E-mail Handles: A Closer for a Mature Team

Purpose
To bring closure to a team building intervention with an intact team.
To provide positive feedback to teammates.
To close a session in a fun and upbeat way.

Group Size
Works best with an intact team of less than 10 people.

Physical Arrangements
Chairs arranged in a circle or around a circular or rectangular table.

Time
30 to 45 minutes depending on the size of the team. See 'variations' below for a way of reducing the time required.

Materials
Sufficient number of 3x5" cards
Flip chart and markers

Process

1. Introduce the activity as an upbeat and fun way to close a team building experience. Remind the team of the "old days" before email and car phones when people had CB radios in their cars and trucks. And each person created a "handle" or name that they used to identify themselves to other CBers. These handles were often a description of their personality or occupation such as "Texas Trainer." Today email addresses are often cold, formal variations of the person's name. In this exercise, you will have a chance to create email addresses or handles with some warmth and personality for your teammates.

2. Explain that you are asking them to create email handles for their teammates. These handles should reflect only the most positive aspects of the person's style, role, skills or experience. This is not the time for negative feedback.

3. Post some examples on the flip chart such as:

• ahchai@hotmail.com
• qualityguy@yahoo.com

4. If time permits ask each team member to create one for each of his or her teammates. Allow 10 to 15 minutes depending on how many people are participating. Each handle should be written on a 3 x 5" card.

5. You can either (a) collect the cards for each person in a separate envelope and give it to the person who, in turn, reads the handles or (b) simply go around the team one person at a time and have their teammates present their handles for the person.

6. Debrief the exercise using some or all of the questions provided

Debriefing

• How did you feel about this activity?
• How do you feel about yourself as a result of getting this "feedback"?
• Which handle did you like best? Why?
• (Assuming the organization would allow it) would you ever consider using one of the handles as your email address?
• How did this activity help us as a team?
• If you were going to do this exercise with another team, how would you change it?
• How does positive feedback help us?

Variations

1. If you have less time available to you, write the names of all the team members on individual 3 x 5" cards and put the cards in a envelope. Ask each person to select one card from the envelope (but not their own) and write a handle for that person on the opposite side of the card. Then go around the team and have each person identify the person and the handle they created for that person.

2. Make a game of variation 1 by asking the person to first read the handle and then ask the other people to guess for whom the handle was created.

3. Similarly, in Process Step 5 (a), after the person reads the handle on the card ask him or her to guess who created the handle. Other team members can also guess.

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