Continuous Improvement Icebreakers and Energisers

Time:
This exercise will take about 10 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 20 minutes for completion.

Aims:
• To explain what brainstorming involves.
• To identify some key 'rules' for effective brainstorming

Group Size:
Suitable for use with groups of almost any size.

You'll Need:
• A selection of household items like a toothbrush or coat hanger.
• Flipchart paper and pens.

Notes:
A small prize for the winning team would be a nice touch.

Time:
This exercise will take about 30 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 40 minutes for completion.

Aims:
• To provide participants with a challenge that tests participants’ abilities to work together to solve a problem.

Group Size:
Suitable for use with groups of any size.

Useful For:
Staff at all levels, especially those working together in teams (or who soon will be).

You'll Need:
• Plenty of clear space for the activity and a way of marking the start and finish line of the racetrack.

And for each team:
• Two postal tubes (stoppers removed).
• Two golf balls.
• Six eggs.
• A flipchart pen.

Notes:
This training activity can get messy, so it is best run outside in an open space.

You should also check if any participants have an allergy to eggs. If so, they can assist you in observing.

Time:
This exercise will take about 10 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 20 minutes for completion.

Aims:
• To energise a group.
• To test participants’ abilities to work together quickly to solve a simple problem.
• To introduce the concept of continuous improvement.

Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of up to 25 participants.

Useful For:
All participants.

You'll Need:
• Nothing other than the materials provided.

Notes:
This simple activity is one you can return to several times in your training to demonstrate the principles of continuous improvement.

Provided you have more than one team, this activity adds an extra dimension to the remote delivery module, ‘Hands up, Line up!’ by encouraging participants to reflect on how a silo mentality might impact continuous improvement.

Remote/Virtual Delivery:
The Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library is called ‘Hands up, Line up!’.

Time:
This exercise will take about 15 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 30 minutes for completion.

Aims:
• To review knowledge, share feedback or quiz participants.
• To assess current awareness of a situation or challenge.

Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of up to 24 participants.

Useful For:
Any situation where you want to inject some fun and humour whilst testing your participants’ knowledge or awareness.

You'll Need:
• To pre-prepare a series of questions, each with multiple answers.

Notes:
Developed to share customer feedback with our team, this is also a great activity to use in any situation where you want to run a quiz where questions have more than one answer. For example, you could use it to test participants’ knowledge of the main features of a product or service, or to remind teams of their successes.

Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library called Let's See if it's There.

Time:
This exercise will take about 5 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 10 minutes for completion.

Aims:
• To illustrate how assumptions about the nature of a task or problem can get in the way of finding solutions.
• To explore how creativity can help solve problems and encourage continuous improvement.

Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of almost any size.

You'll Need:
One inflated balloon. (We recommend having a couple of spares.)

Notes:
We’d like to thank Resli Costabell for inspiring this icebreaker.

Time:
This exercise will take about 20 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 20 minutes for completion.

Aims:
• To encourage participants to reflect on challenges they’ve faced and identify what they’ve learnt from them.

Group Size:
Suitable for use with groups of almost any size.

Useful For:
Everyone.

You'll Need:
• Nothing other than the materials provided.

Notes:
This activity was written as a way to reflect on and move forward from the pandemic of 2020. However, it can be easily adapted and used not just to review a year, but, for example, a challenging experience or significant change that participants have been through. This can be a useful way to launch training around resilience, change or a planning session.

Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.

Time:
This exercise will take about 25 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 30 minutes for completion.

Aims:
• To welcome the participants.
• To introduce the facilitator(s) and participants to each other.
• To introduce the facilities.
• To agree the course objectives and timetable.

Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of almost any size.

You'll Need:
Nothing, other than the materials provided.

Time:
This exercise will take about 20 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 30 minutes for completion.

Aims:
• To explore the difference between optimistic and pessimistic behaviour.
• To understand the kind of actions to take in order to be more optimistic.

Group Size:
Can be used with groups of up to 25 participants.

Useful For:
Staff at all levels.

You'll Need:
• Nothing other than the materials provided.

Notes:
This activity can be run on its own or as a follow on to The Charity Challenge.

Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.

Time:
This exercise will take about 5 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 15 minutes for completion.

Aims:
• To test participants accuracy under pressure when working in teams.
• To reflect on how they could have improved their performance.

Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of almost any size.

Useful For:
Anyone.

You'll Need:
• One set of the Name Cards per team, which you will need to cut out beforehand.
• The PowerPoint slides of challenges, provided.

Notes:
This game is best played in teams with 3-5 participants in each.

Please note, this exercise may not be suitable if you have participants who suffer from colour-blindness, or who are visually impaired.

Time:
Each individual challenge will take about 5 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 10 minutes to complete each activity.

Aims:
• To energise and engage participants.
• To help participants understand why practice makes perfect when learning new skills.

Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of 6 or more participants.

You'll Need:
• 5 sets of the Filing Frenzy shape cards for every team of 3 participants and the PowerPoint Challenges slides.
• A stopwatch or timer.

Notes:
Each Filing Frenzy! pack contains 10 sets of the shape cards used in this activity.

Time:
This exercise will take about 15 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 20 minutes for completion.

Aims:
• To provide participants the opportunity to practice their attention to detail and accuracy skills when under ever increasing pressure.

