(this exercise was co-created as part of a collaboration day between myself and Geoff Watts) Timings: Unspecified, but allow up to 20-30 mins for balloon making and debrief Materials: Download and print the attached for one or more of the balloon animal shaping instructions. Balloon Twisting Tips The Basic Hat The Balloon Dog The Sword Large bag of coloured modelling balloons, with hand pump People…
The Project Manager’s Nightmare
The Project Manager’s Nightmare is a game intended to demonstrate the benefits of limiting Work in Progress (WiP). It also shows the madness of the situation which many Project Managers find themselves in. Created by: Todd Charron (drawing influences from countless other variations) Timing: About 15 minutes Materials: Pad and pen. Players: 7-10 Instructions: Everyone stands in a circle. One person volunteers to be “the PM”…
Challenger Selling Model
This game is based on the “Challenger Selling Model” Venn diagram illustrated in the book The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation, written by Corporate Executive Board’s Executive Director Matthew Dixon and Managing Director Brent Adamson. Timing: 1 hour Ingredients: Online access Players (5..8 recommended): Product Manager / Product Owner Various Teams (sales, marketing, production, etc.) Directions: Play this game to transform your sales strategy into…
Ouija Board EstimationOuija Board EstimationOuija Board EstimationOuija Board Estimation
Great fun and a really fun alternative to planning poker. Place a story in the centre of the table, and each team member places there finger on it. In silence, the team “collaboratively” push or pull the story to the size they believe it represents.
You sunk my methodology
Agile Games – Battleships No plan of operations extends with certainty beyond the first encounter with the enemy’s main strength – Generalfeldmarschall Helmuth von Moltke This is a game I use to introduce people to iterative development. The aim is to help the players to understand that upfront large plans are pointless the minute they are created. Helmuth (quoted above), for me, was…