Here’s how to take your team on a Wall Walk
Are you keen to get off the team meeting hamster wheel and try something a little different?
A Wall Walk is a team development activity that draws out different perspectives, reflections and insights. All you need is 90 minutes and $100 worth of materials (including snacks!).
The purpose is to encourage open communication, visualise information and foster collaboration by promoting teamwork and problem solving.
Materials are easy enough to get your hands on. If they’re not laying about, your maximum outlay will be $100 (I checked). You’ll need flip chart paper, post-it notes, sharpies, blue tak, tape and snacks!
Step 1 – Prepare to Facilitate
Book a meeting room with good wall space and plenty of room to move around in.
Identify the topic or question you want the team to focus on. Suggestions could be a retrospective on the previous 12 months (highlights/lowlights), idea sharing on a challenge or improving a product or service.
Step 2- Alert the Troops
Let your team know ahead of time that you that your upcoming meeting will include a Wall Walk and that for it to work you’ll need their active participation.
Share the topic at least three days in advance so team members of different thinking/processing styles can arrive prepared.
Let the team know the meeting will be device free so everyone is present and participates fully.
Step 3 – Setting the Scene
Arrive early to prep the flips – tape three flips together on the short ends so you end up with about 3 metres of space – or more if desired/required!
Add headings or segments if needed. For example, with a 12 month team retrospective draw a line horizontally across the middle. Label the top half “Highlights” and the lower half (you guessed it) “Lowlights”.
Spread the post-it notes and sharpies across the middle of the table so they’re in easy reach.
And Breathe… you’re trying something new and different. The Growth Zone feels weird, awkward and uncomfortable but so do most things worth doing. And remember the juice is worth the squeeze.
Step 4 – Get the Party Started
Welcome everyone and start with a Check In which allows people to put aside whatever came before this meeting. Try something simple like ‘one word to describe your day so far’ or one that always gets a fun reaction ‘describe your day so far in weather patterns.’
Reconnect with the topic you’re here to action via the Wall Walk.
Pass around the post-it notes and sharpies and ask everyone to write down their ideas, feedback or answers to the main questions, just one idea per post-it note
Once everyone has finished that step, ask them to add their notes to the Wall Walk in the areas the sections that make sense.
Allow some time for silent reading and absorbing of everything that’s been shared before launching into assessment/groupings/action planning.
Gather the team around the wall and begin to cluster similar ideas or themes.
Ask open questions like:
What themes are emerging?
Any surprising ideas/perspectives?
Anything we’ve missed that you’d like to add?
Step 5- The Takeaway
Develop action plans for top priorities by identifying specific next steps, who’s responsible for what and by when.
Boldly write these actions on the Wall Walk so there’s no ambiguity about what happens next.
Thank the team for their participation and contributions.
Add an agenda item to your next team meetings to ensure you are on track with the actions
Top Tips
Facilitate, don’t dominate – your role as the leader is to guide the process not hinder the team’s contributions
Stay on topic– Focus on the main question
Be inclusive – By sharing the topic ahead of the meeting you are more likely to get quieter team members leaning in. Ask more talkative members to lean back.
Follow through – make time to provide regular updates on progress.
As a leader you’ll be harnessing all the good stuff your team has to offer from diversity of thought, past experiences, fresh ideas and as a result creating a sense of belonging and opportunities for growth, collaboration and cooperation. Go you!
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