WORKSHOP

The workshop on cooperation and teamwork offers a flexible approach with various exercises targeting different aspects of the topic. Facilitators can select activities based on their group’s needs and available time, either focusing on one section or mixing activities from different parts. Each activity has a suggested duration, and those marked with a “*” are prioritized and can be seen below. Activities requiring theoretical input should not be skipped if chosen. It’s recommended to maintain the order of selected activities for coherence. Starting with an energizer is encouraged to engage the group, refocus attention, or re-energize after discussions. A list of energizers as well as all the suggested activities is provided in the 3rd chapter. 

Duration: 50 min

Objectives: practicing effective communication, establishing workflows in the team, discovering roles in the group

Required Materials: two similar sets of Lego bricks, toy car (can be built from Lego), two separated rooms, timer

Preparation: describe the rules of the game on a flipchart

The process:

1. This activity will help the group to develop effective means of communication. The aim of the group is to build a free-standing structure – a bridge of a minimum length of 40 centimeters that will hold a toy car.
2. The group should be divided into 2 teams, each team will be building a half of the bridge, without seeing the work of the other team. At the end of activity, the groups will join both parts of the bridge to check if it can function as one structure. The bridge should be at least 40 cm long and 20 cm high (in its highest point).
3. After dividing the groups facilitator should explain the rules of the activity, preferably having all the rules written down on a flipchart.
4. Each group gets a box of Lego bricks with the same number of pieces. Teams work in separate rooms. Each group selects a leader – a person who will have a chance to communicate with the other group. The activity starts with 5 minutes of discussion in the groups, so they can develop their strategy for construction of the structure and communication with the other team. Once the activity starts groups have 30 minutes to design their parts of the bridge.
5. Only the leaders of the groups can communicate. To do that they should leave their rooms and meet in a place where other participants cannot hear them (“communication zone”). The leaders have a total time of 5 minutes that they can spent in the communication zone. They should carefully plan how many meetings they want to have during this time.
6. After the time for building passes the groups should join their parts of the group. Each group can choose up to 5 Lego bricks that will be used to join connect the bridge.
7. After coming together into one room groups have 1 minute to join both parts of the bridge. They can only use Lego pieces that they brought with them. Facilitator should check if the structure can hold the toy car and if the minimum dimensions are reached.

Debriefing is the most important part of the activity. The facilitator should ask the group questions that will help them to formulate conclusions about the group work during this activity that can be applied to other tasks. Facilitator should make sure that everyone is equally included in the conversation.

Example debriefing questions:

• How satisfied are you with the result?
• How satisfied are you with the process in the group?
• How satisfied are you with your own involvement?
• Which roles did you take in the group? Did you feel involved in the process?
• How did the process go? Did you discuss and prototype or start building right away?
• What was the most challenging during the activity?
• Question for the leaders: How did your communication go? How did you prepare for each meeting?
• Was time pressure a thing for you?
• If you would do this activity again, what would you do differently?

During the discussion facilitator should write down all the tips for better group cooperation that were mentioned on the flipchart. They should be formulated as short, clear recommendations.

Bruce W. Tuckman, along with other researchers and psychologists who study small group behavior, developed a model that identifies four distinct stages in a group’s development. While various typologies have been proposed by other scholars, this particular model is valued for its simplicity.

1. Forming: In the first stage, group members are uncertain about what they are expected to do and how they will achieve the group’s goals. They focus on understanding the group’s objectives and their roles in achieving them. Members are concerned about being accepted by the group and often seek guidance from a leader. In student projects, where no leader is designated, the question arises: how will leadership emerge?
2. Storming: The second stage is characterized by efforts to unify and define roles within the group. This phase often involves conflict, both subtle and overt, between members and sometimes between members and an emerging leader. Through these conflicts, the group starts to take shape and define its identity.
3. Norming: The third stage follows storming, once the group has succeeded, at least temporarily, in resolving its conflicts. Members begin to feel more secure with one another and any established leaders. They effectively negotiate roles, task assignments, decision-making processes, and practices related to planning, task management, and leadership.
4. Performing: In the fourth stage, group members work together maturely and focus on achieving their goals. Communication becomes open, direct, and honest, with members paying attention to both task completion and the emotional well-being of the group. There is a balance between productivity and sensitivity to interpersonal dynamics.

