10 Situational Leadership Activities for the Workplace

10 Situational Leadership Activities for the Workplace

Are you in search of some situational leadership activities?

In today’s dynamic work environment, the ability to adapt your leadership style to meet the needs of your team and the situation at hand is crucial. Situational leadership fosters flexibility, ensuring teams remain effective and harmonious.

In this article, let’s see 10 team building activities for developing situational leadership skills in the workplace. These exercises can help your employees understand different leadership styles, and respond quickly to challenges.

10 Situational Leadership Activities for the Workplace

Here are some engaging team building exercises to boost situational leadership skills among your employees:

#1. Leadership Simulation Game

This exercise hones adaptability and understanding of various leadership styles in dynamic situations.

Time: 10-20 minutes

Materials: Scenario cards, and leadership style cards

Participants: Any number of people in a group

Instructions

  • Divide the participants into groups, giving each several scenario cards depicting different business challenges. Scenario examples could include handling a tight project deadline, resolving a team conflict, or driving innovation in a complacent team.
  • Provide each group with a set of leadership style cards (e.g., autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire, transformational, etc.).
  • Groups select the most appropriate leadership style for each scenario, discussing their choice and reasoning.

Debrief

During the debrief, discuss why certain leadership styles were chosen for specific scenarios. Highlight the importance of adapting leadership styles to fit different situations and how they can positively impact team dynamics and performance.

#2. Leadership Role Play

This activity focuses on practicing situational leadership skills in a safe and controlled environment.

Time: 15-20 minutes

Materials: Scenario cards

Participants: Pairs

Instructions

  • Divide the participants into pairs, with one person acting as the leader and the other as an employee.
  • Provide them with a scenario card depicting a common workplace situation (e.g., an employee asking for a raise, or a team member not meeting deadlines).
  • The leader must be assigned a particular leadership style to handle the scenario while the employee acts out their role.
  • After the role play, switch roles and assign a different style to the leader.

Debrief

Facilitate a conversation about how different leadership styles influenced the outcomes of the role play scenarios. Emphasize the importance of adaptability and understanding the needs of team members in leadership roles.

#3. Feedback Loop Exercise

This activity is designed to fine-tune the communication skills integral to effective leadership. It emphasizes the critical nature of feedback in nurturing a team’s growth and development.

Time: 15-20 minutes

Materials: Feedback scenario cards, and feedback guidelines sheet

Participants: Small groups of 3-6 members

Instructions

  • Distribute a feedback scenario card and a feedback guidelines sheet to each group. Each card presents a different situation where feedback is necessary (e.g., a project completed with great success or a task that didn’t meet expectations).
  • Group members take turns practicing giving constructive feedback to one another, adhering to the guidelines provided.
  • After each round of feedback, the group discusses what was effective and what could be improved. They must do it by focusing on the manner and content of the feedback delivered.

Debrief

Facilitate a group conversation about the experience of giving and receiving feedback. Highlight the role of empathy, specificity, and actionability in constructive feedback.

#4. The Trust Bridge

This activity is designed to construct a figurative “bridge” of trust through shared experiences and open communication.

Time: You decide

Materials: Personal story prompts

Participants: Teams of 3-6 members

Instructions

  • Begin by sharing an unexpected personal story that portrays a challenge or vulnerability, encouraging team members to do the same.
  • Engage in a guided discussion where each member reflects on the stories shared, focusing on the themes of trust and overcoming obstacles.
  • Facilitate a trust circle, where team members express what trust means to them and how it can be strengthened within the team.

Debrief

Discuss the pivotal role of mutual trust in a team’s dynamics and its direct correlation to enhanced collaboration and efficiency. Identify actionable steps to foster a deeper sense of trust among team members moving forward.

#5. The Leadership Ladder

This activity helps team members understand their preferred style and encourages them to explore other styles as well. It is one of the best situational leadership activities.

Time: You decide

Materials: Situation cards

Participants: Teams of 3-8 members

Instructions

  • Introduce the Leadership Ladder chart, illustrating a range from autocratic to laissez-faire leadership styles.
  • Provide situation cards to each team, each depicting a unique management scenario (e.g., handling a tight project deadline or managing a conflict within the team).
  • Participants decide where they would place themselves on the ladder for each situation, explaining their choice to their team.
  • Teams discuss how different styles could lead to different outcomes in each scenario.

Debrief

Reflect on the variety of leadership styles preferred in different situations. Identify the benefits of versatility in leadership approaches and the impact on team dynamics as well as outcomes.

#6. The Creative Quotient

This activity aims to unlock the creative potential of each member, allowing the team to explore unconventional solutions to challenges.

