As a group, decide if there IS or IS NOT a knot in a pile of rope. Most of our jobs involve a heavy amount of decision making. Many of us make decisions that affect one person to thousands of people everyday. As most of us make decisions we tend to decide based on our own personal perceptions.
Become a complete circle from a web of tangled participants. This exercise will bring group members closer together as it involves close physical proximity as well as interdependence among participants. Being physically close creates the setting for cohesiveness and teamwork and helps to break down the invisible walls people build around themselves.
Pass an increasing number of products among the group without drop any of them. This team building activity simulates a working environment where chaos rules, people are going many different directions, and lots of energy and resources are used to keep all the plates spinning. Participants identify what is needed to break through self-imposed limitations, think creatively, and focus on the most efficient way to complete tasks. Most of our jobs involve heavy amounts of juggling. We also come up against significant barriers, which must be broken through in order to increase performance. In this event participants will juggle as many items, as fast as possible, without dropping them.
Participants must coach partners into a course blindfolded to retrieve objects. The purpose of this exercise is to practice clear communication and develop keys to trust during challenging and confusing times. In organizations, workers are often considered students and administrators are often coaches. This event will remind people in each position what the other role feels like and lend insights to improving relations between the two.
Participants must accomplish a task as quickly as possible. They have many opportunities to improve. Warning: this event can lead to major paradigm shift. Once a team discovers the self-imposed rules they will begin to see solutions. Don’t Touch Me will challenge the team to think outside the box and challenge the actual and implied rules. Don’t Touch Me also helps the participants see what is truly possible if you challenge your self.
Participants pour water (or balls) from one bucket to another while remaining outside a perimeter and only using ropes. Creativity, group coordination, communication, leadership, perseverance and determination are just some of the qualities that are put to the test during this activity. This event is often considered impossible in the beginning and can be very stressful for some participants.
This event is designed to get the group interacting, having fun and is traditionally an icebreaker. Although a great icebreaker, there are great insights that are possible in the areas of: leadership, trust, communication and changing perspectives. Any of these can be touched upon during discussion and connected back to work.
The challenge of this event is to carry a small ball using a metal ring and rope, ‘Bull Ring,’ through a series of obstacles and place the ball into a goal. Bull Ring utilizes physical movement and cooperation. It also takes coordination to keep the ball on the ring. This is a great early activity for new groups because it requires people to communicate clearly and work together. Any one person can sabotage and no one can accomplish the activity alone.
The group must touch all necessary letters in a course area as fast as possible. Alphabet Soup is a great activity for overall team building. However, there are some specific areas that naturally come out: Communication Planning Problem Solving Process Improvement