Source: https://agilecoffee.com/toolkit/tuckman-model/

Duration: 15 min

Objectives: understanding the group development model, breaking ice between group member

Preparation: prepare a flipchart with a short description of Tuckman model 

The process:

Begin by writing the four original stages of the Tuckman model on the flipchart. Briefly introduce the model by mentioning that in the early 1960s, Bruce Tuckman was hired by the US Navy to study team dynamics. He developed the four stages of team development: Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing. This is the original version of the model. In 1977, Tuckman, along with Mary Ann Jensen, added a fifth stage called Adjourning, which describes the team’s disbandment phase. However, in this session, we will focus only on the first four stages.

Invite participants to come to the floor, ensuring there’s plenty of space for them to move around.

Explain that you’ll start by demonstrating the Forming phase, and provide the following instructions:

Forming (Attack & Defense): Without telling anyone, choose one person in the group to be your enemy (Person A) and another person as your shield (Person B). When I give the signal, position yourself so that your shield (B) is always between you and your enemy (A).

To facilitate, demonstrate this exercise with two people from the group. Highlight that once you position yourself, you’ll have to continually reposition as Person A and Person B move. After allowing them to move around for a bit, stop the group and explain:

In the Forming stage, the team is in search of answers to fundamental questions: Who is involved? What are we going to do? How will we do it? Who do we look to for guidance? At this stage, the leader role is to help introduce participants to one another and clarify basic terms, objectives, vision, and values. Rather than prompting with questions like “What do you think?” we provide direct guidance and instructions.

Next is the Storming phase (Protect the team member): Use the same two people as before. Now, you and your shield switch roles. This time, your job is to protect Person B from Person A, meaning you must always position yourself between your enemy and the person you are shielding. Demonstrate this by standing between the two people you used in the previous exercise. You’ll notice that the group remains unstable, and participants begin jostling in the center of the space. After a short time, stop the activity and explain:

In the Storming phase, teams encounter difficulties in coordinating and resolving conflicts as they try to establish a shared understanding, roles, and processes. Some members may become frustrated with others for offering opinions or interfering with how they carry out their tasks (“I’ve always done it this way, and I know it works. Now you’re telling me to do it differently!”). Others may begin forming alliances within the team. At this stage, the leader’s role is to focus on resolving or diffusing conflicts and helping the team develop a common understanding of roles, routines, and ways of working together.

Next is the Norming phase (To be done in silence): Now, your goal is to maintain an equal distance between yourself and the two other people. When I give the signal, you should always keep the same distance from both Person A and Person B as you move. Even if I interfere with you, continue maintaining equal distance between them.

Demonstrate this exercise again using the same two people as before. Allow them time to move until they reach a stable state where everyone maintains equal distance and stands still. While they are moving, observe who most people have selected as Person A or Person B. Identify the individual who seems to have the most influence on the group’s dynamics and consider what would happen if you moved that person to another corner of the room.

Once the group has stabilized, say: “I’m your department head and I’ve noticed that one of my other teams is struggling with their project. They need an expert, and that expert is you” (point to the person you identified). Continue: “You need to come with me to help the other team, while the rest of you should keep doing your work.”

Take the identified person and walk them out of the room. Pay attention to whether the rest of the group repositions themselves, and if some even follow the person out of the room. If anyone follows, stop them and ask, “What are you doing? I just need this person to help me. You should continue your own work!”. Afterward, bring everyone back and explain:

In the Norming phase, teams begin to establish a shared understanding of roles, procedures, and cooperation through self-assessment and agreements. A sense of community forms, and individuals adapt to their roles. What did you notice when the group reached a stable state? And what happened when I used “Drag-and-Drop” management by moving the expert to another team?

Discuss the negative impact of removing the team’s expert, noting that while the manager may have solved a problem for one team, they created a new one by weakening the original team. Highlight how teams regress in maturity when key members are removed. Also, emphasize that during the Norming phase, the leader should focus on nurturing team-specific understandings, roles, and behaviors.

Finally, move on to the Performing phase (Work together): Ask the entire group to form equilateral triangles with two other people, working together as a team. This should happen quickly, and you’ll see them communicating to complete the task.

