Author : Geoff Watts Date : October 23, 2012

This exercise was co-created as part of a collaboration day between myself and Paul Goddard

Timing:

5-15 minutes

Materials:

None

Instructions:

  1. Explain that this is an exercise that requires concentration and listening
  2. The team stand in a circle and are required to tell a story, with each person responsible for one sentence each
  3. Each person must start their sentence with the last letter of the last word of the person before them

Learning Points: 

  • The “quality” of the story here is not the primary objective of the game
  • This game requires people to stay actively engaged in what their team-mates are saying
  • Develops listening skills
  • Encourages team attention
  • Makes meetings a little more fun

Variations:

  1. Introduce this as a practice in the Daily Scrum to encourage team members to pay full attention and bring a little fun to the meeting
  2. A fun “forfeit” could be added to someone who gets it wrong