The Team Building Directory

Advice and information about all things team buiding

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Being There

Type of activity:

Ice Breaker, Energiser, Exercise, Illustration

Participants:

8 - 400+

Timing:

15 - 60 Minutes

Key Themes:

Communication, Motivation, Teamwork, Change

Overview

A simple and fun activity, ideal as an icebreaker, illustration or a longer exercise to demonstrate how people can run on set lines/routines, without noticing things and people around us.

Pre-Work

None required.

Equipment and Layout

Enough space for all participants, working in groups of any size. This can be done in any room layout – boardroom, conference or lecture theatre. Prepared list of questions (see below).

Running The Activity

  1. Ideas for questions : What colour are the floor tiles in reception?, What was the name of the lady who served you coffee on arrival (it was on her name badge)?, What was the colour of the receptionist’s jacket?, What is printed on your room key fob aside from the number?, How many plastic cards are in your wallet?, etc.
  2. The emphasis of the exercise will be slightly different if the situation is a one-off conference venue, compared with the group’s normal working environment.
  3. Try to make the questions fair for all, especially if participants have quite different familiarity with the location.
  4. The exercise is an enjoyable and different way to illustrate the opportunities that we all have for improving our awareness, and therefore responsiveness.

Additional Notes

Sometimes the group will be unable to disentangle their hands completely – your timetable and the response of the participants should determine when you call a halt to proceedings if this appears to be the case

Reviews and Conclusions

If the group have succeeded, you can look at:
What stops us from being present?
When are we most aware of the world around us?
How would “Being There”, wherever we are, affect our relationships or career?

Follow-up

Fish! and Concertina Feedback are good follow-up exercises.
For further suggestions on follow-up and other team activities, go to www.freshtracks.co.uk or email mail@freshtracks.co.uk
Download the Being There Teambuilding PDF here.