are highly flexible and can be adapted for local circumstances.
With the introduction of Age Discrimination legislation, (UK October 2006, and consistent with European law), there is an increased need to raise awareness and to teach people about ageism and age discrimination.
Ideas for activities and exercises to highlight Age Discrimination and Diversity issues are on the other team-building games page (2).
We all, irrespective of age, race, religion, gender, disability, etc., have our own special capabilities and strengths, and it is these capabilities and strengths that good organisations must seek to identify, assess, encourage and utilise, regardless of age or other potentially discriminatory factors.
An emotional subject which enables a variety of discussions about morality, ethics and integrity in institutions, the pressures on people in authority which cloud decisions, and the need for us all to take an interest in the humanitarian and ethical conduct of leaders.
See the 'Shot At Dawn' lessons discussion and ideas on the other team-building activities page 2.
An entertaining and stimulating way to start any meeting or session involving or relating to corporate globalisation and/or the influence of the modern digital age and the worldwide web.
Corporate Globalization Debate Exercise and Ideas are on the other teambuilding games page 2.
A very flexible activity to develop understanding and confidence for speaking to groups, which can be adapted for many different situations. See the speech exercises on the other team-building games page (2).
Simple quick exercises ideas for explaining and developing understanding of how organisations develop and change.
See the Corporate Life-Cycle Exercise on the other team-building page. Based on the Adizes model.
If delegates want to discuss the state of football and England's performance, or the aftermath of any major sporting or entertainment event, here are a few quick easy ideas for directing team members' enthusiasms towards useful outcomes for learning, development and team-building, etc.
See the World Cup Antidote Exercises on the other team-building activities page.
See also the Football quiz questions and answers.
See the ideas for working with this simulating material in the baking foil games on the other team building page.
Look also below at the newspaper construction games which provide other ideas for using baking foil.
See this empowering profit-people-planet activity on the other team-building page. This activity can also be used in development workshops. It is a very flexible exercise and will help bring to life the increasing rhetoric (at last) about ethical organisations, 'Fairtrade', sustainability, corporate social responsibility, and well-being. It sounds great, but how do you make it happen? Start by understanding what it all means.
This idea is so good that it deserves a section all of its own. See the Fantasticat page.
This might be the most powerful activity for people in organisations on this page. Perhaps ever. Try it and see. It contains some radical and innovative organisational development principles. These ideas will be too much for many organisations to handle, not to mention certain CEO's who will pooh their pants at the very thought of it all. It goes way beyond team-building games and pure team-building activities. See what you think:
The activity is particularly ideal for conference or auditorium situations. Big company gatherings to 'motivate' everyone. You know the sort of thing... The CEO says to the HR department, "Guys, we've got this conference coming up. All the staff will be there. I'm going to open it up and give everyone a great big bollocking, I mean pep-talk. Yes, Pep-talk. Get everyone motivated and focused on the new challenges ahead. The need for everyone to learn new skills, to be more customer focused, more joined-up, to be more committed and to adapt to all the changes that we need to make, including the ever-increasing risk of redundancy (so that I can float this baby in a couple of years and make a bloody fortune/so that headquarters/central government can meet its efficiency gains and targets)..."
"Go on.." says the HR team, (thinking, "Is he in the real world?...")
And predictably the CEO continues: "So, after I've warmed them up - an hour or so should do it - it's over to you guys to put together some activities which will get everyone involved and focused on the changes they need to make, so they can all improve their skills, increase service levels, save time and money, take the burden off their managers, and generally come up with some ideas for becoming more effective. Empowerment they call it don't they? I want to empower them all to be more productive. And to stop all the whingeing and moaning. That would be good too. Oh, and by the way we've got no money to spend on it; the hotel is costing us a bleeding fortune as it is."
And then it's over to you.
And here's what you do:
First resist the temptation to leave the company. The people need you. And you like a challenge. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, remember.
Second, think about using this activity and then discuss it with your CEO. If he/she likes the idea you've half a chance that they'll allow you to go through with it:
It's for a large group - especially at a conference or corporate presentation - group size between about 50 up to 250 people as an ideal maximum, although double this is possible with some organisational and logistical tweaks. Eight teams of fifteen people, ie, 120 people is an example of a workable team structure. Other team sizes and combinations are perfectly possible. The activity can take between two and four hours, although less or more than this is possible with careful facilitation and structuring.
The object of this activity is to engage the participants in:
The activity, and the planning leading up to it, will hopefully help the CEO and senior managers to understand more about their resposibilities for their people and their organisation, and perhaps to reappraise their leadership philosophy and purpose.
