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They Melt In Your Mouth, But...
Purpose
To open a workshop on cross-functional teams on a positive, up-beat note.
To help workshop participants get to know each other better.
Team Size
15 to 500 people. You will need at least 15 workshop participants to make this activity enjoyable. It can also be used as an ice breaker at a large conference for several hundred people.
Required Resources
Bags of M & M's
A copy of the M & M's Discussion Guide for each person.
Time
20 to 30 minutes depending upon the size of the group.
Room Set-up
Sufficient space to allow people to freely move around the room.
Design Steps
- As people arrive ask them to take a handful of M&M's® from a bowl. Indicate that from that handful, they should pick out their four favorite colors and hold them aside. They can eat the others while they wait for the session to begin or hold them for a snack later.
- Open the session by explaining the purpose of the activity.
- Distribute a copy of the M&M's® Discussion Guide and review the guidelines for the exercise:
- They are to find another person that they do not know who has one of the same color M&M's®.
- When they find that person, they are to share their answers to the corresponding question on the Discussion Guide and eat the candy.
- They cannot use the same person for two colors.
- The objective is to meet four people and eat all of your candy in a 20-minute period.
- Conclude the activity by facilitating a discussion on useful things they learned and how this exercise helps build teamwork.
Variations
- Change the final discussion period by asking the participants to find five other people with the same color and form a team of six. They should share their answers to the question. These teams can become the workshops teams for remainder of the program(or just the next exercise). As a result, you will have a red team, yellow team, etc.
- You can change the questions on the Discussion Guide to topics that more closely reflect the content of the program. For example, if the program focuses on conflict, you can use questions such as:
- How does conflict hurt teamwork?
- How does conflict help teamwork?
- How do you usually handle conflict with another person?
- What factors contribute to effective conflict resolution?
- What one thing would help you be better at resolving differences with teammates?
Some other questions we have used include:
- What is the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you?
- What is the dumbest thing you never learned to do?
- What is your dream job (other than your current job)?
- What do you like best about your job?
- What was your best vacation?
- What do you do in your spare time for fun?
M & M's® Discussion Guide
Directions: Find a person who has the same color candy as you do and then discuss your answers to the corresponding question list below. After the discussion period, you may eat the candy. Allow three minutes for the discussion and then move on to another person and another color. You goal is to meet four people, answer four questions and eat four pieces of candy.
Color |
Question |
Red |
What do you hope to learn today? |
Yellow |
What is your biggest concern about being on a team? |
Brown |
What is the best team you have been on? |
Orange |
What is your major strength as a team player? |
Green |
What is the riskiest thing you have ever done? |
Blue |
What can management do to support teams? |
Light Brown |
What are you most proud of? |
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