The Traffic Light Exercise

Traffic Light is a simple, creative and fast execution strategy to process an experience and promote communication.

In advance, find three coloured objects – red, yellow and green (representing traffic lights) – such as balls, cardboard, hula-hoops, etc. Place these items in three distinct areas, separated by at least a couple of metres.

Gather your group, and identify each of the three areas:

• Red represents things you would like to stop
• Green represents things you would like to keep doing
• Yellow represents things you’re not sure about

Pose your question or make a statement, and then ask everyone to stand by one of the three colours according to their individual response.

Invite people who are in each of the areas to share why they choose that area. Then move the discussion to the large group.

After sharing and discussing the different viewpoints with the large group, people can reassess their position on the traffic light, as their viewpoints or perspectives may have changed.

Repeat the exercise with another question or statement according to the objective of the program you are doing.

This activity promotes the benefits of self-awareness and sharing with others. In a small way, it could be argued that the approach required to share one’s thoughts and beliefs can speak to the benefits of mindfulness and responsibility because participants are invited to reflect on a particular topic and then share it in a public forum.

The topics of this publication: reflection, interactions, critical thinking, debate, active listening, self, diversity