Spiraling Up’s Team Building Discussion Exercises 

The power of Spiraling Up begins as something other than an intellectual exercise. Instead, it’s with engagement. Each chapter is uniquely written with insight to help you facilitate meaningful discussion with your team. These 10 exercises can be ideal for your next team meeting, department workshop, staff offsite, or executive offsite. Creatively designed to stimulate conversations that will empower your team members towards self-awareness, strengthen trust, and, more significantly, collective psychological capital.

Download PDF for each chapter

1. Chapter 1: Negativity Bias Awareness

Objective: To increase awareness of negativity bias and its impact on team dynamics and decision-making.

2. Chapter 2: The Leadership Vacuum

Objective: To show the strategic role of leadership in team dynamics and the potential consequences when leadership is absent.

3. Chapter 3: The Authentic Leadership Compass

Objective: To help team members understand and practice the four elements of authentic leadership: self-awareness, relational transparency, balanced processing, and moral perspective.

4. Chapter 4: Negativity Mapping

Objective: To collectively identify and address sources of negativity in the workplace

5. Chapter 5: Reframing Challenges

Objective: To practice reframing negative situations into opportunities for growth and learning.

6. Chapter 6: PsyCap Strength Spotting

Objective: To practice recognizing and reinforcing Psychological Capital components in team interactions.

7. Chapter 7: Reframing Negativity with Appreciative Inquiry

Objective: To practice reframing negative situations into opportunities for growth and positive change.

8. Chapter 8: Fun-Powered Positivity Boost

Objective: To create a plan for reinforcing positivity and celebrating success using the elements of playfulness, connection, and flow.

9. Chapter 9: Working an Issue

Objective: To simulate a peer learning experience where leaders can present challenges, receive thoughtful questions, and develop action steps with group support.

10. Chapter 10: Positivity Hackathon

Objective: To engage teams in collaboratively generating and implementing ideas to enhance workplace positivity.