Floor Plan
Starting Design Ending Design
Move 1
Move 2
Move 3
Move 4
Move 5
Move 6 Move 1
Games That Boost Performance. Copyright © 2005 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www.pfeiffer.com
Floor Teams
• PURPOSE
• To demonstrate the importance of prior planning in effective problem solving.
• To demonstrate how assumptions affect our ability to communicate effectively.
• To demonstrate the dynamics of self-directed teams.
• To demonstrate the value of “thinking on your feet.”
• GAME OBJECTIVE
The set of teams that completes the required floor maneuver in the shortest time wins.
• PLAYERS
Six or more.
• TIME
Thirty-five to fifty-five minutes.
• SUPPLIES
• One roll of masking tape.
• Overhead projector (if using transparencies) or a newsprint flip chart and felt-tipped markers.
• One set of six 5-inch ⫻8-inch index cards for each set of teams.
• Two sets of six markers—three red and three white—for each set of teams.
• One set of two Instruction Sheets for each set of teams.
• One set of two Planning Grids for each set of teams.
• Paper and pens/pencils for each team.
• Noisemaker (optional).
• PREPARATION
Create a floor grid (three-by-three Tic-Tac-Toe grid) as follows:
• Using masking tape, outline a six-foot square on the floor.
• Divide this square into two-foot sections, creating a three-by-three grid.
Using six of the 5-inch ⫻8-inch index cards, create a set of three “X” and three “O”
cards for each set of teams by marking the letter “O” or “X” on both sides for easier identification.
Find “markers” for team planning. The markers can be red and white chips, brown and white chess pawns, felt-tipped marker tops, or even red and white dice. (Note:
the two colors do not have to be the suggested red and white.)
• GAME PLAY
1. Divide the group into sets of two floor teams, three players to a team.
2. Have each team select a designator—the “X” floor team or “O” floor team.
3. Distribute one set of three “X” and three “O” cards to each team.
4. Have each team select an on-floor leader. The “X” and “O” on-floor leaders are responsible for directing their teams’ on-floor maneuvers. They also meet with the other team leader, as necessary.
5. Distribute the Instruction Sheets and Planning Grids to each team.
6. Give the two leaders 5 minutes to meet with their teams and to review the Instruction Sheet.
7. After 5 minutes, have each team take its assigned grid spaces.
8. Inform each set of teams that they have 3 minutes to move to the “final”
sequence.
9. Call time after 3 minutes or when the teams complete the floor maneuver.
10. Post the final sequence on the flip chart or overhead projector.
• POST-GAME DEBRIEFING
Floor Teams is an excellent way to demonstrate the real-time dynamics of self- directed teams. To introduce these dynamics you can ask:
• It’s not enough for a team to plan its own moves; those moves need to be coordinated with other teams or other parts of the organization. What was easy or difficult in coordinating your movements with the other team?
• What tools or techniques did you use to create a common and shared vision of what needed to be done?
• Why is it hard to see the options available when you are right in the middle of the action?
• How long does a strategy last when people begin to get frustrated in trying to accomplish a task?
• What are the different ways that team members contribute to success?
• Why and when is it vital to include someone other than those immediately involved in developing a plan or strategy?
• How can capturing lessons learned help improve team performance?
• What happens when someone offers an idea or suggestion and it “plops” (no one responds or captures the idea or suggestion)?
Floor Teams is an excellent way to make the point that planning is a critical ele- ment of problem solving. Typically, most teams leap into problem solving long before they think about and come to agreement on:
• The roles that must be played within the team.
• How to select people for those roles.
• The assumptions that are being made about the task.
• How the team defines the problem.
• What needs to be communicated and with whom.
• How to stop and regroup if the team reaches an impasse.
As a result, teams can bury themselves so far down in the weeds that it is difficult for them to stop, reassess their situation, and then generate options for change. If participants become frustrated during the game (and they are very apt to do so if the team hasn’t clearly agreed on its strategy in advance), the facilitator should step in and ask:
• What is happening right now?
• What is your strategy?
• What is getting in the way of pursuing that strategy?
• What assumptions are you making?
• If you were to question your assumptions, what new options might you consider?
• GENERAL COMMENTS
• If, as a facilitator, you see that teams are getting stuck in this situation, call a time out and inquire if either team has established a reference for the floor grid to help them with its maneuver. If neither team has created this reference, then introduce this simple grid pattern to help both teams plan and execute their floor moves: