Three Wishes

Energiser / Warm up, Get-to-know, Icebreaker

Define intentions, Ideation & idea generation, Intragroup openness, Team – building

Creativity / create, Introspection

Up to 15 min, Up to 30 min

6-15 persons

Beginner

Safe

Introduction

The activity serves as a brief energizer during a workshop, and helps to get creativity flowing. At the end of this method, each team member will be a little more familiar with each other.

Necessary tools (what you need)

Pick an online whiteboard tool that allows you to use a large, zoomable canvas.
Pick a videoconferencing tool, ideally such that allows you to create breakout rooms.
Pick an online collaborative tool such as Google Docs or online whiteboard tool.

Steps

Set up a spot for each participant to place their three wishes, spread them out just like you would do it on the walls of a room.
Ask each team member for their answers to the following question: “If you were granted three wishes, what would they be?” They should write them down to their dedicated spot.
Invite participants to zoom in and visit each person’s section during the review section of this exercise.
One-by-one, ask each person to explain their choices to the rest of the group.

Tips & Tricks

We recommend asking participants to find a GIF, image or video representation of their wishes and add them to their section. The more fun, the better! You may need to divide the audience into smaller groups of 3-4 to discuss their wishes.
If you are not using an online whiteboard, we would recommend using a collaboration tool such as Google Docs to collect everyone’s wishes under a separate heading for each person. Invite everyone into the document to share their wishes but be very clear in regards to editing rights.
When facilitating group discussion, we would recommend that participants use non-verbal means to indicate they would like to speak. You can use tools like Zoom’s nonverbal feedback tools, a reaction emoji, or just have people put their hands up. The facilitator can then invite that person to talk.
If you would like to make this activity a little longer or trickier, you could blend this activity with the popular ‘Two Truths and One Lie’. Therefore, two of the wishes could be true, with one wish as a lie. The other team members must decide which ‘wish’ is made up.
You may also like to choose either personal or professional wishes, depending on what the team feel most comfortable expressing and the desired outcome.
As an additional step, you could ask the audience to search for an image, which sums up their wish, and you could encourage each participant to share an image or GIF, which represents their wish for the audience to guess!

The exercise is successfully completed when? Conclusion?

During this activity, everyone will learn something new about their co-workers, whether or not you use the variation or not. If you have chosen professional wishes, then ask the team to assess how well they are aligned towards a common goal. If you have chosen personal wishes, encourage each team member to reflect on why these choices are important to them, and whether they would change their mind after hearing their colleagues’ desires.