Energizers to Kick Off Team Development Sessions

When I kick off the facilitation of a team retreat or at the start of a team coaching engagement, I often start the same way: The ‘penny exercise’ helps people share something personal with vulnerability. Every person receives a penny. Then, I ask them to share a significant event or experience that shaped them into who they are today during the year that is imprinted on the penny, either personally or professionally. I am always amazed at how a team of people who have worked together for some time discovers something new and personal about each other and how people become closer after impactful things are shared. When participants share an important event from their childhood (such as losing a sibling or getting kicked out of school) or from their adult life (such as a painful divorce or feeling lost professionally), they display vulnerability. In the spirit of leading by example, I will always ask the most senior person in the room to kick it off for the team. The vulnerability displayed by the leader is then almost always mirrored by the rest of the team. Sharing with vulnerability at the kickoff builds the base for deeper trust and closer connection within the team and makes for a more productive session. This is very important, but often misunderstood: We don’t need to have trust to show up with vulnerability but showing up with vulnerability is one of the quickest ways to develop trust with your team. 👉 Trust does not come before vulnerability; vulnerability comes before trust! Admitting your shortcomings and mistakes, while scary, is refreshing to your team and plants the seed for trust to grow.

One tool I love using is the Zoom puzzle. It’s made up of 31 images, and everyone gets one image. The challenge is to work together to put the images in order without ever seeing what the full picture looks like. You can describe your image, but you can’t show it to anyone. It teaches people the balance between speaking up and holding back. If you don’t share your thoughts, the team can’t move forward. But if you dominate the conversation, the group loses its way. It helps people see how the details of your piece fit into the bigger picture, and how important it is to collaborate. It also naturally brings out leadership and followership dynamics, showing who steps up and who supports from behind. This can be a great way to kick off a session and highlight areas where your team might need more work or practice- or you can use it as a capstone to pull everything together.

Most leaders miss this. They talk, but they don’t listen. Word association changes everything. It’s the fastest way to see how your team thinks and what drives them. Here’s how I use it: → Say a word. → Let your team say the first thing that comes to mind. → No filter. No overthinking. Just raw, honest reactions. I started using this on my podcast with top young leaders. At the end of every interview, I’d throw out words like: Structure or flexibility Plan or action Strategy or culture They’d pick one. Then explain why. That’s when the real insights came out. You learn what drives them. You see how they make decisions. You spot what matters most to them. But it’s not just for interviews. Word association is a secret weapon for team meetings. Want to build a culture of ownership, commitment, or empowerment? Say the word. Ask each person what it means to them. Let them write it down. Then share. You’ll get a dozen different answers. You’ll see what “ownership” means to one person, and how “commitment” looks to another. This is how you build real understanding. This is how you shape culture. It’s simple. It’s fast. It works as a warm-up, a team builder, or a way to kick off any training. You get people talking. You get people thinking. You get people sharing. And you get to know your team in ways you never have before. Try word association at your next meeting. You’ll never lead the same way again. 🔥 Lead. Inspire. Achieve. Ignite it! 👍 & ♻️ to help other managers become leaders Follow Dwight for more tactical leadership tips and strategies.