6+ great team experiential exercises that can be done virtually with a little planning…

Many of us have had to make a switch from working face-to-face with our learners to working remotely and whilst this is reasonably easy with content-based training as long as we make good use of break-out rooms, polls and quizzes, asking learners to bring objects with them and sending surprise items in the post, it can be harder with subjects like team development. I have tried out and want to share with you 6+ of the best experiential team exercises that can be done virtually.

Simbols

This is a great exercise by RSVP that requires participants to communicate verbally in order to work out where 30 cards should go in a grid. In the virtual version, learners have their ‘cards’ emailed to them before the session and then during the session itself can work either as a whole group or in 3 break out rooms to decide where each card should go. After 45 minutes, the group have two minutes to communicate their decisions to the facilitator who creates and shows the team the final result (I recommend having an extra camera set up to show the grid clearly for maximum impact if using the physical grid). RSVP have now developed a digital moveable version of the grid which can be screen shared. The exercise requires the team to communicate effectively and to create a shared language and understanding of some abstract symbols as well as delivering to time. It is great for helping teams to develop their skills in communicating effectively in video conferences when reviewed effectively.

Collaboration puzzle

This exercise by Metalog is a great one for teams to work together because as well as looking at communication, it enables them to look at issues such as organisation, response to mistakes, project planning and execution and motivation. The objective of the exercise is for the team to work out how to get 8 wooden rods inserted correctly into 8 holes in a wooden pedestal. The way it works on-line is for the facilitator to be connected to their chosen video platform via both their computer and their mobile phone. One at a time, learners enter the breakout room where they can see the puzzle and tell the facilitator the moves they wish to make. They then return to the main room to discuss and plan next steps with the group. To make this easier, you can use two facilitators - one can be stationed in the break out room with the tool that team members enter and the other can stay in the main room with the group to observe their interactions. The team will only succeed if all team members share information as precisely as possible and develop a suitable strategy together. I love this game.

Colourblind

This classic exercise by RSVP involves the team working together to work out which coloured shapes are missing from a set. In the virtual version, learners have their own shapes emailed to them and need to describe them to their team mates in order to work out what is missing. The facilitator is able to show the missing shapes on screen that they describe at the end it is just as brilliant at improving communication and active listening skills on-line as it is in real life! Cameras can be switched off to enable total dependence on the quality of the team’s verbal communication. To be successful, teams also need to manage information effectively, clarify, summarise and give feedback. I must have run this exercise more than 200 times and it works just as well (or maybe even better!) virtually.

The sandwich shop and other business simulations

I recently ran this Northgate Business Simulation as part of a virtual Finance session on a Level 5 ILM programme and it worked really well to introduce the concept of profit and loss statements but also as a team development exercise. My course was 4 90 minute Zoom sessions over 2 days and we ran 2 rounds of the Sandwich Box game between each session which enabled the winners to be announced in the final session and prizes to be sent out. Any of Northgate’s business simulations could easily be run in the same way. I sent out the materials, created excel spreadsheets for the teams to input their decisions into, they e-mailed them to me, I inputted the results into the system and then scanned and e-mailed their results. It worked a treat and is a great way of making virtual training more exciting and interactive. Teams get together to make joint decisions on video calls. This could equally well be done in breakout rooms during your virtual session, but I had too much to fit in!

Workstations

This is a simple exercise by RSVP that requires participants to communicate verbally in order to work out the answers to two questions. In the virtual version, learners have their ‘cards’ emailed to them before the session and then during the session work in one group to manage all of the information and answer the questions. The exercise requires the team to communicate effectively and manage their ‘meeting’ effectively in order to involve and include everyone in order to reach the right decision. Brilliant for getting teams to consider how they can run virtual meetings more effectively and if you are kind you can allow them to use the interactive whiteboard to manage information. Best of all, it costs only £12!

Complexity

This exercise is a great physical tool from Metalog the concept of which can be adapted for the virtual environment. In the physical activity team members work to touch a series of numbers as fast as they can. In the virtual version, two teams compete to undertake this challenge in a breakout room, using a slide of random numbers which they have to stamp (use the annotate tool in Zoom!) in order as quickly as they can following certain rules. Teams take turns going to the break out room to do this. The task enables the team to practise coping with time and performance pressure, working together effectively and generating ideas to ensure continuous improvement. There is also a version where a ‘management’ team and a ‘delivery’ team have different roles which provides an opportunity for learning around leadership styles, managing groups and giving feedback. Both work well on-line.

Please don’t assume that not being able to get together physically means that we are not enable to develop teamwork and other inter-personal skills in an experiential way. Doing and thinking are always more effective ways to learn than listening.