Mad Tea

When to use Mad Tea

Use when a session is starting and you want a whole room talking about a shared challenge and hearing perspectives beyond their own team.

What it solves

Kick-off sessions open with a long presentation and people only talk to the colleagues they arrived with.

How to run Mad Tea, step by step

1. Name the shared challenge (1 min).
2. Form two circles with partners facing each other. Explain the bell signal (2 min).
3. Show a sentence stem. Both partners complete it. At the bell the outer circle moves one place and the next stem appears. Repeat for each stem (up to 12 min).
4. Ask the whole group what patterns they heard and what next steps they suggest (2-5 min).

Materials needed

• Sentence stems in large capitals on slides or posters
• A bell or other signal
• Open floor space

Facilitator tips

• Mix stems: appreciative, problem-focused, hopeful and action-oriented.
• Keep the pace brisk. The fun comes from the speed.
• Ask people to lean in rather than shout when the room gets loud.

Common pitfalls

• Stems so general they produce small talk instead of views on the challenge.
• Too many stems, so energy drops before the end.

Variations

• Shift the tone of the stems from lighthearted to serious as the rounds go on.

Running it online or hybrid

The online version, Calm Tea, has everyone complete each sentence stem in the chat at the same time. It works from six people.

What it produces

A room warmed up on the challenge, and a set of patterns people noticed across many short exchanges.

Origin

A Liberating Structure by Henri Lipmanowicz, Nancy White and Keith McCandless. — source

Build a session around Mad Tea

METODIC places Mad Tea inside a complete, timed session plan — agenda, worksheets, facilitator guide and slides — matched to your group and goal.

Generate a session with Mad Tea · Try METODIC free