Overview
In this activity, participants will work together to untie a series of knots in a rope while being attached to it.
Resources: One team rope per 10 people
Space Required: Can be indoors or outdoors.
Group Size: No maximum or minimum
Total Time: 35 minutes
- 3 minutes to describe the activity
- 5 minutes planning time
- 17 minutes for implementation
- 10-minute debrief
Prerequisite: None
Set Up
- Lay out one rope per 10 people. Attach 10 pieces of rope, or bungee, in equal intervals down the rope. The objective is to have 10 people attached to the rope in equal distances from each other. If you like…add a small carabiner to the end of each attachment so participants can attach to their pants waistline or pant loop. Tie a knot in the long rope between each pair of people. There should be 10 knots in the rope.
Running the Activity
- Objective: To have participants work together to untie knots – while attached to the rope.
- Give everyone the object and let them plan for 5 minutes. They will need to be attached to the rope and untie the knots between each participant without letting go.
- Start the implementation time – 17 minutes.
- Participants will need to open the knot between them and find a way to crawl through it. To untie each knot…the entire group will have to pass through the open knot.
- The activity is over when all of the knots have been untied or time runs out.
Suggested Learning Outcomes
- Collaboration
- Planning
- Role
- Leadership
- Conflict Resolution
Activity Guidance and Notes
This is a great icebreaker. You can make up any scenarios you like, but make sure to sequence them so the participants are ready for the level of interaction. If you used the “long-lost friend” scenario first…it would fall flat. Usually three to five greetings maximizes the energy. Any more than that can start to reduce their energy and become repetitive.
Review
Suggested questions to ask:
- How did you use your planning time?
- When you started the implementation time did you feel ready? What could you have done differently?
- How did leadership develop? What could have helped enhance your leader’s success?
- Where you successful? How did you define success?
- Did you create clarity about the task? If so, how? If not, how did that affect your outcome and enjoyment of the activity?
- How can you use the experience of this activity to enhance your work environment?