Afterward, discuss the characteristics of the Performing phase: At this point, the team is primarily focused on getting the work done rather than worrying about processes or cooperation. Collaboration flows smoothly, and there’s less need for discussions about procedures or self-assessment.

In this phase, the leader should focus on encouraging high performance, potential growth, and setting new goals. Lastly, it’s important to adjust your interaction with the team depending on their stage:

• In the Forming phase, direct more.
• In the Storming phase, focus on resolving conflicts.
• As the team progresses through the Norming and Performing phases, shift to a coaching role by making observations, asking insightful questions, and allowing the team to find their own solutions.

Duration: 20 min

Objectives: analyzing the Group Development Model, learning how to recognize the stage of development of the group, practical application of the model

Required Materials: paper with statements printed for everyone

The process:

Facilitator presents the Tuckman model of group development. If possible, write all stages and its characteristic on a flipchart.

After the presentation facilitator divides the group to the groups of 5 participants. Each group receives a Group Behaviors List. As a group, participants see if they can reach agreement as to which stage each of the 20 behaviors belong. If the group members disagree, work at listening and understanding each other’s point of view. After a couple of presentations of positions, check again for consensus. If not, the group can vote on which stage.

When the groups come together again discuss the most difficult issues to categorize, and check with the facilitator if the answers were correct.

During the debriefing discuss how knowledge of the four stages can help groups be more effective. Suggest which behavior a member can use at each stage to help a group evolve.

Duration: 60 min

Objectives: introducing the concept of “organizational culture”, learning different methods of communication, understanding how to reach high performance in a team

Required Materials: 3 decks of cards, rules of the game and a score board printed for each team

Preparation: prepare three tables in with enough of chairs that everyone can sit around in three corners of the room

The process:

1. The aim of this game is to learn how oneself operates in the situation of change and uncertainty. Facilitator divides the group into three teams. Each team sits in a separate table in different part of the room. Each groups receives a deck of cards and rules of the game. They have 10 minutes to learn the game – read the rules, discuss all questions and play few test rounds to memorize the rules. Each table receives slightly different set of rules.
2. After this time is over, facilitator collects the papers of with the rules and give each team a scoreboard instead. From this moment on participants are not allowed to have any verbal communication. The game consists of four parts. During each part layers play the game for 10 minutes (or up to four games) and count their points after every game. At the end of the part each table should have one winner and one looser.
3. Facilitator asks all winners to move to the next table clockwise. Another part starts. Groups play again for 10 minutes (or up to four games). Players that just joined the table don’t know which set of rules is used at the table and as the groups is still not allowed to talk, they need to figure out the rules differences as they play.
4. After 10 minutes or 4 games the part is over, this time losers are moving to the next table counterclockwise. The process repeats.
5. After the third part the winner moves to the next table clockwise and the loser moves to the next table counterclockwise.
6. Players play the last (fourth) part, then the game is over.
7. Everyone gathers in a circle for a debriefing. Possible debriefing questions:

• • • What happened during the game, what was the biggest difficulty?
    • How did the groups deal with unclear points in the rules?
    • Did any of the initial rules remain at the table, or it was completely changed during the exercise?
    • How did each person behave during the game? Could you identify any clear roles?
    • How did the people who move to another table feel?
    • Did the groups take any effort to introduce new people to the rules?
    • Who had a competitive approach to the game and who was focused on the group having fun?
    • What do you think, in the real-life situation, is the best way to introduce a new person into existing organizational culture? Whose responsibility it is?

Duration: 60 min

Objectives: discovering one selves role in a team, understanding own strengths and needs while working in a group, understanding, getting to know different archetypes of  team workers

Required Materials: printed descriptions of the team roles (each on a separate paper), printed picture of a person for each participant

The process:

This activity aims for participants individually reflecting of their performance as a team worker. Facilitator will guide their reflection with questions and different methods. For this activity facilitator needs to create a relaxing atmosphere in the room. They can invite participants to sit comfortably on their chair or on the floor, play some relaxing music. Facilitator should invite participants to think of different situations they were working in a team, they roles in those tasks and emotions that were present in that situation.

