Play Rose Thorn and Bud
The rose, thorn and bud game is not only a great way of encouraging employees to speak up but it also creates a shared feeling of optimism and energy among the team – which can only be a good thing!
The purpose is acknowledge strengths and weaknesses, inspire ideation and debate within teams, and gaining insight from all members of the team.
Is there a new member in the team? It’ll also give your new team member the chance to see how nurturing and supportive an environment your workplace is, making them feel assured in their choice to work with you.
The premise of the game is simple:
- Start your virtual meeting by asking each team member to share two ‘roses’ – any positives taking place in their life right now
- Then, ask them to share a ‘thorn’ – some kind of issue or challenge they are currently facing, whether work-related or not
- Finally, once everyone has shared their individual roses and thorns, ask each team member to share a ‘bud’ – something they’re looking forward to in the not-too-distant future.
By encouraging these types of discussions, your employees will feel a lot more at ease in their work and will be thankful for having an opportunity to get any exciting news or stress off their chest.
A possible extension for this activity is to brainstorm strategies for turning thorns into roses or to describe ways thorns might support learning and growing.
The topics of this publication: reflection, self, onboarding, interactions, active listening, integration, foster relationships
