Quick Management Exercise for Startup Team Building

In the book The Advantage, Patrick Lencioni argues that one aspect of organizational health is management trust and connectedness. Many management teams don’t have enough trust and rapport amongst each other and that shows when they’re focused on achieving personal and department goals while sacrificing company-wide goals. In order for management to work better together they need to understand more about each other on a personal level.

Here’s a quick management exercise for startups to help get to know each other better in 20 minutes by each person answering the following questions:

• Where were you born?
• How many siblings do you have?
• What was your birth order?
• What was the most difficult or challenging part of your childhood?

Obviously the last question is the most difficult, and the most insightful, for getting to know someone better. The next time you’re looking to building connectedness, try out this exercise.

What else? What are your thoughts on this quick management exercise for startup team building?