This is a great team building activity which challenges a group to think together, plan together, communicate and work together. It involves the team in trying to tie a simple knot in a rope. With many teams, they will jump right in, expecting the solution to be simple, only to find that it is more difficult than it first appears. (This is a good comparison to real-life projects that are more complex than they seem at first.)

Welcome back for another team building activity.  This particular challenge once again uses a rope to form a shape.  When you are facilitating a team building day for a group, it can be an advantage to sometimes have several activities/challenges that utilize the same props.  You can combine these similar activities back-to-back for ease and efficiency of facilitation, or you may choose to spread them out over the day so that you can provoke the team to think about using past experience and learning as they tackle new assignments and problems.

This activity, as an example, can use the sampe prop (the long rope) that you might have used for other activities we have described in past months on this blog:

• The Blind Polygon
   
• The Star 

 

This is a wonderful classic experiential team building initiative that can be done just about anywhere and with any number of people. Have the rope joined at the ends with a simple knot and lay it on the ground. Organize the team into a loose circle around the rope.  Inform them that they will be blindfolded for the exercise.  Give each person a bandana for that purpose.

Once they have their blindfolds in place ask them to hold their hands out so that you can hand them the rope.  Request that each person hold the rope loosely with both hands.  Next, instruct the team to form some shape. For example, ask them to form a right triangle, without letting go of the rope. Other shapes will work, too. Creating a square is a pretty good challenge. If you want a simpler task, simply ask them to produce a triangle. One of the more difficult forms is an equilateral triangle.

Team members are allowed to slide their hands along the rope as they shift positions, but they are not allowed to hand the rope back and forth, or to take up a different position on the rope. Once they have what they think is a pretty nice looking triangle, ask them to lay it on the ground and remove their blindfolds to view their masterpiece.

Equipment required:

• 40 ft. rope (groups up to 15 members) - Use a good quality, soft nylon rope, approximately 1/2 “ diameter. A longer rope is necessary for large groups
• Bandanna/blindfold for each participant

Safety tips:

• Moving with blindfolds should always be done carefully
• Nobody should pull the rope quickly as it could cause rope burns
• Set this up in an area that is free of obstacles
• If there is a team member who is uncomfortable being blindfolded, you can still let them participate. Just have them work in silence.

Processing:  

• The importance of adequate information when working on projects.
  • Ask them about how they began their process. 
  • Did they assess the information at hand? 
  • Did they clarify the understanding among the team about the goal of the exercise and the constraints?
• Leadership
  • How did leadership emerge on the team?
  • Did the team allow leadership to shift as other members had ideas?
• Decision making
  • What was the decision making process like?
  • Describe the level to which all team members were involved.
• Communication
  • At the start of the activity, how might you describe the communication within the team?
  • How did the communication progress as the activity got underway?
  • What helped the flow of ideas and information?
  • Were there examples of things that were not effective in the communications?  Explain

Best of luck with this great activity!

Larry