This is the first post in a series I will do on Scrum or team building games. They are great to add a bit of fun in your team, and also go over some of the core concepts of Scrum/Agile.
The Scrum team building game — Ball Throwing
In one of my Scrum training session, we played this game at the beginning of the session which I think is a great way to introduce the concept of Scrum, and iterations and also improve team building.
All you need is:
- 3 Ping Pong balls
- A team
- If you want to add some creativity maybe some other objects such as tape, paper cups, stationary etc…
I find its best to get the team into a kind of semi-circle. Give the team one ball and ask them to randomly throw it to each other.
There are these 3 rules:
- The ball must be held by everyone
- It cannot go to the person to your direct left or right (if possible)
- Must start and end with the same person
Once they have done it once, and then tell them they have to do it again in the same order and you will time them. Each time they drop the ball they get a 5 second penalty.
**Its good if you allude to the fact you are going to time them at the beginning, it can be a talking point during the exercises regarding missed requirements**
Inform them that were good for a practice stage, and how hand them 2 more balls so they have 3 in total.
Tell them they must now do the same, they must throw the 3 balls in the same order and it must start and end with the same person. They will be timed and recorded after each round, there is a 5 second penalty if the order is broken or the ball is dropped. The aim is obviously to improve on each go.
They should maybe do it in a minute or so depending on the team size.
Get them to do it a few times to try and beat their time. Then tell them you have seen teams do it in half the time.
You will see them start to be a bit more creative. After each round, tell them you have seen someone do it in half the time.
The quickest it can be done is about 1 second J
I won’t spoil it now, but if you are interested in some of the methods I have seen — send me a message
Summary
The outcome of the game and the talking point should be the benefits of iterative development and team building. The team tried something in one round; they reviewed what they did and looked what worked well, what didn’t and looked to improve. It’s the same concept in Scrum, continuous improvement.
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