BEAN BAGS:

LEADERSHIP AND TEAM DEVELOPMENT

Goals
To allow the team members to experience the effects of leadership behavior on the team.
To demonstrate how changes in task, the addition/deletion of staff, and managerial style
affect the development and performance of a team.

Group Size
All members of an ongoing team. The activity requires a minimum of seven members, five to
perform the bean-bag task and two to serve as observers. If the team has more than seven
members, the extras may serve as extra observers.

Time Required
One hour to one hour and fifteen minutes.

Materials
A copy of the Bean Bags Observer Work Sheet for each observer.
A copy of the Bean Bags Leader Instruction Sheet for the team member who becomes
the leader (see step 5).
A pencil for each observer.
A clipboard or other portable writing surface for each observer.
Three bean bags.
Newsprint and a felt-tipped marker for the circle group and for the observer group (see
step 9).
Masking tape for posting newsprint.

Physical Setting
A room large enough to allow the team to form a circle without crowding and to allow the
observers to observe comfortably.

Process
1. The facilitator introduces the activity without revealing its goals.
2. The team members are instructed to form a circle.
3. The facilitator solicits volunteers or designates two members to serve as observers and
directs the observers to stand outside the circle so that they can observe the team’s
activity. Each observer receives a copy of the Bean Bags Observer Work Sheet, a pencil,
and a clipboard or other portable writing surface.
4. With the announced intention of establishing the team’s task patterns, the facilitator
directs each member in the circle to raise one hand. The facilitator then tosses a bean
bag to any one person in the circle and asks the recipient to lower his or her hand as the
bean bag is caught. (All others in the circle are instructed to leave their hands raised.)
The recipient is then directed to toss the bean bag to someone else in the circle. The
person who catches the bag lowers his or her hand, tosses the bag to someone else, and
so on until everyone in the circle has caught the bean bag and lowered his or her hand.
(Two minutes.)

COMPETENCY MODEL | Learning Sessions by Competencies

AIESEC in the Republic of MACEDONIA | Faculty of Economics | Krste Misirkov bb | 1000 Skopje | Republic of Macedonia
www.mk.aiesec.org | e-mail macedonia@aiesec.net | tel + 389 2 328 68 51 | fax + 389 2 311 87 01
 5. During steps 5 through 8, the observers monitor the activity of the team members in the
circle and record their observations on their observer sheets. The facilitator announces
that the last person to receive the bean bag is the circle’s leader. The leader receives a
copy of the Bean Bags Leader Instruction Sheet and two additional bean bags and is
directed to read the instruction sheet silently before proceeding. While the leader is
reading, the remaining members in the circle discuss how they feel about the way in
which the leader was selected. (Five minutes.)
6. The leader, following instructions, tells the members in the circle that the tossing activity
has become the team’s task and that it will be practiced one more time to establish a
pattern. The team members in the circle then complete one round of tossing. (Two
minutes.)
7. After the team has completed a round of tossing under the leader’s direction, the leader
announces that production is to be increased and directs the team members in the circle
to complete the tossing task more quickly. Two or more rounds of tossing are completed
at a stepped-up pace. (Five to eight minutes.)
8. After the team members have adapted to the increased pace, the leader presents
changes to the task, as indicated on the instruction sheet. (Ten to fifteen minutes.)
9. The facilitator directs the observers to meet together in one area of the room and tells the
circle members to meet together in a different area. The observer group is given a
newsprint flip chart and a felt-tipped marker, and so is the circle group. The observers are
directed to compare their observations and to prepare a report to be presented to the
entire team. The members of the circle group are directed to discuss the activity among
themselves and to prepare a team report focusing specifically on:
How they felt (as individuals) during the activity;
How they worked together as a group;
How each of the changes introduced by the leader affected the group’s
performance;
How each of the changes affected their attitudes toward the leader;
How the way in which their leader introduced the changes and organized them
for work impacted the group; and
What they would want to do differently the next time.
(Fifteen minutes.)
10. The entire team is reconvened, and the circle members present their report. (Five min.)
11. The observers present their report. (Five minutes.)
12. The facilitator leads the total group in a discussion of the activity, focusing specifically on:
Similarities in the two reports;
Generalizations that can be made from these findings; and
Possible applications of these insights to the team members’ work situations or to
other situations in which they attempt to direct others at a task. (Ten to fifteen
minutes.)
Variations
In step 5 the leader can be told to make four additional changes (without those changes
being specified).
The observers can be asked for feedback reports halfway through the activity.

