Creative Workshop Exercises: Easy and Engaging Workshop Activities #20 Bring Two Teams into One, using the River Cards
Impact: Creates a story of how two teams can merge into one
Materials Needed: One pack of river cards for each team coming together.
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Professional Use:
Who is Bring Two Teams into One for?
This exercise is to help leaders, facilitators, organisational development leaders and others involved in helping teams (or units or divisions) merge into a new team.
How does it help with merging teams?
The exercise is designed to help the teams bring their stories of the past together in a way that recognises the best of what they bring to the future. It is also designed to help them co-create stories of future strength and success and to talk constructive about the challenges of the period of transition.
Working this way reduces the sense of loss, and helps build a true, combined sense of a new team, allowing both teams to move into the future in a positive and constructive way.
Preparation
No particular preparation is required.
How to run the exercise
Divide the group into the two (or more) teams that are being brought together into the new, merged, team or group.
Ask each group to select a few cards that represent their ‘journey’ as a team up to this point. Then ask each group to talk through their representation to the others.
For the purpose of this exercise we are going to assume we’re working with two previous groups of six people who are coming into a new team of 12.
Let’s imagine the first groups selection looks like this.
And they explain: we started small about three years ago and initially things progressed steadily and we took on a couple of extra staff. Then Covid happened and suddenly everything was disrupted and up in the air. Then we heard that we would be joining with you. It looked as if you were in a very different place, but it was hard to see clearly.
While the other group selects these cards
and says: we’ve been going a long time, and most of the time the journey’s been smooth. As of late we’ve been growing more and more customers, see them on the banks here. The future looked rosy. But then we noticed that we were losing revenue (the little streams going off). Each thing on its own was small but it added up to quite a big loss. Basically, we’ve got to adapt very quickly and we don’t really don’t have the expertise – we’re told you do!
After you’ve facilitated a description of what each group brings to the party, you can move onto the next part of the exercise, which is thinking about the future.
Mix up the two pre-existing teams into two new groups, each containing members of both of the existing teams. Ask each group to pick a few cards that symbolise the future desired state, one where the group is integrated, settled, and working as a cohesive team.
Then, bring the whole new team together to co-create a story of their future state from the cards, they might choose to discard some cards.
In the example here, the story is. We have brought our two separate skill sets and histories together to create a great team that, while working hard, looks after our wellbeing (see the riverside swing) and is fun to work in (see the paper boats). We are clear on our identity (see clear banks to the river) and are moving confidently forward.
Now we have to think about how we get from there (the past) to here (this attractive future) through a period of transition.
Ask the group collectively to select up to four cards that represent the journey of transistion. In this instance the group have choosen these cards...
... to represent : their current state of being two separate teams, the uncertainty about becoming one team (the blurry card), the initial likely distortion of feelings of unsettlement and turbulence, and the recognition that there will be unexpected obstacles or disruptions.
These images can be used as a basis for a discussion about how the group will respond. Like how they can be a both/and team – that both functions as one team while recognising the distinct background and contribution of both teams. While the blurry card could lead to a conversation about managing uncertainty. And so on.
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If you have any queries about the exercises as described, please contact Sarahlewis@acukltd.com. We will publish any queries and answers in the next newsletter to the benefit of all.
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