Team activity — Identify and overcome obstacles

Time required

Preparation approximately 15 minutes. 

Activity is approximately 30 minutes depending on the size of the team.

Follow up is approximately 30 minutes

Preparation

1. Read this entire web page.
2. Develop your own outcome or objective statement. 
3. Create a participant list with email, text, or telephone contact info for distribution of the invitation.
4. Create an invitation by customizing the sample below.
5. Send the invitation to all participants, leaving sufficient time for them to answer all of the questions. This will allow your discussion time to be more productive. 

Suggested invitation wording 

Subject: Please answer these 7 questions before our meeting

At our next meeting we want to identify potential obstacles to achieving [our objective or outcome]. We want to better support the success of our team. Our broader objective is to customize this process to be used for any work situation, especially in times of change, high demands or when we have encountered setbacks or failures.

The outcome we’re striving for is [For example, a healthy, safe and productive workplace when we’re introducing this new technology or any outcome or project you’d like to focus on.]

To achieve this, we need to protect our mental and physical well-being while supporting our ability to do good work. The questions below focus on what we can do to reach this outcome. Consider the existing environment, the learning curve, how we interact with each other and our clients, [or customers, students, patients, etc.] psychological safety, and task completion.

You will be asked to share your answers to each of the following questions at our meeting: 

1. How will we know when we’ve reached the desired outcome(s)?
2. What will we see, hear and feel?
3. How would a third-party observer be able to tell that we’ve reached the outcome(s) we wanted? (What would they see or hear?)
4. What will reaching this outcome(s) do for our team?
5. Is there something we have been doing that is preventing us from reaching the desired outcome(s)? 
6. What are we willing to do, or stop doing, to reach our desired outcome(s)?
7. How will we prioritize competing or conflicting demands on our time?

Suggested wording for the meeting

Welcome everyone. This activity today is to identify potential obstacles to meeting [our objective or outcome] so that we can support the success of our team. It also gives everyone a chance to share your creativity and critical thinking skills.

The email I sent included a list of 7 questions. I will present each of the questions one at a time. To make it go smoothly, I will ask a couple of you to share your answers, and then the rest can share any that they have that are different. Do you have any questions about the process? 

[Answer any questions]

Let’s get started . We’re talking about [insert your outcome or objective] and the first question is: 

1. How will we know when we’ve reached the desired outcome(s)?

[Continue to take up answers for each of the questions below.]

2. What will we see, hear and feel?
3. How would a third-party observer be able to tell that we’ve reached the outcome(s) we wanted? (What would they see or hear?)
4. What will reaching this outcome(s) do for our team?
5. Is there something we have been doing that is preventing us from reaching the desired outcome(s)? 
6. What are we willing to do, or stop doing, to reach our desired outcome(s)?
7. How will we prioritize competing or conflicting demands on our time?

[After all questions have been answered]

Thank you for your contribution. We’ll take away your suggestions and develop a plan. The draft will be sent out to you for your feedback and we’ll set up another meeting to discuss next steps. 

Follow up

Write up the key takeaways from your session, including definite action items as suggested by the participants. Send the document out to all participants and invite feedback within one week. Integrate relevant suggestions, then set up another meeting (virtual or in-person) to discuss how you will begin to adopt the agreed-upon actions going forward. 

Sample objective or outcome statements

Your objective or outcomes statements should be specific to your team, easily measured and time limited so that it’s easier to prove either success or the need for change. Some examples could be:

• To integrate the new technology successfully within 2 months with the least amount of stress on our team.
• To produce an error free report that includes all relevant statistics, an easy to follow narrative, using our brand’s design to our executive team within 2 weeks of the end of each quarter.
• To reduce customer complaints about service by 20% within 1 month as measured against social media reviews and in person complaints
• To improve patient safety by reducing medication errors by 50% within 3 months
• To improve the effectiveness of tailgate meetings by ensuring the relevance and value of the content delivered and the method of delivery. This will be measured by comparing our baselines satisfaction survey results with results in 1 month and through implementation of the worker generated suggestions for improvement
• To increase revenue by 10% each quarter over the next 12 months.

Find more activities like this at Team building activities.