Climate Checker

Climate checker is a quick and easy exercise used to find out how people feel about a particular topic or issue. This exercise is ideally suited for the start of a workshop or as part of a project team meeting. It can also be used during the formation stage of the team development.

Resources: Flip-chart paper or whiteboard, marker pens
Time: 2 -5 minutes (per topic)
Group Size: 6 -15 people

Climate Checker Instructions

• On your flip-chart paper (or whiteboard) draw a line and mark a scale of 1-10 (1 = strongly disagree; 10 = strongly agree)
• Write the statement or topic that requires answering or voting at the top of the sheet. This should be linked to your workshop objectives, e.g. ‘I think that we work well as a team’.
• Hand out some marker pens and ask team members to mark an x on the line a point that represents how they feel about the statement. Alternatively, you can get them to mark their initials.
• Take time to review the answers with the group and try to identify any common themes.
• Once you have reviewed, repeat the process for the next topic.

Tips and Guidance

You can also use this exercise throughout your workshop to see whether anyone changes their vote. So, say for example I have a team that is focusing on improving communication, I will use this exercise at the start of the workshop to establish how well they feel they communicate as a team.

After they completed a couple of team building activities, I will ask them to repeat the process but on a new sheet of paper (labelled 2). I will repeat this maybe three or four times during the workshop.

At the end of the day allocate 15-20 minutes to review. Spend some time looking back on the experience and use questions and reflection to help them identify learning and communication improvements. Use the climate checker sheets to show them how they have progressed.