TPI: Goals & Strategies Scaling Exercise

[Derek Lauber]

Scaling Exercise | 20-30 mins

SUPPLIES:
Painter’s tape
1-10 ft piece of tape placed horizontally
11-1 ft pieces of tape marked with numbers (0-10)

SPACE SETUP:
In the playground, create a horizontal line with the longest piece of tape. The smaller pieces of tape should be spaced equally across the longer line to form a scale, from 0 to 10.

CONTEXT:
High performing teams have clear challenging goals, and strategies to achieve them. They are highly resilient and not easily defeated in pursuit of their goals.

A team’s understanding of its goals and strategies directly contributes to the team’s productivity. Lack of, misunderstanding, unrealistic, or irrelevant goals leads to underperformance. This simple exercise uses physicality to help the team see a current snapshot of how the team is experiencing goals and strategies.

STEP 1:
Explain to participants that the line on the floor displays a scale that will help represent how each team member experiences the team’s goals and strategies. 0 means “highly unproductive – unclear”, 10 means “highly productive – crystal clear” and 5 means “it’s a bit cloudy, I could use some glasses”. Read or re-read the CONTEXT above so everyone has the same understanding. Team members will vote with their feet by standing on or near a specific number on the scale. Instruct the team to stand near the number on the scale where it feels right for them in relation to the following question:

“How clear are the goals and strategies of this team in your experience?”

Direct the team to move to their position without cross-talk or chatter. Give them approximately a minute to settle down into their space.

Share that the exercise requires “no-judgement” of others and requires “safety” for all participants to choose their place.

Once everyone is standing in their position on the scale, ask the question:

“What do you notice?”

STEP 2:
Ask one or two volunteers standing at 6 to 10:

“What led you to choose your position?

Pause and allow the team member to respond before asking the next question.

What is it like for you to experience goals and strategies at this position?

Ask one or two volunteers standing at 0 to 5:

“What led you to choose your position?

Pause and allow the team member to respond before asking the next question.

What is it like for you to experience goals and strategies at this position?

STEP 3:
Tell the team that you are setting a timer for 5 minutes. Direct them to move into small subgroups (determine subgroup size based on system size – as small as feasible), and to answer the following question:

“What benefits would greater clarity on the goals and strategies of this team look like?”

Ask for a few volunteers to share out.

Debrief Statement:
Remember that understanding the team’s goals and strategies keeps everyone aligned and creates a greater sense of purpose. If everyone is clear on the goals and strategies, the entire team will work more smoothly together and be able to manage conflict and change with greater resiliency.

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