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Enemy Defender
Enemy Defender is a fast and fun exercise that provides profound insight into team dynamics, and what happens when tension between teammates goes unresolved. This game is a playful way to help teams surface potentially challenging dynamics that may otherwise be hard to acknowledge or discuss.
Game
Debrief
Trainer's Tips
Category
- Team Building
Length of Game
- 5-10 minutes ?
Ideal Group Size
- any
Theme
- inclusion/exclusion
- communication
- collaboration
How to Play
- Ideally do a quick demo before the game begins where you as facilitator choose an enemy and a defender and show how you would move around the room in order to keep the defender between you and your enemy.
- Have the group stand in a circle where they can all see each other.
- Have each person choose someone in the group who will be their “enemy.” They do this non-verbally and without telling anyone who their chosen enemy is.
- Then have each person choose someone in the group who will be their “defender.” They do this non-verbally and without telling anyone who their chosen defender is.
- When the group starts moving through the space, each person’s goal is to keep their defender physically between them and their enemy.
- Restrict the speed of movement and the boundaries of where people can go, as this game can get fast and spread out very quickly. I recommend limiting speed to a power walk (ie no running!), and staying within the immediate room/area (ie don’t let people get out of your sight).
- Make sure that everyone keeps moving at all times, otherwise you will end up with traffic jams and stagnation in the formation.
- After 1 minute or so, you can have everyone pause where they are, and reverse in their mind who is in the roles of enemy and defender (enemy becomes defender and defender becomes enemy). Then play another round to see what different patterns emerge in the space.