The Strengths vehicle is a simple activity that helps people recognise and articulate what they bring to their team. It also helps participants understand how their personal strengths might help them in their role—as well as how they might trip them up, or cause challenges for others.
Materials Required: Paper and felt pens for each participant.
Preparation: None.
Set-Up Instructions for Participants:
“In a minute, I’d love you to draw a vehicle that represents what you bring to the team. It doesn’t need to be a real or existing vehicle, it just needs to represent the key characteristics or attributes that you bring.”
How to Facilitate the Activity:
1. Give participants the set-up instructions as above. You may also like to share your own vehicle drawing with an explanation as to what it means.
e.g. My drawing is of a ‘heat seeking (peace) missile, crossed with a party bus. What I bring to a team is the ability to set a target and keep adjusting my course until the target is reached. The missile is crossed with a party bus because I like to bring people along with me and make sure they have fun along the way.
2. Give people 3-4 minutes to draw their vehicle, reassuring them that it isn’t a competition and you won’t be displaying them anywhere.
3. Once the 3-4 minutes are up, invite participants to find a partner and talk through their drawings. Encourage participants to use open ended questions with their partner, so that the deeper meaning of the picture can be found.
e.g. When you say ‘bring people with you’, what do you mean by that? How do you know when and how to adjust your course?
4. Once both partners have had a chance to share the meaning of their vehicle, invite them to repeat the process with the following questions:
a) How might this vehicle help you in your current role?
e.g. As a team leader it’s important to bring everyone along with me.
b) If this vehicle was being driven irresponsibly, what might go wrong?
e.g. Because they are quite different vehicles joined together, it’s possible that they might break apart. When that happens, I’m far too focussed on tasks and achieving targets, and can forget about the people in the bus. Also, the missle can change direction so quickly that it gives people whiplash!
Debriefing Questions:
- What does your vehicle tell you about your Strengths at work?
- If you could change something about your vehicle to minimise things going wrong, what change might you make and why?
- How might that change impact the value that the vehicle brings to your team?
- How might you continue to drive your vehicle in a way that maximises value to the team and minimises the risk of things going wrong?