Time required:40 minutes.
What it does:
Reviews the kind of accuracy errors that can occur and the actions that can be taken to avoid them.
 This activity is suitable for remote delivery. You will need:
Copies of the Reporting Errors Handout for each of your team members as well as a copy of the Crib Sheet for you. A flipchart and pens will also be useful.
In a nutshell:
Can your team spot the errors in the report you have asked them to proofread?
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Time required:30 minutes.
What it does:
Explores the difference between optimistic and pessimistic behaviour. It also identifies the kind of actions we can take if we want to be more optimistic.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery.
This team activity can be run on it’s own, but it works best when it is run after Attitudes Attract. You will need:
A copy of the handout and Optimism Top Tips for each team member, plus flipchart paper and pen for you.
In a nutshell:
A chance for your team to think about optimistic and pessimistic behaviours and the impact optimism and pessimism have.
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Time required:15 minutes.
What it does:
Introduces the concept of assertiveness to your team and explores how comfortable they are in displaying assertive behaviour.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery.
You will need:
An area large enough for your team to move along the ‘Assertiveness Spectrum’ and, if possible, a piece of string/rope that is approximately 4 metres long to represent the spectrum.
You'll also need flipchart paper and pen.
In a nutshell:
A chance for your team to express how assertively they feel able to behave in different challenging situations.
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Time required:15 minutes.
What it does:
An opportunity to explore what it feels like when we take a pessimistic approach and how it impacts the likelihood of success.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery.
You will need:
Flipchart paper and a pen.
In a nutshell:
Can your team summon enthusiasm for a fund raising challenge when their manager seems so convinced that it will not work?
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Time required:30 minutes.
What it does:
Explores the people your team need to influence and makes them aware of the need to consider the needs of the person they are seeking to influence.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery. You will need:
Flipchart, pens, post-it notes and the Channels of Influence PowerPoint. Each member of your team will also need a Channels of Influence handout.
In a nutshell:
Can you re-tune the internal radio station of the people you need to influence?
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Time required:30 minutes.
What it does:
Highlights the role of body language in communication and identifies strategies for communicating more effectively over the phone.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery. You will need:
Blindfolds for every participant, and a flipchart.
In a nutshell:
Participants have a discussion whilst blindfolded to identify the difficulties that a lack of body language creates when not communicating face-to-face.
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Time required:30 minutes.
What it does:
Discusses the kind of behaviours that are needed to be an effective contributor to online meetings or conference calls.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery.
You will need:
You will need a copy of the meeting transcript, a copy of the handout and post it notes for all of your team members, as well as a flipchart and pens.
In a nutshell:
What advice can your team offer Derek and his colleagues that will help them make their conference calls more effective.
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Time required:30 minutes.
What it does:
Develops your team’s brainstorming skills. It has the added benefit of exploring what changes your team would like to see within your department and how to make them possible.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery.
This team activity can be run as a stand-alone exercise on brainstorming, or as part of a session looking to develop the continuous improvement skills of your team. If you choose the latter, it is recommended that you follow this activity up with Plan a Change. You will need:
Flipchart, paper and pens and enough green sticky dots for all team members to have three each. (If you can't source these, a green marker pen will do.)
In a nutshell:
Generate as many ideas as possible to improve your team’s performance and then look for ways to make the impossible possible.
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Time required:30 minutes.
What it does:
The first step to solving a problem is articulating it and this is a creative way for your team to share their workplace challenges. Designed to be run at the start of a session to encourage your team to take a more creative approach to problem solving.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery. You will need:
Each team member will need A4 paper and pens/pencils to draw with. Ideally, each team member will also have a blindfold - though this is optional.
In a nutshell:
Can you draw your challenge without seeing it?
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Time required:15 minutes.
What it does:
An energiser that helps your team get ready to think creatively, especially in their approach to problem solving.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery. You will need:
Creatively Thinking Cards, blu-tac and a stopwatch or a phone with a timer.
In a nutshell:
Team members have five minutes to plan a 60-second presentation on the unexpected subject they have be given; total creativity required.
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Time required:25 minutes.
