BAD IDEA

TYPE: team-building game

AIM: Developing team-work and strategic planning skills as participants have one goal and they have to cooperate and listen to each other to succeed.

PARTICIPANTS WILL GAIN...

... VALUES: respect, trust, tolerance, team spirit

... SKILLS: working in team, listening to others, statregic planning, handling failure

... KNOWLEDGE: phases of team development, roles in teams

DESCRIPTION OF THE GAME:

Before the game: 

Place as many chairs as there are participants and one extra chair in the room randomly with different direction and let all participants take a seat like showed in photo:

Instructions: 

Imagine you are a one big brain and each one of you is one good and useful thought/idea. But I am a bad idea and I want to come in your brain. Your job is to stop me. My job is to reach free chair. The only way to stop me, is that one of you will sit on the empty chair. You can’t put any object on the chair or remove the chair. If you have already stand up from your chair, you can’t sit back on the same chair. You need to find new empty one. Always you have to sit on the chair correctly (it means you can’t move the chairs and your back has to touch the back of the chair. If game starts, I start moving slowly towards empty chair. If someone stands up, there is a new empty chair and I will change my direction.

Gameleader tasks during the game:

First say the instruction and after that start playing. If you have reach the emtpy chair, then give group few minutes to discuss a strategy and then play again. Repeat this until it is difficult for you to find a chair, because team has come up good plan that works. 

REFLECTION:

Gather people in circle and ask the following questions:

1. How did you felt during the game and how are you feeling now?

2. How you started?

3. What happened?

4. What kind of strategies you used?

5. Where there any leaders?

6. Did you felt you participated and you had important role in the game?

7. Was participants effort equal?

8. What could be done differently?

9. What did you learned from the game? About yourself? About others?

10. How is it real life? Any parallels?

Gameleader tasks during reflection:

Ask one question at the time!

Don't be afraid of silence - let people think!

EXTRA NOTES:

1. This game is good example of team development phases, so during reflection you could share theory about them:

- Forming (Most team members are positive and polite. Some are anxious, as they haven't fully understood what work the team will do. This stage can last for some time, as people start to work together, and as they make an effort to get to know their new team members.)

- Storming (People start to push against the boundaries established in the forming stage. Storming often starts where there is a conflict between team members' natural working styles. 

- Norming (People start to resolve their differences, appreciate others strengths, and respect someones authority as a leader. People develop a stronger commitment to the team goal, and you start to see good progress towards it.)

- Preforming (Hard work leads to the achievement of the team's goal.)

2. In reflection part it is good to point out that all the participants had a very important role in this game. Even if they did not move during the game, they were still holding a place. Make a parallel with real life - it can happen that working in some team you don't feel your role, but then again you just may not realise it yet. 

3. In this game people tend to worry about places close to them and it is more difficult to be focused on the chairs far from you. That is also the same in life - we worry about problems that are close to us, but the answer could be there if we see wider picture.