TEAM BUILDING MODULE

Group 1

I. Module Overview
A. Purpose
Effective organizational or team performance is based on a clear understanding of the shared goals,
strategies, and work plans, along with the individual roles and responsibilities of team members.
Equally important are interpersonal qualities of trust, communication, and mutual accountability.
Working in tandem, these two perspectives determine a team’s ability to achieve and sustain high
performance, making teambuilding a necessary companion to the operational and programmatic efforts
of organizational capacity strengthening.
Yet team development is something that is often ignored within organizations or projects. Staff usually
have little conscious awareness of the skills and tools needed to nurture supportive collegial
relationships. Leaders and managers are rarely prepared to understand the dynamics of team formation
and staff motivation or respond appropriately to the emerging needs of a team. Too frequently, conflict
is either ignored or suppressed, attributed to individual differences and difficulties. As a result, internal
team process can become a liability to performance, leading to low productivity, low morale, and high
staff turnover. However, with increased awareness of basic skills and tools for addressing common
challenges, these same dynamics can be turned into a source of continued team enhancement.

B. Learning Objectives
By the completion of this module, participants will be able to describe:
• Characteristics of effective teams
• Individual differences and roles within the team
Have practiced skills in:
• Supporting team development through its formative stages
• Constructive communication
• Conflict resolution
And will have discussed:
• A vision of their ideal team
• Principles and behaviors to guide team performance
• A plan for monitoring progress toward achieving their vision

C. Activities

PHYSICAL:
-Balloon Lift: (20 min.) The objective is to keep the balloon floating in the air without it touching the
ground. Thhe group circles up and start by blowing it upward in simultaneously by calling other people
in the group to bee the next to blow. every member of the group must have the chance to be called and
blow fppr the balloon. If. the balloon drops, then the group fails. If the balloon is still flooating abd
everybody was called, then the group wins.

-The Mine Field (30 minutes) – The idea behind this exercise is to improve team members’ trust, their
relationship, and to communicate in a more effective way. You will need an open space such as an
empty room or hallway in which you will distribute ‘mines’ that are placed haphazardly around the
area. The ‘mine’s can be cones, balls, bottles etc. Team members are paired into teams of two. One
team member will be blindfolded and the other can see and talk, but is not allowed to enter the field or
touch their partner. The challenge is for the blind-folded person to walk from one side of the field to the
other, avoiding the mines by listening to the verbal instructions of their partners. (Optional: Have more
than 1 pair walking through the mine simultaneously, so the difficulty of focusing and listening to the
right instructions increases)

-Rope Push ( 20 min.)

Split the group into a full and spacious circle, and identify an imaginary line that separates them from
each other.

Then place a rope perpendicular to that line with one half on either team’s side.

The challenge for the group is to have their side of the rope all the way on the other side and vice versa,
at the end of a given time.

After a while of trying to throw the rope back and forth, the groups might figure out that they can
simply hand their side to the other while trading with the other team, but that becomes the challenge so
let them figure it out.

MENTAL:

-Human Knot- (20 min.) This brain teaser is funny and really works on teambuilding, problem solving
and communication. No materials are needed. Recommended group size includes a wide range of 8-20
people. Instruct the participants to stand in a circle, shoulder to shoulder. Tell everyone to put their right
hand in the air and grab the hand of someone standing across the circle from them. Now tell everyone
to put their left hand in the air and grab the hand of a different person. Someone needs to check that
everyone is holding the hands of two different people and that no one is holding the hand of someone
who’s standing directly next to them. The objective of the game is to untangle everyone without letting
go of their hands. If the chain is broken, participants will have to start over. Note: sometimes >1 circle
will form. This game requires casual clothing, and is not recommended for team members with
physical limitations. This game will rely heavily on teamwork and communication.

- CSI: (30 min.) The CSI challenge is divided into sections, and the teams must move through each
stage of the overall investigation, completing relevant tasks:

crime scene investigation

interrogation room
ballistics range
evidence processing
identikit.
Although this team build is not structured as a race, time allocations are given for each section to
encourage quick thinking and successful planning in approaching each task.

-Water Canal: ( 20 min.) A large balloon full of water is hanged in the ceiling, and a "timba" 4 yaards
away from the ballon. The objective is to transfer the specific aamount of water required to fill the pale.
The group is given 2 minutes disscussion, 4 minutes to find materials, 1 min. to pop waater and flow
through thee pale. 3 minutes evaluation. = 15min.

EMOTIONAL:

-Banana Surgery ( 15min.)

D. Comittees and Designations

(Diagram)

OVERALL HEAD COMMITTEE -> Mari and Camille

FACILITATOR COMMITTEE ->

Facilitator Head -
Facilitators-

LOGISTICS COMMITTEE ->

Logistics Head -
Logistics-
TIME COMMITTEE ->
Time Head
Time-

Scoring/Awards and Evaluations Committee ->

D. Time Frame of Team Building / Program