I just wrapped up a half-day session with Athletics Canada. The entire staff team gathered in Toronto, using COVID-safe protocols, to debrief the past five years and the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. The team of 30 were now spending a morning together to do some team building with LEGO.
Introductions
Nora and I, of Sheffe Consulting, decided to explore the team’s super powers. We began by having the staff sit at tables with those who they don’t normally work with, as Athletics Canada has several departments and work at 3 different sites across Canada. They started by sharing their name, their role, and what they loved about their job. Next, they spent a few minutes trying to identify 3 things they had in common and received bonus points if they found things that weren’t commonly known.
Skill Building
Next, we got into our skill building. Everyone used 5 pieces of LEGO to build a duck. Then, everyone built a tower. Some towers were built with style in mind. Several people chose to build their structures to be sturdy. Others built with symmetry in mind. A few people attempted to use every piece of LEGO they had. Finally, I asked everyone to modify their tower in some way. We saw that some people chose to make one small edit, while others rebuilt their entire tower from the base up.

What do you do for fun?
After our skill building warm up, it was time for the first build. I asked people, “what is one thing you do for fun or to relax?” Everyone took a few minutes to build and then they described what they built to their table. We saw everything from people napping, to doing fitness activities, to going on adventures. Heading into the break, everyone got up and walked around, while masked, to see what everyone else’s build looked like.

What do you need to have a good day at work?
After our break, we had people move to new tables to work with new team members and we began the second build. People were asked to build what they needed to have a good day at work. Once the building was complete, each took a turn sharing their responses with their table. The answers here were varied. Some people required a lunch break where they got outside and took a short walk. Other people required certain information at certain times of the day, in order to complete their tasks. This question allowed personal reflection on what they needed, while providing insight to coworkers on how they could support themselves and their team to achieve success.

What is your super power?
For our third build, we asked people to build their super power, as it relates to their work and what they contribute to the Athletics Canada team. Again, people were asked to share their build and their story with their table mates. Next, we asked everyone to stand up and find someone from a different table to share their stories with. After that, we asked them to pair up with a different group and discuss their stories. They were meant to determine if there were common themes amongst their answers and to discuss how they could leverage those superpowers as a team. Finally, we gathered everyone together to discuss the major themes that arose, and compiled the commonalities of the team. The team now had this information to take away and work to implement within their office.
Thank you to Athletics Canada for trusting us to do team building with LEGO. The unconventional medium resulted in many laughs, smiles, and insights gained. If you are interested to do team building with LEGO, get in touch with me and we’ll chat about how it could work for you.