What it does:
Considers a real life scenario whereby other customers witness how a store handles a customer complaint. What went well, what didn’t and how did it impact on other customers?
This activity is suitable for remote delivery.
You will need:
Each of your team members will need a copy of the brief to review.
In a nutshell:
What does the customer think when watching a complaint being handled in front of them?
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Time required:30 minutes.
What it does:
An opportunity for your team to share their ideas on how to deal with a variety of situations they will encounter when dealing with customers.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery. You will need:
There are two versions of the quiz questions, one for face-to-face customer interactions and another for phone-based customer dealings. This team activity will be more fun if you have buzzers or bells for the teams to use in the quiz. A prize for the winning team will add a nice competitive edge.
In a nutshell:
An interactive quiz for team members to say how they will deal with different situations with customers. Can be focused on face-to-face interactions or phone-based.
Please note that this is not a quiz with a provided list of right and wrong answers but rather a series of questions to make your staff think.
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Time required:30 minutes.
What it does:
Demonstrates how a Decision Making Matrix can help with problem solving.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery. You will need:
A copy of the brief and the handout from the Resources tab for each participant.
There is no definitive right answer for this team activity. We suggest completing the handouts yourself before running the activity so that you can compare how you would weight the criteria to how your team weights them.
In a nutshell:
Participants are introduced to a simple scoring and weighting system – Decision Matrix – enabling them to objectively evaluate a number of options against the established criteria.
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Time required:20 minutes.
What it does:
Explores why difficult conversations can be necessary and are part of healthy working relationships.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery.
You will need:
Each participant will need a copy of Carrie's Conundrum. You will also find it helpful to have a flipchart to record key points from the discussion.
In a nutshell:
Carrie works as a volunteer for a charity, but the changes being made are making her unhappy and she feels personally targeted. What should she do next?
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Time required:15 minutes.
What it does:
Explores the impact of assumptions on how we think.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery. You will need:
The PowerPoint slide from the Resources tab to show the riddle. Alternatively you can write it up in advance on a flipchart.
In a nutshell:
How do our assumptions get in the way of solving a very simple problem?
Check out the PowerPoint slide and see if you can solve the riddle before you discover the answer. A small clue for you is that the answer is not smoke inhalation.
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Time required:20 minutes.
What it does:
Explores what your team members believe needs to happen when there is conflict between colleagues. Does job-role play a part?
This activity is suitable for remote delivery.
This team activity can be run on its own, or as part of a session that explores how to handle difficult situations around conflict in the workplace. You will need:
An equal number of copies of the two different briefs to share amongst your team members.
In a nutshell:
How would you advise a friend who is struggling with a workplace colleague?
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Time required:25 minutes.
What it does:
Demonstrates the importance of asking the right questions when seeking to gain an understanding of the viewpoint of others.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery. You will need:
Paper and drawing equipment for each of your team members. Plus you will need a copy of the pictures provided to use in the exercise.
In a nutshell:
Can your team ask the right questions in order to get a clear picture?
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Time required:25 minutes.
What it does:
Explores what employees can do to improve their own levels of engagement.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery.
You will need:
This activity has a PowerPoint slide to assist with delivering the session. You will also need a copy of The Job Dilemma handout for each of your participants. It may also be worth distributing the Building Engagement Cards to the teams as an aide memoir.
In a nutshell:
Charlie has been offered a great role in a prestigious museum, but is it the right thing to do to accept the job?
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Time required:15 minutes.
What it does:
Explores what your employees can do to improve their own levels of engagement.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery.
You will need:
This activity has a PowerPoint slide to assist with delivering the session. In addition, flipchart paper pens and sticky dots will be needed – each participant will need 5 red and 3 green dots. (If you don’t have dots, coloured marker pens will suffice.) Each team will also need a copy of the Building Engagement Cards.
In a nutshell:
What actions are required by you and your team to maximise their engagement?
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Time required:15 minutes.
What it does:
Introduces the concept of Equality and Diversity and assesses your team’s attitude to them.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery. You will need:
An area large enough for your team to move along the ‘Equality and Diversity Spectrum’ and, if possible, a piece of string/rope that is approximately 4 metres long to represent the spectrum.
You'll also need flipchart paper and a pen.
In a nutshell:
A chance for your team to express their personal experiences of Equality and Diversity and their attitudes towards these concepts.
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Time required:25 minutes.
What it does:
Explains the emotional journey that people go through during a period of change and helps your team to understand and recognise the stages they experience when there is change at work. Useful if you will be introducing changes within the team.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery.
You will need:
PowerPoint of SARAH’s Change Curve, flipchart paper and pens. It is also strongly recommended that you read our SARAH's Change e-learning activity to understand more about SARAH and how to make change management more effective.
In a nutshell:
Explore SARAH’s emotional journey when undergoing change.
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Time required:25 minutes.
What it does:
Brings to life what it takes for an objective to be SMART and enables participants to create their own SMART objectives.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery. You will need:
The Getting SMART PowerPoint and a copy of the handout for each team member from the Resources tab.
In a nutshell:
Can you learn from a poor timekeeper what it takes to set SMART objectives?
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Time required:30 minutes.
What it does:
What is the difference between Assertive Behaviour and more Passive or Aggressive approaches? This activity explores those differences and gives your team a chance to share their ideas about how to deal assertively with customers.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery. You will need:
Each of your participants will need a copy of both handouts. The PowerPoint is designed to support your delivery of the session.
Before running this team activity, review the scenarios in Handout 2 and decide what you think is the appropriate action for a member of your team to take.
In a nutshell:
Building effective working relationships with customers is a big challenge. Can your team think on their feet and identify assertive coping strategies for different situations?
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Time required:30 minutes.
What it does:
Explores the differences between Assertive behaviour and more Passive or Aggressive approaches when dealing with our internal customers.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery. You will need:
A copy of both handouts for each pair of participants. The PowerPoint is designed to support your delivery of the session.
Before running this team activity, review the scenarios in Handout 2 and decide what you think is the appropriate action for a member of your team to take.
In a nutshell:
Building effective working relationships with our internal customers is a big challenge. Can your team think on their feet to identify assertive coping strategies for different situations?
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Time required:30 minutes.
What it does:
This activity will give your team four simple steps to follow when dealing with an unhappy customer.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery.
This team activity works very well as a follow up to The Shoe Shop.
You will need:
Flipchart and pens.
In a nutshell:
Learn how empathy and understanding can help make handling difficult customers easier.
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Time required:30 minutes.
What it does:
Demonstrates a technique for your team to use to identify when they need to tackle a difficult situation and gives them the tools to prepare to do it in an assertive manner.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery. You will need:
Flipchart paper and a copy of the handout for each participant.
In a nutshell:
Demonstrates the steps your team members can take in order to deal with a difficult workplace relationship effectively.
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Time required:30 minutes.
What it does:
Introduces the concept of Stakeholder Analysis to identify the key people who need to be won over when working on a project at work.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery.
You will need:
The PowerPoint slide provided and a copy of the handout for each participant.
In a nutshell:
Staff analyse the stakeholders for a project their team is working on.
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Time required:10 minutes.
What it does:
Introduces the concept of identifying the level of urgency and the level of importance when prioritising work to be done.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery.
You will need:
The PowerPoint provided.
In a nutshell:
Staff learn how to distinguish between urgency and importance when creating to-do lists.
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Time required:20 minutes.
What it does:
Demonstrates how easy it is for misunderstandings to occur even when we think we are being very clear in what we are saying.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery. You will need:
Plenty of post-it notes for your team members. You'll also need 10 sheets of flipchart paper, numbered between 1-10, with each sheet's number written in the top left corner.
In a nutshell:
How often do your team members hear the same word and understand something differently?
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Time required:10 minutes.
What it does:
Encourages your team to be ready to think creatively or embrace new ideas.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery. You will need:
A newspaper, flipchart paper and pens. A prize for the winning team is optional.
In a nutshell:
How many ideas can your team generate in five minutes?
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Time required:30 minutes.
What it does:
A practical team activity to demonstrate how to plan to implement real change or workplace improvements.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery.
You will need:
The Plan a Change Handout for your team members (provided in the Resources tab).
