Facilitate a team conversation about personal strengths:
Ask participants to pick from a set of strength card, e.g. one strength each for everyone in the group (or more for small groups)
People take turns to “give” a strength to another team member, share how/when they have seen the strength in the other person and say thank you
Everyone will end up with a set of strengths provided by other team members and feel belonging and appreciation
Roses, buds, and thorns is a quick and simple team exercise that can be performed at the start of a group meeting. The idea is to evaluate a project, team task, or even your day by having each team member come up with a Rose (positive highlight), Thorn (struggle or challenge), and Bud (opportunity for improvement). The goal of this activity is to open up discussion among team members and acknowledge the strengths and weaknesses of others. This can allow you to put measures in place to do more of what's going well, and fix what needs fixing. As well, this activity inspires creativity and debate within teams. Discussing Buds can encourage new, creative ideas to come to the fore. Finally, the activity allows you to gain insight from all members of the team as communication and honesty are important for every group!
Best Possible Self is a reflective visualization and journaling exercise coming from positive psychology that puts in the spotlight participants' positive orientation towards themselves and their best characteristics.
It invites participants to imagine themselves in the future, living their most fulfilling and meaningful life; a life aligned with their values, strengths, and passions.
This activity helps boost optimism, motivation, positive perspective towards self and clarity on values.
It is great in the context of personal development, coaching, goal-setting, personal strengths or wellbeing workshops, as it encourages participants to make a vivid and inspiring picture of their ideal self and to consider what daily actions might help bring that vision closer to reality.
It can be followed by e.g. step-by-step plan towards that future, or goal-setting exercise.
The MPS (Meaning-Pleasure-Strengths) exercise is a simple yet deep reflection tool designed to help participants identify life elements that contribute most to their wellbeing.
By answering three core questions; What gives me meaning? What brings me pleasure? What are my strengths?, and then looking for an overlap of the 3, participants can identify their personal patterns and areas of overlap that point to their most fulfilling activities and relationships.
This exercise is ideal for coaching sessions, personal development workshops, workshops on the topics of meaning, wellbeing or personal strengths.
It helps participants gain clarity on how to live more aligned, joyful, and purpose-driven lives. It also gives insights into what truly matters to them, and into their values and strengths.
Strengths Spotting is a reflective coaching exercise in which participants uncover personal strengths by engaging in deep, meaningful conversation with a partner. Using guiding questions, each person interviews the other and listens for clues about their natural talents, motivations, and flow states.
This coaching-style activity boosts self-awareness and is particularly useful in personal development, team-building, or coaching sessions.
