This activity is from Vasudha Deming’s “The Big Book of Leadership Games”, which is a fantastic team building resource with 50 fun games for groups. In this activity, the group is tasked with creating a mock-newspaper with headlines based on what they think the department/company will achieve in the near future.
Resources: Flipcharts, markers. Stationery such as glue, tape, scissors and a big pile of newspapers.
Space Required: Small. Ideally indoors.
Group Size: 6 – 20 is ideal. Each small sub-team should have 3 – 6 participants.
Total Time: 60 minutes
- 10 minutes to brief and setup
- 35 minutes for the activity
- 15 minutes to review and debrief
Running the Activity
- Explain the activity: Each sub-team has to create newspaper headlines based on what they think the department/company will achieve in the near future. They can be as creative as possible and “predict” as many future events as they want to.
- If it is a large group, give each sub-team a different section of the newspaper (e.g. international news, sports, classifieds etc). They can interpret their newspaper section in creative ways, if necessary.
- Hand out the materials and stationery to each group.
- Once they are ready, they can begin the activity. They can use clippings from the old newspapers and paste them on the flipchart or write their headlines on the flipchart.
- At the end of the activity, each sub-team is to pin up their headlines so that everyone can read them.
- Once everyone has read all the headlines, discuss what they think about them, whether they agree, and how they can work together to achieve them.
Suggested Learning Outcomes
- Goal setting
- Creative thinking
- Cooperation
- Communication
Activity Guidance and Notes
This activity is well-suited for team building retreats where you want to discuss the future direction of the department/company. It gives participants a chance to design their ideal future and for them to express their hopes for the organization. It also encourages a feeling of loyalty to the company and the sense that every employee has a part to play in the company’s future.
During the review, ask the group about any headlines that they found especially interesting. Discuss the implications of those headlines and ask the group that came up with it what inspired them to create it. If possible, you can follow-up with the group 2 – 3 months later and revisit the ‘newspaper’. What do they think of their headlines now? What would they change?
Review
Suggested questions to ask:
- How did your team decide on the headlines?
- Did everyone agree with the headlines? If not, did you have to compromise?
- Did anyone emerge as an “editor”? What was his/her role?
- Did others in the team listen to your opinion? Did everyone have their input?
- Do you agree with the vision of the department/company that has been created? Why?
- What can you, as an individual, do to help bring this vision to life?
