The aims of this team exercise are to:
- Strengthen connection and relationships
- Learn more about individual strengths of team members
- Offer help to each other
- Normalise offering and asking for help; and as a result of all of the above …
- Increased individual and team performance
A few points that you might like to share, to introduce this exercise:
- High performing teams share their strengths so that they can all perform at their best individually and as a collective team
- This is an opportunity to learn more about what others would like to develop/learn/
do more of - It’s also an opportunity to ask for help. At this point I ask the following questions, asking for a show of hands in response:
- “Who here would readily offer help?” (Generally, everyone puts their hand up)
- “Keep your hand up if you readily ask for help.” (Generally, there tend to be fewer hands that remain up)
- I follow this with a rhetorical question such as “why is that so?” and a comment such as “Everyone here is willing to help, so it’s a safe environment to ask each other for help.”
Instructions for the exercise:
- Have 2 flip charts ready for the sticky notes below; one flip-chart with the heading, “I give …”; the other flip-chart with the heading, “I wish …”
- Invite everyone to share on sticky notes:
- On one sticky note: 1 or 2 strengths that individually, they bring to this team, that they are willing to share = “I give …”
- On a different sticky note: an area that they would like to develop/learn/do more of, that they are willing to share = “I wish …”
- Suggest that it’s important that everyone writes their name on each of these sticky notes so that fellow team members know:
- These are your strengths and can connect with you to learn more about them/from you
- Who the wish belongs to, so that they can help you in achieving your wish
- Invite your team to take 5 minutes or so to read all of the sticky notes and to:
- Connect with another team member that they can ask for help from, or that they can offer help to (another 5 mins or so)
- Invite everyone to:
- Take a photo of the gives/wishes so they can connect further, outside of this activity
- Debrief with questions such as:
- What did it feel like to connect?
- What was the impact on the energy in the room as team members connected?
- What did you learn from this exercise?
- What did you learn about yourself?
- Collect all of the sticky notes, type these up and send to all as a reminder