Before the session you will need to ask everyone attending to bring with them at least three ideas they have for improving performance within the department or team. Alternatively, if you run the Creative Brainstorming activity just before this one, you will have plenty of ideas in the room. In a nutshell:
Take a real-life improvement needed in your team and ask your team to plan how to make the change happen.
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Time required:45 minutes.
What it does:
An opportunity to reflect on the importance of addressing the problems/issues that matter and that are within your team’s capacity to resolve.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery.
You will need:
The PowerPoint provided in the Resources tab and a flipchart paper with the grid described drawn on it. Pens and post-it notes.
In a nutshell:
Consider issues/challenges faced by the team and identify which ones to address based on the ability of the team to solve the problem and the need to do so.
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Time required:30 minutes.
What it does:
A chance to reflect on the importance of addressing the problems/issues that matter and that are within our capacity to resolve, in order to manage personal stress.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery.
You will need:
The Addressing Problems PowerPoint from the Resources tab and a copy of the grid drawn on a flip chart. You'll also need a copy of the Action Plan handout (from the Resources tab), pens and post it notes for each participant.
In a nutshell:
Consider issues/challenges faced by individuals so they can identify which ones to tackle based on the stress it is causing and their capacity to resolve the issue.
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Time required:25 minutes.
What it does:
Demonstrates how understanding one another builds rapport.
This activity can be delivered remotely. You will need:
One pack of Getting to Know You cards for every two team members. You will also need flipchart paper.
In a nutshell:
What can your team members discover that they never knew before about their colleagues? How does it affect them?
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Time required:30 minutes.
What it does:
Demonstrates the importance of using summary and clarification to check understanding.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery. You will need:
A Lunch Order Form for each participant and a copy of Briefs 1 and 2 for each pair.
In a nutshell:
Will participants have a clear understanding of needs and enough information to order the right lunches for their 'colleagues'?
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Time required:30 minutes.
What it does:
Encourages your team to share information about themselves and consider the extent to which their skills and abilities are fully utilised at work.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery. You will need:
A questionnaire from each participant (completed in private and returned at least seven days before the event). The questionnaire can be completed online or printed off and completed by hand. Pens and paper for everyone. A prize for the winning team member would be a nice touch.
This team activity will require some preparation.
In a nutshell:
How well do your team know their colleagues and how much diversity is there within the team that they weren't aware of before?
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Time required:20 minutes.
What it does:
Explores the behaviours that contribute to Employee Engagement.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery. You will need:
Each team will need one set of Building Engagement Cards. You'll need a flipchart paper and pens. A PowerPoint slide with the engagement definition is provided, but is not essential.
In a nutshell:
Can your team make the connection between great workplace experiences and engaging behaviours?
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Time required:15 minutes.
What it does:
Explores the views and attitudes of your team on the subject of Equality and Diversity.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery. You will need:
An area large enough for your team to move along ‘The Diversity Spectrum’ and, if possible, a piece of string or rope that is approximately 4 metres long to represent the spectrum.
You'll also need flipchart paper and pen.
In a nutshell:
A chance to explore attitudes to Diversity and Equality within your team and the experiences that have influenced them.
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Time required:30 minutes.
What it does:
Demonstrates the normal emotions that occur when going through the process of change and allows your team to explore those feelings in a safe environment.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery. You will need:
A short sleeved t-shirt, a flip chart and the Facilitator Handout from the Resources tab. You'll also need to ask your team to each bring a short sleeved t-shirt with them. Keep it mysterious, tell them that all will be revealed…
We recommend spending some time mastering the folding technique beforehand, so you are able to comfortably and quickly demonstrate it to your team.
In a nutshell:
What does it feel like when we suddenly need to change our behaviour so we can perfectly fold a t-shirt in two seconds?
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Time required:20 minutes.
What it does:
Explores how comfortable your team are with change.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery. You will need:
An area large enough for your team to move along the ‘Spectrum of Change’ and, if possible, a piece of string or rope that is approximately 4 metres long to represent the spectrum.
You'll also need flipchart paper and pen.
