Exercise on Alignment and Constructive Interaction

[Madeleine Hermansson Thors]

Purpose
This exercise is to help team members to free themselves of opinions and ideas that they are stuck to, or at least for them to notice what limitations their stuckness are putting on the team, enabling them to move forward with a team point of view, and also creating a foundation for further discussions on team work when disagreeing.

When to use
When the team is stuck in disagreement/argument where team members are holding on to their own ideas (for whatever reasons), unable to take in other points of view and/or let go/take influence for the good of the team.
When there is conflict rising in a discussion and the team gets stuck. Discussion is going nowhere and individuals are not able to let go of their own and/or see the benefits of others point of view.
If all team members have different views, this might not be the exercise to do. Narrow it down to a few (2-4 depending on team size) different views first if possible.

Where to use
Works well both IRL and Online.

Duration
Total of 30-90 min, depending on team size and how firm people are holding on to their statements/point of view.
5-10 min setup and context setting
15-60 min exercise
10-20 min summary/debrief

Context
It can sometimes be hard for people to see what the effect is on the other team members/the team when they are clinging to principles and their own point of view – often but not always coming from good intent – promoting what they think is best for the team, but without regards to how it affects the team and team members that have another opinion.

Setup
Everybody needs a paper and a black marker/felt-tip pen. If you are working IRL, place the team members in a circle. If you are working online, make sure that everybody has the camera on and that they can see each other (gallery view).
On the piece of paper, all team members write a couple of words that sums up their idea/point of view in the ongoing argument/discussion. More than one team member should have the same idea on their paper. The coach can also help by highlighting the different ideas identified and ask all team members to choose the one that they are advocating for and to write that on their paper.

Activity
Everybody holds up their paper in front of their face or camera. Text towards themselves, obstructing their view of the other team members. Make sure they keep the paper there until you say it is time to lower it. No one can see the others faces or their idea.
Ask someone to volunteer (or choose someone) to share their idea by turning their paper over – text towards the others. No words at this point.
Coach:
To presenter: How do you feel about sharing your idea to the team when they can’t see it?
To the team: How does it feel knowing X is presenting a potentially good idea that you are not able to take part of?
Ask presenter to turn their paper back to original position (text inwards). Now – if necessary – ask another team member with a different standpoint to share their idea the same way. Repeat this as long as you feel is suitable and/or until all different ideas are presented. Continue with the same questions: How does this feel for the person and how does it feel for the team?

Now ask all team members that have the same idea to lower their papers and to talk about their idea for 1-2 minutes.
Coach: How does this feel for the different groups? Presenting group is not fully “being listened” to because the others in the team is preoccupied with their own idea/point of view. They can hear but view is obstructed.
The group with obstructed view is not included in the conversation. How does that feel? How does it affect the team?
Do the same with another group. Ask the same questions. Continue with as many groups as you think is needed (one at a time) to get maximum amount of arguments/feelings out.

Debrief
Coach: What can the team learn from this exercise?
What does the team gain from someone – group or person – sticking to their idea?
What does the team loose from someone – group or person – sticking to their idea?
How do we want people on this team to share knowledge/ideas?
How does the team work with compromise? How do the team want to work with compromise? How will the team fill the gap?

Outcome
This is an exercise with an agenda. Team members are individuals put in the team to act on behalf of the team. We are here to accomplish something as a team. We need eachother. We need to be able to get unstuck and find new ways/ideas together.
Hopefully one of the conclusions will be that the individual is not supporting the team/cause by holding on to their own idea too hard or for too long.

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