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Team BuildingBeginner

Who are you? The pirate ship exercise

This engaging exercise encourages participants to reflect on their roles and feelings regarding a specific topic in the group context. It serves as an effective opener for meetings by prompting personal insights and shared understanding.

Duration
10m
Group size
Any people
CCBY-SA 4.0

How to run it

  1. 1

    Display the image of the ship to participants, sharing your screen if online.

  2. 2

    Ask each participant to think about which character in the image represents them in relation to the topic.

  3. 3

    Invite participants to share the number of their chosen character and provide a brief explanation.

  4. 4

    Facilitate a debriefing session to discuss insights and feelings.

  5. 5

    Optionally, use this as an icebreaker by tailoring the question to a relevant theme, like online training.

Tips

  • Encourage openness and ensure a safe environment for sharing feelings.

  • Monitor the time to ensure everyone has the opportunity to participate.

  • Use the shared insights as a foundation for deeper discussions in your session.

Variations

Consider adapting the exercise by changing the image to suit different themes or contexts, such as leadership or collaboration.

Where it fits

team kickoffretrospective closingworkshop openingproject alignmentstatus check-in
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Method descriptions on Workshop Weaver are original content written by our team, based on established facilitation practices. This method was inspired by work from SessionLab. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Who are you? The pirate ship exercise — Facilitation Method | Workshop Weaver