After few minutes of silence facilitator start to read questions from the list. After each question there should be a 1–2-minute break for participants to think and take notes if they want.

After all questions are over, participants are invited to sit in pairs for another round of self-reflections. Participants should again find a comfortable place in the room, the music should be more quiet, as they will be discussing in pairs.

In this part of the activity facilitator should write down questions listed below on a flipchart and display in the visible place in the room.

Questions to discuss I pairs:

• • What am I good at?
  • How do I perform in a group?
  • What do I value?
  • What are my weaknesses?
  • What makes working with me difficult?
  • What kind of behaviors of others trigger me?

For the last part of the activity participants are invited to read the short descriptions of the team roles that shall be hanged on the walls around the room. After 10 minutes of individual exploration participants receive a paper drawing in a person. Their tasks are to think how much of each role they can find I themselves. They should divide the person on a drawing proportionally to see which roles “they consist of”. At the end of activity, the groups sit gain in a circle and present shortly their drawings one by one with a one sentence explanation.

INTRODUCTION AND BASIC INFORMATION

Duration:  20 min

Lencioni’s pyramid of dysfunctions of a team. The facilitator should either show Lencioni’s pyramid of dysfunctions (image below) on a projector/presentation or print it for all the participants.

The facilitator should give introduction into this model of team building, while explaining each of the dysfunctions -bottom up. For structure, they can use the information below:

Lencioni model of team building was presented by American writer, Patrick Lencioni, in his book “The Five Disfunctions of a Team”.  Lencioni’s model doesn’t exactly tell you what to do when leading or creating a team, but it identifies some of the problems that can appear during the process. As you can see on the image on the screen / that was handed to you, there are 5 major dysfunctions of a team, which, if not addressed, can lead to a team’s failure.

Duration: 15 minutes

Objectives: learning how to explain various concept to the others, developing communication, building group commitment to the team’s goal

Required materials: papers, pens/pencils, chairs, printed illustrations of various objects and animals

Preparation: before the exercise, the participants should take their chairs, pair up with another participant, and turn their chairs back-to-back, so they are facing away from each other while sitting

The Process:

Once the participants have paired up, they have to decide which side is going to explain what needs to be drawn, and which side is going to draw. Once this is done, the facilitator explains the rules of the exercise:

“I am now going to hand out some illustrations to the parts of your pair that decided to give instructions. You will have to explain to your partner what they need to draw, without telling them what it is exactly. For example, if you get an illustration of a house, you can not tell them that it is a house, nor a building. You need to find a way to communicate to them what to draw, so that, in the end, their drawing is as close as possible to the illustration you were given.”

After 10 minutes, the facilitator ends the exercise, and tells the people who were drawing to show their drawing to their partner

Debrief:

The first part of the debriefing is done in the same pairs. The participants will have 2 minutes to discuss:

• How it was to be the person giving instructions
• How it was to be the person listening to the instructions and having to draw

After this part, everyone returns to the main group, and the participants are invited to share their drawings and tell the group how was the experience for them.

Conclusion:

This exercise is intended to help us practice avoidance of “Lack of commitment” dysfunction. The person who is giving instructions is supposed to represent a team member or a team leader who is trying to explain tasks to the other team members. Sometimes it is difficult to explain what we are really expecting of the people we are working with, and this exercise is supposed to help you practice this communication.

INTRODUCTION AND BASIC INFORMATION

Duration:  20 min

We thought that during this workshop, it is important to explain the concept of mobbing. In order to understand what exactly it is, we will provide you with the definition given by International Labour Organization.  According to them, mobbing or workplace bullying is offensive behaviour through vindictive, cruel, malicious or humiliating attempts to undermine an individual or a group (of employees).

Of course, using analogy, this can easily be transferred outside of the context of workplace, and into other realities, such as school, university or another kind of activity that requires you to work in teams. If we look at this, and many other definitions, it becomes clear that in order for a behaviour to be considered mobbing, it needs to be done:

• repeatedly,
• over a significant period of time,
• it has to be non-physical,
• and have a humiliating effect on the bullied person.

