What would happen if someone let go of their threads? How would it affect the team?.What is it like to see this web of connections?.How do you feel about few (or no) connections?.If you've got remote people: How does it feel to stand apart? How does it feel to have someone stand apart?.You can debrief with some of these questions:
The game ends when time is up OR everybody has at least two connections OR the yarn runs out. The new yarn holder now makes a statement about themselves, passes the ball while holding on to their part of the yarn and so on. This is the first connection in a network of shared traits. The person who received the ball of yarn holds on to the thread and tautens it. If no one shares the statement the yarn holder has to make another statement. If there's more than one, the yarn holder can choose one. The yarn holder passes the ball to the person who raised their hand. If this statement is true for any other team member they raise their hand and say 'Yes, that's me'. The yarn holder starts the game by saying something about themselves that is not work-related such as 'I have a daughter' or 'I play the guitar'. Hand a ball of yarn to a random player and tell them to hold on tight to the end of the yarn with their non-dominant hand and the ball in the dominant one. Depending on what you want to stress with this activity, you can ask colleagues that usually work remotely to stand about 5 feet away from the circle. Leave about a foot of space between people. Have the team form a circle with everyone looking inwards. It speeds up team building by sharing traits and interests so that team members can build closer bonds than possible with just work-related stuff. This is an excellent activity for newly formed teams of 6 to 15 members.