Tarleton State University
Coordinated Study Group
Tarleton State University
Coordinated Study Group
Tarleton State University
Coordinated Study Group
Attached below are a series of problem-solving and team building activities. These also work great if you or your group are looking for a quick study break.
1. Game of Possibilities
Time: 5-6 minutes
Number of Participants: One or multiple small groups
Tools Needed: Any random objects
Rules: This is a great 5-minute team building game. Give an object to one person in each group. One at a time, someone has to go up in front of the group and demonstrate a use for that object. The rest of the team must guess what the player is demonstrating. The demonstrator cannot speak, and demonstrations must be original, possibly wacky, ideas.
Objective: This team building exercise inspires creativity and individual innovation.
2. Winner/Loser
Time: 5-6 minutes
Number of Participants: Two or more people
Tools Needed: None
Rules: Partner A shares something negative that happened in their life with Partner B. It can be a personal or work-related memory, but it has to be true. Then Partner A discusses the same experience again, but focuses only on the positive aspects. Partner B helps explore the silver lining of the bad experience. Afterward, they switch roles.
Objective: Participants discover how to reframe negative situations into learning experiences together.
3. Purpose Mingle
Time: 1 - 2 minutes
Number of Participants: Any
Tools Needed: None
Rules: This one is for those of you looking for a great indoor team building game that won't take up much time. Before a meeting, have each individual walk around and share what they hope to contribute to the meeting with as many people as possible. If you want, offer a prize for the person who shares with the most people, and another for the person who successfully contributes what they shared.
Objective: Improves meeting productivity and makes attendees think about how they're going to contribute, rather than just what they hope to get out of the meeting.
4. Truth and Lies
Time: 10 - 15 minutes
Number of Participants: Five or more people
Tools Needed: None
Rules: Sit everyone in a circle facing each other. Have each person come up with three facts about themselves and one lie. The lie should be realistic instead of extravagant. Go around the circle and have each person state the three facts and a lie in a random order, without revealing which is the lie. After someone shares, the others must guess which is the lie.
Objective: This is a great ice breaker game, especially for new teams. Helps eliminate snap judgements of colleagues, and gives introverts an equal chance to share some facts about themselves.
5. This is Better Than That
Time: 15 - 20 minutes
Number of Participants: Any
Tools Needed: Four or more objects
Rules: Pick four or more objects that are different (or the same objects that look different). Split all your participants into even teams. Describe a scenario where each team has to solve a problem using only those objects. This can be anything from "You're stranded on a desert island" to "You're saving the world from Godzilla!" Have each team rank the objects based on their usefulness in that specific scenario, along with their reasoning.
Objective: This exercise inspires team creativity in problem solving. The idea is to not make the scenarios too easy so it becomes obvious which objects are most useful.
Team Building Exercises
Problem Solving Exercises
1. Identify the issues.
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Be clear about what the problem is.
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Remember that different people might have different views of what the issues are.
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Separate the listing of issues from the identification of interests (that's the next step!).
2. Understand everyone's interests.
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This is a critical step that is usually missing.
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Interests are the needs that you want satisfied by any given solution. We often ignore our true interests as we become attached to one particular solution.
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The best solution is the one that satisfies everyone's interests.
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This is the time for active listening. Put down your differences for awhile and listen to each other with the intention to understand.
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Separate the naming of interests from the listing of solutions.
3. List the possible solutions
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This is the time to do some brainstorming. There may be lots of room for creativity.
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Separate the listing of options from the evaluation of the options.
4. Evaluate the options.
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What are the pluses and minuses? Honestly!
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Separate the evaluation of options from the selection of options.
5. Select an option or options.
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What's the best option, in the balance?
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Is there a way to "bundle" a number of options together for a more satisfactory solution?
6. Document the agreement(s).
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Don't rely on memory.
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Writing it down will help you think through all the details and implications.
7. Agree on contingencies, monitoring, and evaluation.
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Conditions may change. Make contingency agreements about foreseeable future circumstances (If-then!).
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How will you monitor compliance and follow-through?
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Create opportunities to evaluate the agreements and their implementation. ("Let's try it this way for three months and then look at it.")