Important outcomes of this activity will be that:
Make no mistake - this is not for the faint-hearted - this is not for CEO's and organisations who say one thing and then do another. This is not for organisations and CEO's who want to line their own pockets and don't give a shite about their people. This activity is more than a game - it's a philosophy.
Split the group into teams of function or job type. Between four and a dozen teams, up to about twenty people per team. If you have more than twenty in a single team split the team into two, for example, 'customer service north' and 'customer service south'.
Organise the seating so that team members are sitting together - either around their own team table, or in blocks if the seating is fixed in a theatre or auditorium. Imagine the BBC 'Test the Nation' studio format if you've seen it. Each team contains people of a similar responsibility/role/function, playing together as a team.
Teams need to appoint a team leader, and this responsibility can rotate so a number of team members experience the responsibility. Team leaders are responsible for ensuring that everyone in the team has the opportunity to contribute. Setting up sub-teams within teams is perfectly okay if it ensures everyone has greater input. This can be at each team leader's discretion.
An optional exercise at this point is to ask each team to design and make their own team flag, representing the strengths/values/philosophy/challenges of their team. Materials and timings at the discretion of the facilitator depending on the event. This is an optional quick introductory exercise - no need to spend ages on it. Don't do it if the people want to get on with the business at hand, which will very commonly be the case.
The facilitator (a sort of quiz-master or compere role) must prepare suitable questions in advance, and it is essential to involve the CEO in doing this because there are big implications that need buy-in and support from the top. Failure to do this will expose the facilitator/organiser and disappoint the people when nothing happens afterwards. A central aim for this activity is that outputs must be followed up.
The questions must be carefully designed and powerful, to get people thinking about:
The basic format of the activity is:
The whole gathering is asked a question. Teams confer amongst themselves, and appointed spokes-people give the answers for their own team in turn. All the answers for a question are reviewed, and then voted on to identify which answer(s) are considered best by all teams, or a 1-2-3 ranking of the three best liked answers. Then the facilitator moves on to the next question. Allowing 30 minutes per question (this will vary according to type of question, number of teams, etc), you can see that a two hour event will allow four questions at most, so plan carefully. Careful design of questions is very important.
Here's an example of a question:
What does each team consider to be its three greatest personal passions, outside work? And how might each of these passions, if developed further, benefit the person at work, the organisation and the customers and suppliers of the organisation? (Obviously a team of fifteen or twenty people will represent more than three 'passions' - in which case guide the teams towards discussing and selecting the best three from within their own team.)
Before teams begin to consider the question, the facilitator will need at this point to help people understand and believe the extent to which each person's passion (each person's special capabilities, loves, and they dreams they pursue, typically outside work) relates to their development as individuals, their personal fulfilment, and how valuable and transferable these skills, knowledge, behaviour and experiences are to the organisation and their work. (You will probably need to explain this to the CEO before planning this event as well, and if he doesn't see it then proceed with caution unless you're lucky enough to have a CEO who is blessed in the 'blind faith' department.)
The teams are then given a few minutes to confer and consider their answers. To an extent you need to be flexible in how long you allow - there's no point in cutting useful discussion short if you can adjust the schedule accordingly.
After an agreed/suitable time period, each team's spokes-person gives their team's answers in turn, which are recorded by the facilitator on stage or at the front of the auditorium, on a suitable viewing system (flip-chart sheets and blu-tack are perfectly okay if you like to use them) so all teams can see every other team's answers.
Review and invite questions and comments from the participants.
Then ask the teams to cast votes for each of the other team's answers, by which the facilitator then allocates scores for each team. The scoring system for the activity is flexible at the discretion of the facilitator, but must obviously be consistent and fair. For example ask each team to confer and award three votes for the best answer, two points for 2nd best, and one point for 3rd best.
(You have the option to award prizes for teams and individuals during and certainly at the end of the activity. Be creative and think about these prizes - think about ome awards which relate to people's personal passions and interests - not just bottles of booze.)
Example of next question:
Choosing one passion from your team's suggestions, or from another team's suggestions, which relates to significant and valuable personal development and organisational benefit, suggest a way which the organisation can help people to develop that passion, with all the skills, experiences and learning involved. (The organisation must, after the event, consider all of these ideas, and try to help make them happen where possible - so people should try to come up with ideas that are practicable and realistic - and which demonstrate a good result and benefit for people and the organisation, relative to the efforts and costs involved.)
You get the idea? It's serious stuff. It extends development way beyond job skills into life skills - develop the whole person - and the organisation must see that this is important too.
Follow this format using other carefully designed powerful questions.
Here are examples of questions relating to organisational development:
Consider and suggest three ways that the organisation can improve its communications and cooperation between departments.
Consider and suggest three ways that the organisation could involve its people earlier in responding to the need for organisational change.
