Market of skills

In this exercise, team members get to know each other's skills and strengths. It is often used during a new team's start-up phase.

Subject

Team Start-up/Team identity

Motivation

Strengthens the team members regarding the power of their mixed skills. It reveals, where team members can support and develop each other. Teammates will understand one another's skills to effectivly share their work.

Benefit

Empowering people to think outside the box and to reflect about themselves.

Procedure

Each person draws a poster containing the following three categories: his/her own skills/strengths related to the team, previous/hidden skills and skills one would like to learn or improve. After all posters have been completed, they are all pinned to a wall to form the 'marketplace'. Team members then present their posters one by one while the audience takes notes about what skills might be useful in their work, where they can support, develop or teach a new skill. After the presentation, the audience puts sticky notes next to the person's poster and the audience is allowed to give a short feedback.

Facilitator

Agile Coach / Agile Master

Participants

The whole team

Tools

Flipchart / whiteboard / sticky notes

See also

Lyssa Adkins,'Coaching agile teams'