Time: You decide

Materials: Art supplies (markers, paper, clay, etc.), and problem scenarios

Participants: 3-6 individuals in a group

Instructions

  • Present a common problem scenario and challenge teams to come up with the most creative solutions using any of the provided art supplies.
  • Encourage teams to think beyond conventional approaches, fostering an environment where wild ideas are welcomed and valued.
  • Each team presents their creative solutions, explaining the thought process and how it could be realistically applied.

Debrief

Highlight the importance of creativity in navigating complex issues and the value of diverse thinking styles. Discuss how fostering a creative environment can lead to innovative outcomes and solutions that might not emerge through traditional problem-solving methods.

#7. The Empathy Exercise

This activity is designed to enhance understanding and compassion among team members. It is one of the amazing situational leadership activities for the workplace.

Time: You decide

Materials: Scenario cards, and Reflection notepads

Participants: Any number of people in a group

Instructions

  • Distribute scenario cards detailing personal and professional challenges that someone might face.
  • Ask team members to reflect on how they would feel and what actions they would take if they were in those situations.
  • Facilitate a group discussion where participants share their reflections, focusing on the emotions involved and the importance of understanding diverse perspectives.

Debrief

Summarize the session by emphasizing how empathy promotes a supportive work environment where everyone feels heard and valued. Highlight the impact of empathy on collaboration, problem-solving, and overall team morale.

#8. The Future-Forward Brainstorm

This activity is geared towards stretching the team’s future-thinking skills. It encourages your team to think ahead and envision innovative solutions that could meet the needs of tomorrow’s world.

Time: You decide

Materials: Large poster boards, markers, and sticky notes

Participants: Small groups of 3-6 members

Instructions

  • Split the team into small groups and assign each a sector (technology, healthcare, environment, etc.).
  • Challenge them to identify potential future trends or issues within their sector.
  • Each group brainstorms innovative solutions or products that could address these future challenges.
  • Groups then present their ideas, discussing the potential impact and feasibility.

Debrief

Wrap up by reflecting on the importance of forward-thinking in the workplace. Discuss how anticipating future trends can not only avert crises but also uncover opportunities for growth and innovation.

#9. The Delegation Wall

This activity allows team members to visualize their workload and practice delegating tasks effectively.

Time: 10-20 minutes

Materials: Sticky notes, markers, and a whiteboard

Participants: 3-8 members in a group

Instructions

  • Distribute sticky notes and markers to all members of the group.
  • Instruct each individual to jot down the tasks they usually manage on a sticky note and display them on the whiteboard.
  • Facilitate a group discussion to identify tasks that can be assigned to different members. Then, have these tasks placed beneath the corresponding group member’s name.

Debrief

Explore how delegation is not a one-size-fits-all approach but should be adaptive, mirroring the principles of situational leadership. It’s crucial to recognize that the effective assignment of tasks depends on both the context of the work and the capabilities of team members.

#10. Plane Crash

This activity is designed to spark creativity and group decision-making under pressure. Here the participants must work together to survive a hypothetical plane crash scenario.

Time: 10-20 minutes

Materials: A list of items

Participants: 3-8 members in a group

Instructions

  • Start by presenting the group with a scenario where their plane has crash-landed in a remote location. They have a list of items that survived the crash, but they can only take a limited number to ensure their survival.
  • Distribute a list of 10-20 items like a compass, rope, first-aid kit, water bottles, etc.
  • Instruct the group to discuss and make a list of the top 5 items they will take with them in order of importance.
  • Give them a time limit of 10 minutes to reach a decision as a group.

Debrief

Discuss how the group made their decision and the importance of collaboration as well as critical thinking under pressure. Emphasize the value of working together in a team to overcome challenges and achieve a common goal.

Want Some Unique Leadership Development Activities?

If you want some unique activities to equip your employees with leadership skills, qualities, and mindset, you can get my new e-book:

The Empowering Guide of Unique Leadership Development Activities: 100 Fully Customizable Exercises That You Can Conduct with Any Group of Employees, Anywhere

Or Want Some Unique Team Building Activities?

If you want some unique activities for your employees (both in-person and virtual), you can get my new e-book:

The Busy Leader’s Guide of Unique Team Building Activities: 30 Fully Customizable Exercises That You Can Conduct with Any Group of Employees, Anywhere

Final Words

As a leader, it’s important to recognize when to delegate tasks and how to adapt your approach based on the situation. Developing situational leadership skills is essential for any team to be successful. Hopefully, the above activities can help your employees achieve that and build a stronger, more cohesive team.

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