Workshop Facilitation Exercises
Below is a collection of curated workshop facilitation exercises, ice-breakers, and frameworks for futurism, ideation and group work. I didn't create these (so can't take any credit for them) but have curated this collection that I have found engaging and productive. Use the tags below to to filter by type or browse the collection below.
Facilitation ice-breakers, warm-ups and team work
August 26, 2022
Categories
Kim Scott’s Radical Candor Framework encourages you to ‘give a damn’ for the people around you, and constructively speak the truth, even when it pisses people […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
Great ice-breaker. Ask everyone to get a partner (preferably someone they don’t know well). Each pair has three minutes to discover three things they have in […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
This activity will rely heavily on problem solving and leadership skills. Some team members might stand out and some might stand back, but it’s important to […]
December 8, 2021
Categories
The futures triangle method consists of identifying three competing factors: the past, present and future contexts. Each of these three corners of the triangle has their […]
May 17, 2022
Categories
Pitch and presentation tips to nail your talk
November 19, 2018
Categories
Great fun energiser: Explain that the room is now divided into two sides and draw an imaginary line for all to see. The leader will call […]
December 21, 2021
Categories
Objectives and Key Results (OKR) is a goal-setting methodology that helps organisations establish and execute strategy. This framework works by focusing employees and their efforts on […]
November 29, 2018
Categories
This is a great activity to get people up and moving around in a playful way while still learning about each other. It can be related […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
Your family (group) just inherited a successful restaurant from Chef Charlie, a long lost relative. The only problem: Charlie was very disorganized. The only recipes you have found […]
January 31, 2022
Categories
This is a great zoom or virtual icebreaker for large groups. Let the group know that you’re going to be calling out statements like “I have […]
December 7, 2021
Categories
The Feynman Technique is a learning and sense-making method that involves explaining a new concept to an imaginary child to expose gaps in your understanding and […]
April 22, 2009
Categories
This sentence completion exercise is taken from “The Art of Living Consciously” by Nathaniel Branden The idea is that you sit down and write the stem, […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
This is a great ice-breaker and warm-up for groups that don’t know each other, or for groups to learn more about each other.
November 20, 2018
Categories
This is a useful template for opening an event or workshop. I like to start with a greeting to honour the mana whenua (people of the […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
15 – 40 minutes; 5 – 30 people Withholds are thoughts that we keep to ourselves. They usually have to do with judgements about ourselves, others, […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
Like the traditional game, but losers become the cheering team for the people they lost to. By the end of the game there are two players […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
You are about to begin a scavenger hunt with several members of this training group. The object of the game is to collect all of the […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
A tool to allow people to understand both sides of a conflict. They can help people entrenched in one position to think more flexibly. They are […]
November 29, 2018
Categories
This game naturally follows the creative idea generation phase and helps players select ideas to develop further. Draw a 2-by-2 matrix as above. The X-axis denotes […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
Great for demonstrating the power of self-organising teams The Facilitator introduces the icebreaker as a short workshop where we’ll quickly see how collaborative we can be […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
This can be used to place limits on dominant or overeager speakers. It also encourages shy speakers to contribute. Each person is given the same number […]
November 20, 2018
Categories
The “7th generation” principle taught by Native Americans says that in every decision, be it personal, governmental or corporate, we must consider how it will affect our descendants seven […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
Teamwork Break into groups of about 3 or 4 people. Everyone then raises their dominant hand, you know, the hand you use to write with. Now, […]
November 29, 2018
Categories
Participants at a training session are often preoccupied with other important things in their life. Here’s a simple jolt to wake them up. Goal To make […]
November 29, 2018
Categories
Generate a big number of ideas quickly. Using the first 8 ideas as a basis can help to expand these ideas further. 1. Draw a square […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
This is a lovely cooperative game that always brings a group together and lights up people’s faces! Ask everyone to gather around you in a tight […]
November 29, 2018
Categories
This game’s purpose is to help teams evaluate a problem differently and break out of existing patterns. The Anti-Problem game helps people get unstuck when they […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
Great fast ideation technique. Fold a piece of paper into 6 and have everyone individually come up with 6 super-quick ideas in the 6 spaces in […]
December 7, 2021
Categories
With a name inspired by the Swedish self-assembly furniture giant, this effect can help explain the growing popularity of ‘meal-kit’ services; the trend towards co-designing solutions […]
November 4, 2021
Categories
Overview One person holds up an object to the camera The rest of the group is given 8 seconds to find a matching object The first […]
December 7, 2021
Categories
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
November 19, 2018
Categories
Engage everyone simultaneously in generating questions, ideas, and suggestions Structuring Invitation Ask a question in response to the presentation of an issue, or about a problem […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
This is a technique that can help to save the day when nothing else seems to be working and can re-ignite the energy levels of groups […]
December 7, 2021
Categories
The Eisenhower Matrix organises your tasks based on whether tasks are urgent or important. The aim is to prioritise and act on value, to ensure that […]
December 8, 2021
Categories
Use these with internal and external factors to build scenarios that describe an organisation’s futures. Baseline WHAT IT IS: A description of how the future represents […]
April 11, 2022
Categories
The Minto Pyramid is a way to organise presentations, communication and thinking in an ‘executive friendly’ way, by starting with the answer and key idea; grouping and […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
You and your team have just found a lamp. You rub it, and surprise! A genie appears. The genie grants you three wishes. You are allowed […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
For this ideation technique, you start out by asking for the impossible and then brainstorm ways to make it, or at least some approximation of it, […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
Boosts your creativity, your productivity and your overall enjoyment for life. Close your eyes and picture a vivid scene; a waterfall in a rainforest or children […]
August 10, 2022
Categories
IDEO’s 7 rules of brainstorming Defer judgement. You never know where a good idea is going to come from. The key is make everyone feel like they […]
December 14, 2021
Categories
Rolestorming is a group brainstorming method. Its basic premise is that you brainstorm while playing the role of another person.