If you were the CEO how would you treat people differently compared to current practices?
In what ways could the organisation reshape its aims so that people find it easier to support and align with them?
Provide three examples of obvious daft management practice that need sorting out desperately, preferably with some suggested remedial actions.
What's wrong with this organisation that even a ten-year-old child could see in a day of being here?
How can the organisation provide more personal meaning and relevance to you in your work?
At the completion of the activity you will have received a vast amount of well-considered suggestions, ideas, feedback and information about your people and their capabilities. You will see how different functional teams view each other and the organisation. You will receive and give people the opportunity to contribute significant ideas and suggestions for improving the organisation's weaknesses and failings, in any aspect that you wish to expose (you are asking the questions, remember).
If you focus on personal development, you will understand and appreciate, and help your people to understand and appreciate, that the most important characteristics, skills, and experiences are those which people can develop for life, not just to meet the needs of a job skills analysis, or a flaky appraisal process that just goes through the motions.
Certain roles offer more obvious opportunities to overlap development for life and development for work - ie, to develop job performance and capability through developing the whole person. Other jobs might initially seem to offer no overlap at all, but be assured, all jobs offer plenty of potential overlap between the person's life development and job/organisational benefit. Truck drivers have dreams too. So do shop-workers. So do labourers, cleaners and soldiers. We all have dreams and passions that we want to follow and related capabilities that we want to develop, many of which are extremely and directly transferable to work performance. In fact I'd challenge anyone to think of a job role that would not gain from developing the job-holder's whole-life passion or dream or true potential. Try me, send me any suggestions where you think no overlap exists and I'll show you where it does and publish the examples here.
Aside from transferable capabilities, there is also the effect on a person's general state of well-being and feeling of self-worth. When people develop as people they become more mature and tolerant. They become more peaceful and contented with themselves. They become more self-managing, self-reliant, self-determining, confident, helpful, considerate - you name it, they become better people. Isn't that what we want in organisations - grown-up self-sufficient people who largely manage, motivate and look after themselves?
Even the CEO who doesn't give a tuppenny-haypenny shite about the people - he still wants these qualities in his people, doesn't he?
X-Theory directors everywhere - wake up and smell the bleeding coffee - help your people develop as people, in the ways they want to, and your organisation will fly.
One day all organisations will achieve sustainable success when they align themselves with their people's whole-person whole-life needs, and when they do everything possible to help people develop as people for life, not just for work. This activity framework will provide a useful and stimulating introduction to that philosophy; for the leaders - even the X-Theory dinosaurs - and the people.
Be a pioneer. Make a difference. If you want any help, please ask.
This is a very simple exercise to help people learn how to write training plans, and to learn how to train and coach others. The activity is groups of any size, subject to splitting large groups into teams of 6-12 people. Rotate roles of trainer, trainee(s) and observers. Ask delegates to each write down on a slip of paper a simple task that takes 1-2 minutes to perform, and which can be performed using materials or items available at the session - for example making a paper aeroplane to a specific design, or sending text message - simple things. Delegates must then fold their slips of paper and place in the middle of the table. Then ask delegates to pick (blind) a task, for which they must then write a training, and then (picked at random) use the plan to train one or a number of delegates how to perform the task. Observers and trainees give feedback after the task, as to how well the training plan worked and was delivered. Points to cover in the review are: communication style, listening, clarity of instruction, checking understanding, encouragement, accentuating the positive, giving constructive criticism, transferability of training plan to another trainer who is less familiar with the task, etc. Refer to any or all of these theories and models, depending on the depth and complexity of activity required. Bloom's Taxonomy, and training and developing others theory. Extend the exercise by referring to Kolb's Learning Styles, Gardner's Multiple Intelligences and VAK Learning Model, and to training evaluation and /font>Kirkpatrick's evaluation model.
This is a simple activity with lots of variations, to suit many games requirements. For groups of any size, split the group into teams of up to five people per team. This also works as an individual exercise and for pairs and teams of three, although obviously the team-building benefit increases with the size of the teams. Issue each team with a sheet of flip-chart paper, a pencil and a marker pen, and give them five minutes to draw a map of a part of the world, for example, Europe, Africa, South America, the states of the USA, Asia, the counties of England, Scotland, Wales, etc. Anywhere that might relate to the group and its responsibilities or territory. It's a challenging exercise which is a lot of fun when teams display and compare their maps. Increase the degree of difficulty by asking for capital cities or county/state capital towns to be added, or populations estimates, etc. Reduce the level of difficulty by providing a list of countries or states or counties, towns, statistics, etc., which people can then work from. Orientate the exercise to your own organisation or business by asking for information to be mapped relating to your key customers, branches, markets, etc., - anything that's relevant to your purposes. As the facilitator all you need is a copy of the correct version to issue to groups afterwards. The exercise is good for people of all ages, including youngsters.