Group Size:
Suitable for use with groups of almost any size.

You'll Need:
• One set of 180 Filing Frenzy shape cards and instruction cards 1 and 4 for each team (see set up notes).
• A stopwatch or timer.
• A whistle or bell (optional).
• A prize for the winning team (optional).

Time:
This exercise will take about 5 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 15 minutes for completion.

Aims:
• To test participants’ attention to detail.
• To explore how patience and persistence can help when tasks are detail orientated.

Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of almost any size.

Useful For:
Anyone.

You'll Need:
• Nothing other than the materials provided.

Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.

Time:
This exercise will take about 20 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 40 minutes for completion.

Aims:
• To develop participant’s brainstorming skills.
• To identify what changes participants would like to see within their team/department.
• To explore how participants can make those changes possible.

Group Size:
This icebreaker can be used with groups of up to 24 participants.

Useful For:
Existing teams.

You'll Need:
• Flipchart paper and pens.
• Enough green sticky dots for participants to have three each. (If you are unable to source sticky dots, a green marker pen for every participant will work too.)

Notes:
This module is designed for situations where your participants work together in the same team. It can be run as a stand-alone exercise on brainstorming, or as part of a session looking to develop the continuous improvement skills of a team.

Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.

Time:
This exercise will take about 5 minutes to run. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 15 minutes for completion.

Aims:
• To energise a group of participants.
• To encourage teamwork and team problem solving.

Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of 5 or more participants. If you have more than 10 participants, split them into smaller teams.

You'll Need:
• Hula Hoops (1 or 2 per team).
• A stopwatch.

Notes:
This exercise may not be suitable for some people with a disability.

Time:
This exercise will take about 15 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 45 minutes for completion.

Aims:
• To encourage participants to reflect on where they are, their strengths and the challenges they face.
• To identify parallels with nature and reflect on what learning this provides.

Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of up to 25 participants.

Useful For:
New leaders in particular and in any situation where self-reflection might be valuable.

You'll Need:
• Nothing other than the materials provided.

Notes:
Nature can be a powerful metaphor for learning. It is, after all, in a constant state of change, growth and renewal and it’s full of symbiotic relationships. There are clear parallels here with the workplace where success is often dependent on teamwork, where change is constant and where communication, learning and adaptability are essential skills.

This can be a particularly powerful activity to use with new managers to encourage them to reflect on their place in the team and the skills they need to develop but it can be used in other situations too, where some self-reflection might be valuable.

Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.

Time:
This exercise will take about 10 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 20 minutes for completion.

Aims:
• To test participants communication in a fun way and identify areas for improvement.
• To consider the impact poor communication can have on performance levels.

Group Size:
This module can be used with groups of up to 25 participants.

Useful For:
Staff at all levels.

You'll Need:
• A bucket (or a bowl if space is limited).
• A timer/stopwatch.
• A flipchart to record the scores.

And for each pair of participants:
• A blindfold.
• 6 soft balls (or tiddlywinks/counters if space is limited). (Each pair must have six balls/counters of the same colour.)

Notes:
If space is limited, substitute the bucket and soft balls for a bowl and tiddlywinks/counters.

Time:
This exercise will take about 10 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 15 minutes for completion.

Aims:
• To highlight self-limiting behaviour and beliefs in a non-threatening way.
• To consider how we receive praise and how it affects us.
• To energise a group of participants.

Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of almost any size as long as you have sufficient wall space.

You'll Need:
• 2 cardboard stars or star shaped post it notes for each participant.
• Blu-tac will also be needed if you use cardboard stars.

Time:
This exercise will take about 10 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 15 minutes for completion.

Aims:
• To explore how assumptions and previous experiences can prevent us from thinking clearly about a challenge.

Group Size:
Suitable for use with groups of almost any size.

You'll Need:
• We have provided a PowerPoint slide for the riddle, alternatively you can write it up in advance on a flipchart.

Time:
This exercise will take about 5 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 15 minutes for completion.

Aims:
• To explore what it feels like when a colleague adopts a pessimistic attitude.
• To understand how pessimism can impact the likelihood of success.

Group Size:
Can be used with groups of up to 25 participants.

Useful For:
Teams.

You'll Need:
• Flipchart paper and a pen.

Notes:
This icebreaker is really only suitable for use when running in-house training with an established team. To make it more credible, we suggest running this activity immediately after a break (and make sure you’re absent from the learners for part of that break). It works best when it is followed up with Describing Your Glass - Optimism vs Pessimism, as that module focuses on the positive steps that can be taken to develop optimism as a skill.

Remote/Virtual Delivery:
There is a Remote Delivery version of this module available in Trainers’ Library.

Time:
This exercise will take about 10 minutes to run. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 15 minutes for completion.

Aims:
• To help participants understand the benefits of working with others when tackling problems and challenges.
• To explain why taking time to nurture ideas helps us to tell the good ideas from the bad ones.

Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of almost any size.

You'll Need:
Nothing, other than the materials provided.

Time:
This exercise will take about 10 minutes to complete. In total, allowing for discussion, we recommend allowing 15 minutes for completion.

Aims:
• To encourage participants to think about their preferred thinking style.

Group Size:
This module is suitable for use with groups of almost any size.

You'll Need:
• Nothing other than the materials provided.