Blame Game

Objective:

To engage the team in a interactive activity that highlights the impact each member has on team dynamics.

Materials:

• No materials are required for this activity.

Instructions – Round 1:

1. Please arrange the group in a large circle, with everyone standing.
2. Discover your “role model”.
   a) As the team leader, you start by indicating someone in the circle. Please continue to point.
   b) That person then proceeds to point to someone else and continues pointing.
   c) Continue the game until everyone points to someone else, and the last person then points to you.
   d) Please stop pointing and direct your gaze towards the person you were indicating. This person is considered a “role model”.
3. The objective is to observe your “Role Model” closely and mimic their every action.
4. Please ask the team to stand still. No one is allowed to move unless their “Role Model” does. If the “Role Model” moves, such as twitching, coughing, blinking, etc., the person should imitate that movement precisely and then return to being still.
5. Start the game and play multiple times.

Debrief Questions to Ask – After Round 1:

• Participants were expected to remain still, but there seems to be some confusion regarding what happened.
• It is difficult to determine who initiated the movement as there may be various claims and it is challenging to pinpoint the exact origin.
• Does it matter who started it once it got started?
• How much energy is expended in the search for scapegoats?
• What is our role in perpetuating certain behaviours that eventually become team norms? Can you provide some examples of this that we have here at work?
• What implications does this have for us in our work?

Instructions – Round 2:

1. In the game, designate one person as “Where the Buck Stops” and when the movement starts and moves around the group, that participant will not repeat it.

Debrief Questions to Ask – After Round 2:

• To what extent can an individual impact team behaviour?
• What implications does this have for us in the workplace?

Tips for Success:

• Minor movements are likely to occur. If they do, the movement will be replicated throughout the group indefinitely. It is typically exaggerated.
• If the movement becomes excessive, simply halt the game, redirect everyone’s attention, and begin again.