It is easy to devise exercises, activities, ice-breakers and games for specific subject training, such as first aid, trade-skills, driving, health and safety, etc., by adapting other generic exercises, and particularly the two examples below. Look at generic exercises and insert your particular subject or theme. Simply alter the instructions so that delegates are limited to the subject concerned, be it customer service, safety, or in these examples, first aid:
A simple ice-breaker idea for group or team introductions:
1. Ask people to think of two personal first aid (or customer service, health and safety, etc, etc) experiences from their past - one good and one bad. Then ask each person to describe their experiences briefly in turn to the group. Note the key points on a flip chart.
Another ice-breaker and participation activity:
2. Put as many different items of first aid (or other items relevant to specific training subject) as there are delegates, into the middle of the table. In turn each delegate must close their eyes and reach out to touch an item. The one they touch they must then briefly describe a personal incident or witnessed incident featuring the item. Note the key points on a flip chart.
In both of these exercises decide before-hand how to review the experiences and examples given, for example, start a brainstorm session with the group, have a group discussion, summarise the key learning points, summarise the key areas of interest among people, discuss the difference between feelings and apparent problem/success/outcome.
The simple exercises above will adapt to suit virtually any theme or subject that you wish to teach or train.
A very flexible activity. For groups of any size. Split the group into teams of four to five members. For larger groups the split teams can self-facilitate provided you explain the exercise and keep an eye on things. If the group size is no more than four or five obviously you facilitate.
Prepare a number of 'statement cards' (or pieces of paper) each containing a different statement, (statements to suit your purposes - examples below).
Team members then pick (blind) a statement and complete it by adding their own words aloud to the team. Each team member does this for each statement in turn. Then a different team member picks a new statement and the process continues. Encourage the team to discuss briefly the important points arising of opportunity, threat, and consensus (agreement) for each statement, and to 'park' these points on a flip-chart or sheet of paper for review later when all teams reconvene as a whole group.
Statements examples:
Statements for a session on general work attitudes and opportunities: | Statements for a session about improving service levels: | Statements for a session about developing and using people's potential: | Statements for a session about ideas for improving morale: | Statements for a session on personal feelings and social views (warm-up ice-breaker only - no need for significant review): |
|
|
|
|
|
You get the idea... Preparation for this activity takes just a couple of minutes: to think of a suitable subject area and purpose, to think of suitable statement beginnings (the less words the better because it enables people more interpretation freedom) and then to type or write them onto a sheet, and cut into separate cards or slips of paper - one statement per card/slip.
A variation on the exercise, and even easier to prepare, is to invite the team members to write their own statement beginnings onto a slip of paper each, fold the paper and put into the middle of the table with other people's statements, and have the team pick and speak about each one in turn.
When creating (or instructing the team to create) statements, try to accentuate the positive rather than inviting people to be negative, although if there are serious negatives you are best knowing about them than not.
(Developed from a suggestion by F Kelly)
For any group size. This interesting activity will take 30-60 minutes. Split the group into teams of three to five people. Explain first that there is not necessarily any psychological correlation between what you are about to ask the group to do, and the personalities of the group (probably.... it's a bit of fun). The purpose of the activity is to develop personal self-awareness, to develop mutual awareness among the teams' members, to stimulate feedback from other team members, and generally to assist team-building and bonding through getting to know each other better. The activity helps Johari Window development, which is a useful reference model for the teams. The exercise is simple: Issue each team of 3-5 people with coloured pens, markers, or crayons, and a sheet of paper per team member (A4 is fine, bigger sheets are great if there's enough room and some big marker pens or paints and brushes).
Each team member's task is to draw or paint a tree on their sheet. The tree must include root system, trunk, branches, leaves, buds, fruit, flowers and thorns. After (or before - the choice is yours) the trees are drawn use this 'key' to ask the participants to think about their trees in terms of their:
Ask team members to share and discuss their trees and interpretations with each other within their teams. Emphasise the usefulness of empathic listening and non-judgemental feedback.
The duration of the exercise is flexible depending on the type of people, and the need, benefit and willingness for sharing personal feelings. Adapt the key above to suit the areas of discussion you seek to encourage, for example you could add birds and bees to the situation to represent temporary 'partnerships' or travel or holidays; or you could add windfall dead branches and leaves to represent discarded 'baggage'; or change 'leaves' to mean 'skills', 'buds' to mean opportunities, etc. You can remove items altogether if they are not relevant to the situation.
(Ack F Kelly)
你可以使用这个链接引用该篇文章 http://publishblog.blogchina.com/blog/tb.b?diaryID=6501698