Time:
This game can be played in about 30-40 minutes. In total, allowing for discussion and evaluation, we recommend allowing 60-70 minutes.

Aims:
• To assess team dynamics and test individuals’ commitment to team work.
• To test participants’ abilities to communicate effectively within and across teams.
• To develop team skills and to work co-operatively together.
• To test participants’ abilities to work together to overcome problems by understanding the causes and finding appropriate solutions.
• To examine the role of leaders within teams.

Skills and Behaviours Tested:
Leadership, teamwork and collaboration, communication skills, problem solving, conflict resolution.

Group Size:
You’ll need a minimum of 9 participants for this exercise. We suggest running this exercise with teams of 2–4 and an observer for each team. For smaller groups, you can reduce the number of teams to 3 (leave out team 4).

Useful For:
Staff at all levels.

You'll Need:
• Two sets of 'Pairs' cards for each team. (Each set consists of 8 different picture cards.)
• A brief for each team.
• Two envelopes for each team – one clearly marked ‘correct’ and one marked ‘error’.
• Plenty of space – see note below.

Notes:
You will need plenty of space for this exercise. Teams should be far enough apart so that they cannot see the cards on another team’s table (without physically going to have a look). Separate syndicate rooms for each team is the ideal.

The exercise will take 30 minutes where you have three teams, and forty minutes where there are four. We recommend another 30 minutes for the debrief and review.