Walk in My Shoes is a team building activity that builds trust. When team members fail to understand each other, it can lead to resentment, frustration, and even conflict. Giving teams space to tell others what it is like to “walk in my shoes” opens the door to candid conversations that can be revealing.
We often have limited knowledge and perspectives about what the other team members are doing, creating space to talk about this is valuable. In order to understand, empathize, and support each other it is worthwhile to spend time learning more about each other’s day-to-day situations.
Walk in My Shoes is an activity that provides all team members the opportunity to gain a broader perspective of what others are experiencing and how they can better support each other.
Instructions:
- First, select the prompts you want your team members to answer.
- After that, share the prompts prior to your meeting so they have time to think about what to share. Choose from the following or make up your own:
- Best part of my day
- Worst part of my day
- Most challenging part of my job
- The thing that is stressing me right now is
- What I need you to understand about me/my role
- Next, consider asking each person to make a slide or two with visual images to share their answers.
- At the meeting, give each person a specific amount of time to share their responses. Timing will depend on the number of people, the time you have to do this, and how deep you want the team to go. You can do this quickly in 3 minutes per person or spend more time and give each person 5-10 minutes.
- Finally, consider building in time after each person shares to allow for questions and responses from the team.
Summary
Walk in My Shoes is a team building activity to connect teams by creating an open space to share experiences and create a better understanding of what each person on the team is going through. Through these revelations, teams will gain insights into how to support each other.
About the Author: Leigh Ann Rodgers, Founder of Better Teams and Forward, is an IAF Certified Professional Facilitator with 20 years of experience in the human development field. Leigh Ann is a skilled meeting facilitator, trainer, and coach working across the globe to help leaders cultivate teams that are happy and high-performing.
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