Mobbing is not a single action, but a series of one or more different actions over a longer period of time. Mobbing can be separated into two main categories:

• horizontal mobbing, and
• vertical mobbing

Horizontal mobbing is a type of mobbing that is happening on the same hierarchical level – for example, mobbing between co-workers or between members of a team – but also for example, between members of the board of directors.

Vertical mobbing is happening on different hierarchical levels – it can happen both, from higher level towards lower level (manager is mobbing their employees, team leader is mobbing the members of the team), and from lower level towards higher level (employees are mobbing the manager; team members are mobbing their team leader).

What behavior can be considered mobbing? Prof. Heinz Leymann gave a list of 45 actions that are considered mobbing, and here are a few examples:

• being constantly interrupted
• being shouted at or told off
• constant criticism of one’s work
• constant criticism of one’s private life
• the person is ignored (by superior or colleagues)
• the bullied person is made to seem ridiculous
• Imitating someone’s walk, voice or gestures to make them look ridiculous
• The person is given useless work functions
• Threat of physical force
• …

How can you protect yourself against mobbing? There are multiple measures you can take, and they are separated into two categories: preventive measures, and intervention. When it comes to preventive measures, it is achieved by learning more about mobbing, discussing it with your team, and giving them introduction to this topic (leaflets, articles or videos).

When it comes to intervention – the most important thing to do is to stop the bully and support the victim. For stopping the bully, you will most likely need help from outside of your team – in some cases, mediation will be possible, but in the others, legal action will need to be taken. If mobbing is happening in workplace or some other place with hierarchy (school, university, sports team), you should communicate with your superior or with your Human Resource Department (if there is one), in order to make them aware that it is happening and that they should take action. If you are being bullied, if it is possible and if it would not put you into harm’s way, it is recommended to collect and keep evidence. When it comes to supporting the victim – this support can come through professional rehabilitation, psychotherapy, self-help groups and also medical therapy. 

Duration: 50 minutes

Objectives: learning how to recognize symptoms of mobbing, breaking a taboo about mobbing, practicing how to react in situation of possible mobbing at work place

Preparation: preparing topics for the group to act out

Suggested topics for Forum Theater:

1. Team members are interrupting and „talking over“ their colleague every time they want to say something.
2. Team members are imitating the way their team leader walks and speaks, in order to ridicule them.
3. Team leader is giving useless work to one of the team members, and the rest of the team is encouraging it.

The Process:

The facilitator explains the exercise. „Now we are going to practice recognizing mobbing and intervening into it. We are going to split into groups, and each group is going to get a situation they will have to act out. You will have 10 – 15 minutes to prepare your scene. After we have seen the scene once, we you are going to repeat it, and at any point, any one of the observers will have the chance to say STOP, and replace the mobbed person in the scene. Remember, the point of this exercise is to practice reaction and intervention to mobbing. The person who replaces the mobbed person will react to the situation they were put in, trying to make it better for the mobbed person, and your group will have to adapt to the scene. To explain it a bit more clearly – while you are acting out the scene, and you hear STOP, you stop the scene and allow the new person to replace the person who was a victim of mobbing in your scene. When the new person is ready, you continue acting out the scene, while adapting to what the new person is doing. After we went through all the groups twice, we will have a debriefing.“

The facilitator splits the participants into groups (4-6 people per group is ideal) and gives them their topics. They will have 10 to 15 minutes to prepare their (max) 2 minutes scene. After the preparation time is up, the facilitator starts inviting the groups to act out their scenes in front of everyone. Remember, the first time the group acts out their scene without interventions. After that, they repeat the scene, and all the other participants are invited to intervene by saying STOP. The structure should be like this: Group 1 – scene, Group 1 – repeat, Group 2 – scene, Group 2 – repeat, Group 3 – scene, Group 3 – repeat, … , debriefing.

Debrief:

Debrief happens after all the groups have presented their scenes both times.

The facilitator can ask the following questions:

• How did people who were playing mobbed person in the scene feel?
• How did people who were doing mobbing feel?
• How did you feel while observing the scene – first without having the ability to intervene, and then when the ability to intervene was given to you?
• Did you ever witness a similar situation in your real life?
• Do you think that this exercise has shown you some of the ways you can help people who are being mobbed, or some tools you will be able to use if you find yourself in similar situation?