This icebreaker uses a Mad Libs format to create funny mission statements and explore values. It's a playful way to build connection and energy within the team, sparking shared understanding through humor. Sometimes the silliest choices reveal the truest values.
Duration
20 mins
Group Size
6-25
Category
Values/Motivation
Energy
4
• Explore purpose in low-pressure way • Generate laughter and energy • Practice articulating values • Create memorable references
This exercise reduces pressure around serious topics and can lead to unexpected insights about team values. Expect shared laughter and stronger bonds. Participants will gain concrete examples of shared values and working preferences. It can also boost engagement and participation.
For a team-focused variation, try 'Team Charter Mad Libs'. Divide participants into small groups (3-5 people) instead of working individually. This encourages collaboration and allows participants to build on each other's ideas, fostering even stronger team bonding.
Encourage participants to embrace silly word choices. Pay attention to any surprisingly profound moments that arise from the activity. Discuss what makes a mission statement effective.
Introduction (1 min): Explain that participants will fill in a Mad Libs template to create a silly mission statement. Emphasize looking for accidental insights within the humor.
Individual Work (6 min): Participants complete their Mad Libs.
Sharing Round (10 min): Each person shares their creation with the group.
Wrap-up (4 min): Facilitate a reflection on common themes and unexpected insights.
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Before you run the room, you read it. Steal from facilitators who've made every mistake, study the moves that worked, and stockpile exercises you can pull when the agenda goes sideways. Your reading list now is your toolkit later.
A workshop is a sequence of decisions you make before anyone walks in: who's there, what changes by the end, where the energy spikes and dips. Block out the time, name the moves, leave room for the room. Plan tight enough to start, loose enough to follow what actually happens.
The plan meets the room and the room wins. Your job is to read what's actually happening, not what you scripted, and steer with small, specific moves. Hold the timer. Surface the unsaid. Cut what's not landing.
The hour after the workshop is when the value either compounds or evaporates. Capture what surfaced, send the artifacts before momentum dies, and write down the one thing you'd do differently. Run enough sessions and the patterns become a craft.
Workshop tips picked for the rooms you actually run. Three times a week. No "10 tricks for hybrid" listicles, no synergy slides, no hot takes dressed as frameworks.
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