Enhancing Teamwork: Blind Guiding Exercise for Trust and Communication (Full Transcript)

Speaker 1: Team exercise 17. Blind guiding. To start the exercise the team will stand in a circle at equal distances from each other. The trainer will instruct the team to pair up with someone they don't know so well. When the team has paired up, one person from each pair will be blindfolded. Make sure this person's vision is pitch black. The person guiding will put his right hand on the other one's left shoulder and the left hand on his left upper arm. On your marks the pairs will walk through the room while the blindfolded person will be guided by the other one. The goal in this exercise is to not bump into each other and that the blindfolded person can walk around while feeling relaxed. Together the pairs walk slowly through the room. The one that guides may also give spoken instructions. For example, walk a bit to the left or sharp turn to the right. Let them walk for a couple of minutes before telling them they may stand still again. Now the blindfolded person will guess his position in the room. He will remove his blindfold and checks if his guess was correct. Now the roles switch. The person that was blindfolded will now put his blindfold on the other person. Now the pairs will walk slowly through the room again. When you notice they get the hang of it, you can tell them they may up their walking speed. On your signal the pairs will stand still again. The blindfolded person will guess his position in the room, removes his blindfold and checks if he is correct or might find out he is somewhere else in the room. Now the team proceed to make new pairs and repeat the exercise. This time the blindfolded will be guided in silence without spoken instructions. Make sure no one speaks during this part of the exercise. When this goes well you can challenge them to up their speed. After a few minutes they stand still again. The blindfolded people will guess their positions in the room, remove their blindfolds, check if it's correct and switch roles. Keep reminding the participants to remain focused while they guide the others through the room. Start slowly and let the team speed up or slow down at their own pace. After a couple of minutes the pairs stand still again. The blindfolded persons guess their position in the room again and check if they are correct. After everyone has been blindfolded for two times the team will form a circle again. The exercise will be discussed and the participants share their experiences. In the last part of the exercise the whole team will walk through the room blindfolded, without spoken instructions and without physical guidance. This will require the team to use their hearing and intuition to not bump into each other. Let the team start the exercise very slowly with their arms stretched forward. When you feel the team got a hang of it you may challenge the team to up their speed a bit. After a few minutes the team stand still again. They guess their position in the room and check if they are correct. After this part the team will reform the circle and share their experiences. You as a trainer guides the team, gives feedback and brings variations to the exercise. What kind of variations you can read below this video on YouTube. And please subscribe to our channel to see a new team exercise each Sunday on youtube.com slash teamexercises to improve cooperation and communication.