Helium Stick

Deceptively simple but powerful exercise for learning how to work together and communicate in small to medium sized groups. Helium Stick

Bibbity-Bobbity-Bop

One of my favorites! Played in a circle (minimum 9). You start in the middle to explain and begin the game. The goal is to get somebody to take your place. The game is played in rounds with an explanation of the rules before starting a new round. I usually timebox this game to 10-15 […]

The Human Knot

Getting to know each other better is unavoidable. Tip: This works best if you start with a circle not an oblong as it avoids circles forming within circles. For 10 or more players, I’ve played with as many as 50. The Human Knot

Crossed or Un-Crossed?

A quick and easy way to gather everyone’s attention. All you need is a pair of scissors. http://www.ultimatecampresource.com/site/camp-activity/scissors-or-crossed-uncrossed-game.html

What Relates to You?

Prepare 4 sets of 3 posters containing a large single word (see list below) and place them in 3 spots in the room with a cover sheet on top. Each flip chart will have one of the words from each set in the same order. Army, Navy, Air Force Beach, Mountain, City Chocolate, Vanilla, Strawberry Dog, Cat, Other Gather everyone […]

Big Ball O’Questions

Open a meeting using a beach ball covered with 50 to 100 questions written in permanent ink. Have everyone stand in a circle and toss the ball to each other. When the ball is caught the question closest to the left thumb is the one to read aloud and answer. Note: White beach balls work best otherwise avoid […]

Multitasking is Evil

A great exercise to demonstrate the effectiveness of working on one thing at a time. Support the idea of working through a prioritized list by taking each item to completion before pulling in the next piece of work. Multitasking is Evil

Ro Sham Bo Rockstar

A high energy variation on Rock, Paper, Scissors. The link takes you to a student game page but this is awesome for the workplace too. Ro Sham Bo Rockstar

Closer to the Sun

Participants form a circle around an object on the ground identified as the sun. Ask participants to move closer to or further from the sun dependent upon the accuracy of each statement. I live in [blank] County. I was born in [blank] State. I like my job. This is the best job I ever had. […]

VisualsSpeak

Use their images to start conversations. Watch team formation surface in powerful ways. Highly recommend this for every facilitators toolkit. Thanks to Sylvia Taylor for introducing me. VisualsSpeak