Purpose: To help teams learn to set—and meet—group goals.

Time Required: 30 minutes, stretched over the course of a one-day session or over two days in a longer class.

Size of Group: Unlimited, but participants should work in teams of about four.

Materials Required: None.

The Exercise in Action: Faye Johnson, program specialist for the Bureau of Career Development, uses this technique to teach goal setting in teams:

Step 1: Ask participants to list the three most important “things” in their lives. Do not define “things.” Have participants share what they’ve written in small groups and look for differences and common elements. Ask the group to consider whether the differences or similarities are affected by factors like age, job position, and upbringing.

Step 2: The next day (or later in the day if it’s a one-day program), ask participants to imagine a stack of money—$30,000 or more—on the table in front of them. Ask them to list how they would spend the money and then share the lists with their small groups. Point out how some people make budget lists while others just get excited and buy, buy, buy. Then reflect on the items they have listed as important in the previous exercise and look for discrepancies. Use this as a time to let each person reevaluate what is really important.

Step 3: Ask participants to list 10 personal goals. They might include goals they have already achieved and goals not yet accomplished.

Step 4: Prioritize the goals list. Then list the roadblocks that have kept them from obtaining the top three goals. Ask a volunteer to share his or her top three goals and roadblocks.

Step 5: Have the group brainstorm to resolve problems or roadblocks. Demonstrate the group problem-solving technique and then stay clear of the process. Intervene only to keep the group on task, build network systems, ongoing analysis, and so on.

Once this technique has been modeled for one person, you can allow the small groups to spend time working through the process with each individual.