getKanban Game

I have played this with teams and in workshops so many times that the numbers were rubbing off the dice. (The good folks at getKanban sent new sets free of charge.) About the Game. The game is played in teams of four to six people, one game per team. Each team has a playing board […]

The Ball Point Game

A really fun way to learn the value of inspecting and adapting a teams through-put rate through iterations, self organization, estimation, historical data, and sustainable pace. Created by Boris Gloger. Tastycupcakes online version Play in person and materials

Movements of a Hypnotic Nature

Highly recommend! Participants get the feel and touch of emergent design, iterations, teamwork and operating from high-level requirements. Demonstrate the roots of Scrum through cross-functional and self-organizing teams. I have co-trained this exercise a couple of times with Dhaval Panchal. It originates from Brent Barton. Complete instructions here

Estimation Game

Credit to @ChrisSims who I first saw running a session like this at an AONW conference. I have used this exercise to help teams understand how a they can reach consensus in estimating work regardless of the differences in experience and skill-set amongst them. Part 1 Divide your room into equal teams (6 – 10 people on a team works well). […]

Marshmallow Challenge

The Marshmallow Challenge is a poweful exercise in fostering collaboration, it also reveals how we make many false assumptions. It originated with Dennis Boyle, Health and Wellness Partner at IDEO. Peter Skillman and Tom Wujec then presented TED talks about it. Instructions