In a nutshell:
A chance for your team to express how they feel about change and explore what influences this.
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Time required:20 minutes.
What it does:
Explores how challenging communication can be when relying on words alone.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery. You will need:
A copy of the handout from the Resources tab as well as a flipchart and coloured pens.
In a nutshell:
How accurately will your volunteer interpret the words they hear?
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Time required:30 minutes.
What it does:
Tests the listening and recall skills of your staff, enabling them to explore barriers to listening effectively. It will also enable you all to create a list of Listening Tips for your staff.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery. You will need:
A ball or other soft object for team members to catch, plus enough space for your team to stand in a circle. A flipchart to document the key learning points.
In a nutshell:
Team members build a story that tests their listening skills.
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Time required:15 minutes.
What it does:
Defines bullying and harassment and explores their consequences.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery. You will need:
Nothing extra is required, though you may wish to use the PowerPoint slides we’ve provided.
In a nutshell:
This discussion activity explores the legal definitions of bullying and harassment as well as their impact.
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Time required:15 minutes.
What it does:
Introduces the concept of Emotional Intelligence for those who are new to the subject.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery. You will need:
Copies of the handouts (one of each handout per team) and the PowerPoint slide from the Resources tab. You'll also need a flipchart and pens for the discussions.
In a nutshell:
What are the four main emotions we experience and what events are likely to trigger them?
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Time required:25 minutes.
What it does:
Introduces the concept of Employee Engagement to people who have not encountered it before.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery. You will need:
PowerPoint slides have been provided to assist with your delivery; alternatively you can use pre-prepared flipcharts.
In a nutshell:
Differentiates between ‘Satisfaction’, ‘Motivation’ and ‘Employee Engagement’ and helps staff understand why engagement matters.
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Time required:15 minutes.
What it does:
Encourages participants to think about the true cost of meetings and why it is so important to ensure that meetings are effective.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery. You will need:
A calculator, a copy of the salary bands and a copy of the handout from the Resources tab for each participant. This team activity also involves the use of post-it notes and a flipchart.
Before the meeting you will need to create a handout that details salary bands for the roles of the people who work in your team(s). To avoid any conversations about pay, we would recommend only detailing the starting salary for each band, but you can use actual salary costs if you wish.
We also recommend completing the handout from the Resources tab yourself prior to the meeting so you know what the correct answer is.
In a nutshell:
Using the guide provided, participants calculate the probable cost of having a meeting.
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Time required:10 minutes.
What it does:
Gives your team members an opportunity to realise the frequency of their negative thoughts and the impact this has on them, and indeed, those around them.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery.
This activity can be explained in a group situation or on a 1:1 basis. It is best debriefed on a 1:1 basis though. You will need:
A set of Negative Thought Tokens per participant and two envelopes, one marked 'Start of the Day' and the other 'Counting the Thoughts'.
Negative Thought Tokens are provided in the Resources tab (print and cut out one sheet of tokens per participant).
In a nutshell:
Each participant has 20 tokens and every time they have a negative though they must place one token in an envelope to highlight the frequency of the thoughts.
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Time required:25 minutes.
What it does:
Identifies what types of behaviours can be seen as bullying or harassment.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery. You will need:
One set of Intentions v Perceptions Scenario Cards for every five participants.
There are also some PowerPoint slides to assist you in the delivery of the session.
In a nutshell:
Can your team tell the difference between what is acceptable workplace behaviour and what is bullying or harassment?
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Time required:30 minutes.
What it does:
Demonstrates to your team the difference it can make to their performance in a role when they receive effective feedback.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery. You will need:
The handout provided in the Resources tab, flipchart paper and coloured pens for each team member.
It is also recommend that you refer to the Feedback AID e-learning activity on giving feedback effectively.
In a nutshell:
Your team are all new artists in residence, drawing horses. See how they get on with their first assignment and the difference effective feedback makes.
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Time required:30 minutes.
What it does:
Demonstrates how easy it is to make assumptions and how often this impacts on our perception of reality.
This activity is suitable for remote delivery. You will need:
Nothing other than the materials provided.
In a nutshell:
Participants identify the dangers of making assumptions.
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