Retreat Activities to Improve Communication among Team Members

As is shown in “Chapter 9: Communication” (n.d.), the communication process is comprised of a number of steps beginning with the encoding of the message, which is then transmitted via a channel to a receiver, where it is decoded (p. 337). Along the way, feedback can help to improve the communication process, but it is also important that communicators be able to detect and block out noise that can distort or distract from the message. For that reason, two activities that can help team members improve communication are: 1) Blindfold Rope Square and 2) Build a Bridge.
The outcomes of Blindfold Rope Square are to build communication, trust and teamwork. This is a blindfold exercise, which means all persons wear a blindfold and must verbally communicate within one another using two-way flow in order to successfully complete the challenge. The challenge entails taking a 10 meter rope and turning it into a perfect square with the help of teammates, all of whom are blindfolded. The task may take approximately 30 minutes to an hour to complete. The points that are emphasized in this activity... The team members will have to communicate within one another in order to work out how the rope can be made into a perfect square. Points to emphasize during the debriefing of the exercise are that the rope must form a square on the floor and every member must hold on to a portion of the rope. No member can stand apart from the rope because the rope is what links them all. They together must work out the formation of the square.
Evaluation of the teams’ success in the activity will be determined by the extent to which their ropes appear like a square at the conclusion of the exercise. Evaluation will also take place by asking team members how they felt being blindfolded, how their confidence levels were at the outset of the exercise, and how they would do it differently next time. The point of this evaluation is to encourage self-reflection and allow team members to see why communication and collaboration is so essential in team work. This activity could be described as a metaphor for what real life teams must go through in order to successfully conclude a project (Team Building Directory, 2018).

The Build a…