Decision Making & Goal Setting Workshop Activities

THE WARM SEAT

The 'warm seat' generates ideas for action points for the seated person.

Unlike the 'hot seat' where individuals are put on the spot and face questions from others, the 'warm seat' is a comfortable seat from which the seated person asks the questions. The most important feature of this reviewing method is that the seated person is in control: if they feel 'too hot', 'too cold' or in any way uncomfortable, they leave the seat to stop whatever is being said.

Near and Far

icebreaker energiser action thiagi outdoor warm up

Near and Far is a wonderful warm up game that provides excellent avenues to build connections and to discuss various issues of corporate culture and dynamics. I have used it in conferences and it is suitable for small, medium, and large groups.

Lightning Decision Jam (LDJ)

action decision making problem solving issue analysis innovation design remote-friendly

It doesn’t matter where you work and what your job role is, if you work with other people together as a team, you will always encounter the same challenges:

Unclear goals and miscommunication that cause busy work and overtime
Unstructured meetings that leave attendants tired, confused and without clear outcomes.
Frustration builds up because internal challenges to productivity are not addressed
Sudden changes in priorities lead to a loss of focus and momentum
Muddled compromise takes the place of clear decision- making, leaving everybody to come up with their own interpretation.
In short, a lack of structure leads to a waste of time and effort, projects that drag on for too long and frustrated, burnt out teams.

AJ&Smart has worked with some of the most innovative, productive companies in the world. What sets their teams apart from others is not better tools, bigger talent or more beautiful offices. The secret sauce to becoming a more productive, more creative and happier team is simple:
Replace all open discussion or brainstorming with a structured process that leads to more ideas, clearer decisions and better outcomes.

When a good process provides guardrails and a clear path to follow, it becomes easier to come up with ideas, make decisions and solve problems.

This is why AJ&Smart created Lightning Decision Jam (LDJ). It’s a simple and short, but powerful group exercise that can be run either in-person, in the same room, or remotely with distributed teams.

Celebrity Party

teampedia icebreaker communication diversity team action

Great activity to help people warm up in a new environment.

2 Minute Drill

thiagi issue analysis action review

Textra Games combine the effective organization of well-written documents with the motivational impact of training games. Participants read a handout, booklet, reprint, or a chapter in a book and play a game that uses peer pressure and peer support to encourage the recall and transfer of what they read.

Here is a fast-paced textra game for reviewing training content from product-knowledge booklets or technical reference manuals.

The North Wind Blows...

teampedia team opening icebreaker action

The game enables participants to get to know each other and have fun at the same time. Also since it takes a lot of moving it can be used as an energiser too.

Quick Situations

debriefing thiagi action context teamwork

Here's a debriefing card game that enables participants to reflect on a variety of situations and to come up with suitable action ideas

Strength Envelopes

appreciation self-awareness feedback team thiagi teambuilding action skill building

This activity helps working teams to discover and share individual strengths and to increase their engagement by structuring their jobs around these strengths. Suitable for people who work together (for example, members of an intact work team) organized into playgroups of 5 to 9 members.

Start, Stop, Continue

gamestorming action feedback decision making

The object of Start, Stop, Continue is to examine aspects of a situation or develop next steps. Additionally, it can be a great framework for feedback

CIA

thiagi action role playing

Here's what the three letters of the acronym stand for: constructive, immediate, and active. Whenever someone shares some news about positive things that happened to her, react constructively, immediately, and actively. This strengthens your relationship and makes both of you happy. To learn more about this approach, read the handout at the end of the game instructions.

Quick Change

thiagi opening change management action

This opening activity works well for topics that deal with the challenges of change. It is adapted from an activity developed and used by Crestcom, a management and leadership development company.

Go!

communication collaboration team strategy teampedia action team

This exercise creates an opportunity to talk about team accountability and communication and paying attention to what's not happening (as opposed to what is happening) by having the group move fluidly as one person leaves a place and another enters their spot.