Goal
How can we setup the energy of the group for creative endeavors while defining an order for ideation, communication, and collaboration.
Level of Difficulty:
Beginner
Participants:
3+
Instructions:
Orient yourselves in the circle. One person, let’s say David, starts by miming an invisible ball. They should describe the ball
I have a yellow koosh ball from the 1990’s. It’s fits in my hand nicely.
The person with the ball then says who they are passing the ball/focus to and they make a sound along with it:
I am passing this to Amy wooooooosh
Amy then mimes receiving the ball. They then describe the type of ball they have, and mime passing it to someone else.
I have a red birthday balloon with no string, and I am passing it to Daniel. BONG!
Amy mimes the passing of a balloon to Daniel, making the Bong noise, who received the balloon. Daniel proceeds to pass a sounds/ball to Jane, who passes a sound/ball to Frank who, passes one to Alice who, as the last person, passes focus back to the first person, David.
Now, we have an order:
David > Amy > Daniel > Jane > Frank > Alice > David (start)
Continue to pass the balls from person to person (you can change the ball if you want, or always keep your same ball) but maintaining the order.
After 3-4 rounds of repetition, when you have your order established, call scene as the ball returns to the first person, in this case David.
Remote Teams
For remote teams, explore tools such as Zoom’s hand raising to indicate who has received the ball in the first round to ensure everyone receives the ball. The chat tool could also be used to document the order.
Practical Application:
How does establishing an order reduce Status & Hierarchy in a collaborative environment? Often times we struggle to feel heard in a meeting. How does providing everyone ample turns democratize conversations and collaboration?
Collaborative Improv 