December 7, 2021
Categories
A Permission Structure provides an emotional and psychological justification that allows someone to change deeply held beliefs and/or behaviours while importantly retaining their pride and integrity.
November 4, 2021
Categories
Overview Light, energising exercise that helps the group to observe the other people on the call. Instructions Everyone puts on their camera For half a minute […]
November 29, 2018
Categories
This is a good game to begin a workshop. It sets everyone on the mood to learn, share, and participate. Goal a) get some participants to […]
November 29, 2018
Categories
The SLAM makes this “Mind Spin” activity even more effective. Encourage participants to keep moving! This is a fast-paced LOUD activity – if they have no ideas grab […]
December 9, 2021
Categories
Amazon’s Working Backwards approach, also known as PR/FAQ, involves starting large initiatives by writing a press release and FAQ document to succinctly express its value from […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
There’s a whole host of problem-solving exercises and tools that help participants to put themselves into the shoes of another. This particular tool was invented by […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
You’ll need some pen and paper for right after this exercise. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Breathe deeply and focus on your […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
An excellent game for focusing people and getting them to work together. It creates laughter and energy without being physical. Because it’s not a physical game […]
December 7, 2021
Categories
First Principles Thinking is a means to challenge assumptions and solve complex problems by breaking them down into their most basic elements and reassembling them from the […]
November 29, 2018
Categories
Ideation steps. This process is inspired by the Double Diamond design process model. Step 1. Introduce Ideation Principles: Begin with a short presentation of principles for […]
November 29, 2018
Categories
Here’s another jolt that explores one of our favorite themes: You have to unlearn something old in order to learn something new. A nice thing about […]
November 29, 2018
Categories
Bang is a group game, played in a circle, where participants must react quickly or face elimination. One person stands in the middle of the circle […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
SCAMPER. is essentially a process for expanding and improving upon ideas by testing and questioning them from different angles. For each letter of the mnemonic, ask […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
Great for team bonding, strengths and weaknesses In the past, a totem pole was carved for several reasons; for example, to honor a deceased elder who […]
December 21, 2021
Categories
This is a simple facilitation framework that enables a focused conversation. It’s a way to lead people through a phased reflection on almost any kind of […]
November 29, 2018
Categories
Let trainees find solutions for their problems themselves. Benefit from swarm intelligence. At the end of a training block each trainee writes one open question on […]
November 29, 2018
Categories
To generate a more inclusive set of ideas. These are the six key questions that journalism students are taught to answer somewhere in their news articles […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
20 minutes to 1 hour; 5 – 100 people These can help to explore the different views on an issue within the group. It is a […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
A fun, fast game that helps to break the ice and get energy flowing How to: You first need to think of pairs of things – […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
This is always a fun and interesting game that can be played from the outset but be warned you should either keep this for smaller groups […]
December 21, 2021
Categories
Backcasting is a planning method that starts with defining a desirable future and then works backwards to identify the steps or actions that will connect that […]
September 2, 2020
Categories
A team-building activity in which groups must work together to build a structure out of lego, but each individual has a secret “assignment” which makes the […]
November 26, 2018
Categories
Storylining Storylining is an essential part of a storytelling. It is lining of messages in logical order to make the entire story easy to grasp and understand […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
To generate ideas about how to implement the reverse of the current state of affairs and to experience the possibility of looking at a problem as […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
A very physical team version of ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’! Sort the group into two teams and explain that each team has to choose one of three […]
December 8, 2021
November 19, 2018
Categories
Your memory is going to be completely erased in five minutes. You have only that time to write down everything you want or need to remember. […]
July 26, 2022
Categories
This framework by James Dator, one of the fathers of futures studies, is founded on two fundamental truths about our relationship to the future. First, we […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
A great technique to help focus on one area only and remove limiting ideas about the next step Fold an A0 sheet of paper into three. Discuss […]
February 28, 2020
Categories
Speedboat is a short and sweet way to identify what your employees or clients don’t like about your product/service or what’s standing in the way of […]
November 20, 2018
Categories
Imagine all the reasons your project could turn into a miserable failure. Then figure out how you can prevent those problems now, while there’s still time. Visualize […]
November 29, 2018
Categories
In this fun and active group game, participants sit in a circle, with one person in the middle. The person in the middle asks different questions […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
Great exercise to facilitate good feelings and intimacy Look back over your careers and identify three events, activities, moments of courage, accomplishments, collaborations, or moments of […]
January 26, 2020
Categories
Poetic License is a fun group exercise that’s sure to incite laughter in your NVC group! (This game originated from Doug Dolstad) Instructions: In a group circle, […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
15 – 40 minutes; 5 – 30 people Withholds are thoughts that we keep to ourselves. They usually have to do with judgements about ourselves, others, […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
Great for demonstrating the power of self-organising teams The Facilitator introduces the icebreaker as a short workshop where we’ll quickly see how collaborative we can be […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
Your family (group) just inherited a successful restaurant from Chef Charlie, a long lost relative. The only problem: Charlie was very disorganized. The only recipes you have found […]
November 19, 2018
Categories
Great for team bonding, strengths and weaknesses In the past, a totem pole was carved for several reasons; for example, to honor a deceased elder who […]