Team Building Activity: Blind Polygon
One team building activity that never fails to imbibe strategy and communication is the Blind Polygon. Blind in the activity refers to the limitation of not using sight. Polygon refers to the objective of creating shape using a rope or webbing. That's the reason it's called Blind Polygon.
This team building classic has long been used in the industry, but still asserts its relevance until today.
This team building classic has long been used in the industry, but still asserts its relevance until today.
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| GT Cosmetics, October 2015 |
What you need to know to conduct the Blind Polygon are all here:
Participants:
8-40 (higher numbers increase difficulty)
Materials:
20-50 feet rope
1 Blindfold per person (Traditional). CTFN chooses to do this without blindfolds on.
Objective:
The team has to form a shape designated by the facilitator during the activity.
Suggested shapes:
Square, Rectangle, Pentagon (complexity of shapes increase difficulty)
Instructions:
- Participants are given a small amount of time (eg. 5 minutes) to strategize and communicate before the activity proper.
- The team is to form a circle carrying the rope Letting go of the rope is not allowed during the activity.
- Once the activity starts, the participants have to wear their blindfolds at all times. Or at CTFN, we just ask them to close their eyes. Variations can be done here. Some examples are:
- One person is allowed to use his or her sense of sight while the rest cannot
- One person can use sense of sight but cannot talk and the rest close their eyes
- One person can use sense of sight and able to talk but rest of participants close their eyes and are not allowed to talk back
- Without talking, your team has to form a shape according to the suggestion of the facilitator (eg. Square, rectangle)
- Failure to follow the instructions means the team has to start the activity again.
- Once the team is confident with their shape, one of them can take off their blindfold.
- You may repeat steps 1 to 6 with different shapes.
Some debriefing questions to stimulate insight from the activity include…
- What made the activity difficult? What made it easy?
- How were you able to complete the task without verbal communication?
You may make the activity extra challenging by instructing shapes like stars or octagons. This can be appropriate with highly functioning teams. Whatever the case, make sure you and the participants have fun while doing the activity.
Notes:
- The instructions for this activity was recreated by the Learning and Development Division of the Cebu Teambuilding Facilitators Network . Led by Philipp Chen Tan, other members of the division are Kevin Johnrey Sosas, Paulo Frangelyco Magallon, and Marc Julius Rizada.
- CTFN does not claim ownership of this activity. For a list of references used to recreate activity instructions, please visit our Directory of Activities page.
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