Teambuilding Activity: Listen and Make Your Voice Heard

"Listen and Make Your Voice Heard" was developed in collaboration with Dorit Habing.

This activity promotes:

- Team building
- Making agreements
- Understanding and accepting each other
- Encouraging more effective communication with colleagues
- And who knows what else

Here are the instructions:

Time: 20 - 30 minutes
Participants: 6 or more
Indoor and outdoor
Active

Required material:
1 large rope

Initial setup:
Circle formation

Framework:
Explain to the participants that they are going to engage in a game activity with the aim of gaining insight into effective communication.
In this explanation, I refer to extroverted and introverted individuals; I don't mean to label people as such. My intention is not to put people in boxes. It's about highlighting differences and creating understanding. And then providing people with tools to communicate more effectively.

Gameplay:
Ask the participants to stand along the rope on the ground. The goal is for them to stand in order. Introverted individuals on one side, extroverted individuals on the other. This is about their self-perception. You can add that they are not allowed to talk or use gestures towards each other.

Once they are in order, divide the group into two groups: the extroverted individuals and the introverted individuals.
The groups will now receive further instructions about the rules of the game.
The goal is for them to play a collaborative game. The extroverted individuals are allowed to talk, while the introverted individuals write down the thoughts that come to their minds. What they write is not visible to the extroverted group.
For example, you can have the group do the "Helium Stick" activity.
After completing the task, you can have a comprehensive debriefing...

Differentiation:

- Vary the instructions: encourage extroverted individuals to express their voices even more than usual.
- Vary the roles by reversing them. This allows them to practice "listening" and "speaking."

Evaluation:
What happened? (This is asking about factual behavior)
How did it make you feel?
What lessons can be learned from this?
In what ways could you communicate more effectively with your colleagues?
What will you take away from this?

Extra task:
Approach someone you don't usually talk to much at work.
Say the following: "Now that I know that you are <a certain way>, I will <act in a certain way> towards you from now on."

Safety check:
N/A