Unique Thing in Common
With a partner, find the 3 most unlikely / unusual / unique things you have in common with each other. Each pair chooses one to share with the group.
Library of facilitation techniques
Opening Workshop Activities
Tools and techniques activities to effectively kick-off a meeting, workshop or training session.
69 results
Draw toast
You can use the Draw Toast exercise to introduce people to the concepts of visual thinking, working memory, mental models and/or systems thinking.
This also works as a nice warm-up exercise to get people engaged with each other and thinking visually. Plus, it’s fun!
Your Amazing Future (Because of that...)
With a series of prompts a surprising and amazing future is created.
Get To Know You Better
This method helps groups to avoid awkward silence at the beginning of the session and instantly start a conversation. Ideal for large groups.
True of Me
Everyone covers their camera and one person makes a statement that is true about themselves. If it is true for others on the call, they show their face to the camera as well. The initiation for the next prompt is passed to another person in the group.
Coat of Arms
Coat of Arms exercise provides a way for participants to introduce themselves and their colleagues, particularly for groups who think they already know each other very well. Almost invariably participants discover something about their colleagues of which they previously had no idea. Occasionally this revelation has an immediate and direct application to another participant's current project or challenge.
Because this activity forces people to use drawings rather than words, it is particularly useful as a dual-purpose introductory exercise in training sessions that deal with such topics as innovation, creativity, and problem-solving.
Follow the Follower
One person is designated as the leader. Others copy exactly how the leader moves. The leader calls on a new person to be the leader, and so on. Follow the follower variation is when the leading gets passed to the entire group and no single person is leading.
Diversity Bingo
This game helps participants to get information on each other in a fun, competitive way.
Sit - Stand - Disappear
As a virtual game in Zoom, have people narrow their screen so they only see 3 people in a row. Each person will simultaneously try to have one person sitting, one standing , and one out of the frame in their row.
Hot Air Balloon
A great tool to kick-off ANY workshop! The hot air balloon is a metaphorical method that aims to identify strengths, weaknesses, external forces, stakeholders and goals all in a simple and well-structured process.
The charm is that you’re not relying on another dull matrix but actually going through an imaginary journey that engages us to think outside of our typical thought patterns. Just gather all participants and collect their input step-by-step in the process.
Job Description in 99 Words
Ask the participants to write what their job means to them in exactly 99 words (no more, no less), and then divide participants to explore and discuss the perception of their jobs.