Purpose
This is an eye opening exercise which works best with a group of delegates who normally work together or are about to work together as a team. The activity increases individual’s awareness about how their colleagues feel in difficult situations or under pressure.
Objective
Participants to write down what phrases, behaviours and situations make them feel frustrated or under pressure.
What You Need
- A sheet of paper for each participant
- Pens
Setup
- Explain to delegates that they have 2 minutes to write down one sentence, one behaviour and one situation that makes them feel annoyed or frustrated in the work place. Examples include:
- Sentence: “Chill out” when you are really concerned about a problem and are trying to fix it.
- Behaviour: Talking very loudly on the phone when everyone is trying to concentrate on the job.
- Situation: A colleague taking credit for your ideas in regard with a project
- After 2 minutes, ask for a volunteer to collect the pairs and read them aloud for the group.
Timing
Explaining the Test: 5 minutes.
Activity: 10 minutes
Group Feedback: 10 minutes.
Discussion
How do you feel about this activity? Were some of the results unexpected? Is there something you say or do on a regular basis that could annoy or frustrate your team mates? How would you change your behaviour to avoid such situations? Did you find this exercise helpful in improving your interrelationship in your team?
Comments
By Patricia @ Monday, November 9, 2009 6:52 PM
I facilitated this activity with our leadership team at a recent off site retreat. The results were incredible. Instead of this being a 15 minute activity, it turned into a 2 hour activity with individuals sharing feelings that had never discussed in the past. The team is now closer than ever and has used the information obtained in the activity in a constructive way.
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