COMPETENCY MODEL | Learning Sessions by Competencies

AIESEC in the Republic of MACEDONIA | Faculty of Economics | Krste Misirkov bb | 1000 Skopje | Republic of Macedonia
www.mk.aiesec.org | e-mail macedonia@aiesec.net | tel + 389 2 328 68 51 | fax + 389 2 311 87 01
 BEAN BAGS OBSERVER WORK SHEET
Instructions: Write down your observations of your team as it attempts to complete its task. Try to
use specific examples of behavior.

1. How did the team respond when the leader was announced?

2. Was the team’s behavior different during the practice rounds from the way it was
during the task rounds? How?

What happened in the team when:

3. The leader announced an increase in pace?

4. An additional bean bag was added to the task?

COMPETENCY MODEL | Learning Sessions by Competencies

AIESEC in the Republic of MACEDONIA | Faculty of Economics | Krste Misirkov bb | 1000 Skopje | Republic of Macedonia
www.mk.aiesec.org | e-mail macedonia@aiesec.net | tel + 389 2 328 68 51 | fax + 389 2 311 87 01
 5. A person was removed from the team?

6. The final leader intervention was made (addition of third bean bag, change of tossing
pattern, or change of members’ positions)?

7. What was the managerial style of the leader? How did he or she introduce and handle
the changes? What was the impact on the team?

8. Describe the way in which the team members worked together.

COMPETENCY MODEL | Learning Sessions by Competencies

AIESEC in the Republic of MACEDONIA | Faculty of Economics | Krste Misirkov bb | 1000 Skopje | Republic of Macedonia
www.mk.aiesec.org | e-mail macedonia@aiesec.net | tel + 389 2 328 68 51 | fax + 389 2 311 87 01
 BEAN BAGS LEADER INSTRUCTION SHEET
Do not show these instructions to anyone.
You have been selected to lead your team in completing its task of tossing bean bags. In order to
fulfill your obligation as leader, follow these steps exactly:

1. Announce to your team that its task is to toss the bean bag in the manner previously
established and that one more round of tossing will be completed as practice. Tell the
team members that they will always continue the same pattern, that is, “Remember who
tossed the bean bag to you and whom you then tossed it to; you will always receive it
from and toss it to these same people.”

2. During the practice round of tossing, enforce the rule about keeping one’s hand raised
until one receives the bean bag and then lowering the hand. This procedure indicates
who has not yet received the bean bag.

3. After the practice round is completed, direct the group to carry out its task (complete
another round of tossing).

4. Now announce that production is to be increased and that the team must “step up” its
pace of tossing. Conduct two or more rounds of tossing with the team members
attempting to complete the task more quickly. Once you have made your initial
announcement, you can introduce the second round with a comment such as “Let’s see if
we can get that at our new speed”; but do not continue to push the team to work even
faster.

5. Continue to direct your team in the tossing activity while making the following changes:

Add one more bean bag to the tossing pattern (complete two rounds this way).
Remove one member from the team (one round).
Add a third bean bag to the tossing pattern or change the pattern of tossing or
change the position of the members within the circle (your choice).

COMPETENCY MODEL | Learning Sessions by Competencies

AIESEC in the Republic of MACEDONIA | Faculty of Economics | Krste Misirkov bb | 1000 Skopje | Republic of Macedonia
www.mk.aiesec.org | e-mail macedonia@aiesec.net | tel + 389 2 328 68 51 | fax + 389 2 311 87 01