Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Call Us: 800-299-3770 Fax: 508-651-2674

Pipe Cleaner Team Building Game

I just happened upon the Pipe Cleaner Team Building Game, a popular  STEM development challenge created by Dr. Laura Bottomley & Heather Smolensky, of NCSU.  I quickly read through the very clever facilitation notes, and thought the game would also be an excellent, low-cost team building activity for adults.

With the plethora of team building games available out there, I got to thinking about what makes this one so appealing. It isn’t just the low cost and ready availability of the supplies, but rather the care taken to construct a scenario–a reason for playing. In the case of the Pipe Cleaner Challenge, the situation is fun, engaging, believable, and can be easily be applied to real-life situations. In fact, many of my favorite team building games share these characteristics:

FUN: Creating a scenario that’s different from people’s day-to-day work challenges will free players to “try-on” different roles and approaches. People are more likely to take risks when they are playing a low-stakes game, rather than trying to prove themselves in a job they already do. Moreover, the more fun and creative the scenario, the freer your group will feel to take risks.

ENGAGING & BELIEVABLE : Beyond taking the time to create a story line that brings the challenge to life, stay “in character,” layering on additional  detail and nuance to your story line.

APPLICABLE: For any team activity, the true learning comes in the debrief, when you take the time to break down the details of what happened and why. Identify and discuss the productive behaviors that led to success and the actions may have side-tracked the team.

The challenge

In this quick, 10-minute exercise, teams of “engineers” are challenged to build the tallest free-standing structure possible with only 15 pipe cleaners.

The facilitation

First 2-4 minutes: tell the teams “there have been budget cuts and each team member must place one arm behind their back!”

Next few minutes:  stop the teams again and explain, “as engineers, you work in a global marketplace where people speak different languages. To symbolize this challenge, you can no longer speak.”

Final 1-2 minutes: tell the teams that “business is booming and you now have the funds to hire translators, so you can speak again!”

The debrief

After a team building game, ask questions such as: if they all had similar ideas at first; how they came to agreement; the way they developed a process for building; ideas for how they could do a better job; roles  they each played; was it helpful or detrimental to have (or not have) a leader; etc.

Access the full facilitation notes here.

+31

Please share your thoughts!

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *