Library of facilitation techniques

An energiser game for remote teams where participants share images of their work set-up and attempt to guess opponents' desks while bluffing their own!

This teamwork activity requires participants to work closely together to build a tower from a set of building blocks. 

The players need to coordinate their actions in order to be able to move the wooden blocks with the crane they have, and this can only be solved by precise planning, good communication and well-organised teamwork.

You may use this exercise to emphasise the following themes and outcomes:

• In Leadership training: identifying interdependencies in systems, leadership communication, dealing with risk, giving feedback
  
• In Team building: communicating effectively, cooperating, being an active listener, maintaining the balance, working with values
  
• In Project management: simulating strategic planning, working under time pressure
  
• In Communication training: meta communication, facilitating, dealing with different perspectives
  

You can tap a deep well of curiosity and talent by helping a group focus attention on problems they want to solve. A productive pattern of engagement is established if used at the beginning of a working session. Loose yet powerful connections are formed in 20 minutes by asking engaging questions. Everyone contributes to shaping the work, noticing patterns together, and discovering local solutions.

This is a good game to begin a workshop. It sets everyone on the mood to learn, share, and participate.

Name all the bad ideas to make room for good ones. Coming up with the perfect solution right off the bat can feel paralyzing. So instead of trying to find the right answer, get unstuck by listing all the wrong ones.

Participants can gain insight into their own pattern of interaction and habits. Helping Heuristics make it possible for them to experience how they can choose to change how they work with others by using a progression of practical methods.

Heuristics are shortcuts that help people identify what is important when entering a new situation. They help them develop deeper insight into their own interaction patterns and make smarter decisions quickly. A series of short exchanges reveals heuristics or simple rules of thumb for productive helping. Try them out!

This structure enacts LS Principle #5, Practice Self-Discovery Within a Group

A Focused Conversation to begin to process traumatic situations for use with colleagues, friends and family, and how to respond to them productively. Often traumatic events become undiscussable and this enables persons to talk about them

This activity could be a great closing of a session or a workshop, revisit all the information/learning points while decorating the space.

The Team Purpose Canvas is a simple and effective way to design your team purpose.

The Fishbowl game is an effective way to activate attention—to prime our natural listening and observing skills so that a more substantive conversation can take place.

Light, energising exercise that helps the group to observe the other people on the call.