open · Team Building · 20–40 min · 2-30 people · low energy
Your Values
A rapid-fire individual reflection exercise that helps participants identify their core personal values. By forcing quick decisions, it bypasses the 'logical' brain and taps into intuitive drivers.
When to use Your Values
To help team members understand themselves and each other better, fostering empathy and alignment.
What it solves
Team members not understanding each other's motivations or 'why' they react to situations in certain ways.
How to run Your Values, step by step
- Provide a list of 50-100 values. Participants quickly pick 10 that resonate (3 mins).
- Narrow the 10 down to 5 (2 mins).
- Narrow the 5 down to the top 3 (2 mins).
- Share the top 3 with a partner or the group, explaining why they were chosen (15 mins).
Materials needed
- List of values
- Sticky notes
Facilitator tips
- Keep the pace very fast to prevent participants from choosing 'socially acceptable' values.
- Remind them there are no 'wrong' values.
Common pitfalls
- Participants spending too much time trying to find the 'perfect' word.
- Sharing phase becoming too long; keep it to 1-2 minutes per person.
Variations
- Team Values: Use the same process to define the collective values of the group.
Running it online or hybrid
Provide a digital list of 50+ values that participants can drag and drop into their personal 'top 3' area.
What it produces
A personal 'Top 3 Values' card for each participant.
Origin
Based on the Hyper Island 'Your Values' exercise — source
Build a session around Your Values
METODIC places Your Values inside a complete, timed session plan — agenda, worksheets, facilitator guide and slides — matched to your group and goal.