Group Juggle Challenge
Group Juggle is a group challenge that promotes the development of teamwork skills such as collaboration and coordination.
Ask your group to form a circle, facing in. Not too close but certainly standing less than a metre apart.
Starting with one tossable item (eg a fleece-ball,) pass it to one person on the other side of the circle. Ask this person to pass the item to another person, and so on, until every person has received and passed the item once.
Instruct your group to create a memorable sequence of passes involving every person in the circle. That is, every person will receive the tossable once, and pass it once.
To reinforce this exact sequence, repeat it several times.
Challenge your group to repeat this sequence without the item touching the ground.
When ready, introduce two more tossable items. Yes, that’s right, the group will now juggle three items in a row at the same time.
Explain that all three items will be passed from person to person in the exact same sequence, one after another, at the same time. In practical terms, it looks like this: You start with all three items in your hand, and having attracted the attention of your receiver, you pass the first ball, and then after they have passed it along, you pass the second item to your receiver, and so on.
Challenge your group to pass all three tossables without any item touching the ground as quickly as possible. Allow ample time for discussion, trial and error.
Allow five attempts and record the time on each to see the best performance of the group.
Moment of Reflection
- What did it take for your group to become proficient and produce regular “no-drop” rounds?
- What problems did you encounter and how did you solve them?
- Were there significant “technologies” or insights that drove your performance?
- How might this exercise reflect the juggling of our responsibilities as a group?
The topics of this publication: interactions, strategy, collaboration, teamwork, cooperation, integration, cooperation, planning
