Can Your Team Draw a Perfect Circle?

“Like a well-oiled machine” or “Everything from a single source.” These are popular sayings used by companies offering various coordinated services or products. For successful teamwork, these phrases could serve as guiding principles. However, in many cases, the meaning behind these sayings is hardly ever put into practice in everyday work life. For many hands to work as one, one hand must know what the other is doing.

Every Finger Is Important in a Team

Let’s look at what happens when you draw a picture with your hand. Each finger has its position on the pen. Each finger briefly gives feedback to the brain about how the position feels and whether the finger is really where it should be. If one finger is injured, the others can sometimes adjust their positions to achieve the result. But this will not be optimal. It feels more tiring and complicated when one part of the hand doesn’t do what it’s supposed to. Therefore, every finger is important. The fingers must regulate their position and the pressure on the pen and surface together and perfectly coordinated for a good result.

It’s the same with good teams. Everyone has and knows their task clearly and communicates with the rest of the team to achieve the best possible outcome together.

To teach the team in front of you how to work well together and to show them how difficult it is for a hand to function properly, let them draw a picture together. The Kreiselzeichner (circle drawer) turns the team members into the individual fingers of the hand. Only through teamwork is it possible to achieve the desired result “like a well-oiled machine.” Drawing a perfect circle is the ultimate goal. Even skilled artists find it difficult to draw an absolutely perfect circle.

With the Kreiselzeichner to a “Like a Well-Oiled Machine” Team

Teach your participants to act as skillfully and coordinated as the fingers of a hand. For optimal coaching, the Kreiselzeichner is ideal.

With the Kreiselzeichner, team members stand in a circle or sit around a table. Each team member holds a rope connected to the Kreiselzeichner with a pen in the center. Each team member is now a finger of the hand. Each “finger” can pull the pen in their direction.

Now all the “fingers” can draw a line by pulling the string in their direction—but only if, for example, the “finger” opposite loosens at exactly the same time. Your participants will quickly realize that only good cooperation leads to success and will start thinking about it. They will begin to communicate with each other and reconsider the team structure. Different scenarios may unfold:

• There will be teams that discuss, coordinate, and decide continuously within the group,
• some will choose a leader to guide the team,
• and truly good teams who know each other well and have good spatial awareness might even accomplish the task without much verbal coordination.

As an extra, we have integrated a disturbance or leadership rope into the game. This allows an 11th person to cause external disruptions or steer the Kreiselzeichner in a certain direction.

No matter how the teams solve the task, they will proudly celebrate their achievement at the end.

Do you want to build teams that work like a well-oiled machine? Then check out our shop. Your Kreiselzeichner is waiting for you there ;-)