Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.

Help me prepare and run the exercise below. First ask for my participant count, time, setting, access needs and intended result. Check these against the stated limits. Use the supplied rules and materials. Explain any proposed changes before using them, and label them as adaptations. Do not invent source claims or require personal disclosure. Give me one step at a time when I say start. I manage the people, physical activity and clock; do not claim to observe the room. Ask me what happened before choosing a next step.

Reference revision: 19a7bc4e7a597e64e3dafa43c887cad4aa95cec0e1ecb01709ab9650c9abf2d4

# Guess Who Is in the Picture

Colleagues view childhood or youth photographs submitted in advance and race to identify which coworker appears in each image. The person in the photo then confirms the match and shares a brief contextual detail.

**Time:** 15 minutes. UWT suggested duration for 8 to 12 images; source article lists the mechanic as a quick meeting game without a fixed clock
**People:** 4 to 24. Whole group with individual guesses

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Match anonymously submitted childhood photographs to the correct team members through group deduction.
**Use it when:** Use during a remote, in-person, or hybrid team check-in or social break when participants want a light, informal activity to discover past backgrounds.
**Skip it when:** Skip when team members do not have accessible childhood photos, are new and unfamiliar with one another, or prefer not to share personal background imagery.

## Materials and tools

- Digital presentation slide deck displaying one submitted photo per slide
- Video meeting platform with screen sharing and chat, or an in-person projector screen
- Digital or paper tally sheet for the host to record correct guesses

## Before participants arrive

1. Before the session, invite participants to privately send one childhood, baby, or school photograph to the facilitator.
2. Assemble the photos into a randomized slide deck with numbered slides and no names attached.
3. Verify that you know which photo belongs to which participant.

## Say this to open

We are going to play Guess Who Is in the Picture. I will share our screen and show childhood photos submitted by members of our team, one at a time. When you see the photo, call out your guess or type the colleague's name into the chat. The first person to guess correctly earns a point, and the person in the photo can tell us where or when it was taken.

## How to run it

### 1. Introduce rules and scoring (2 minutes)

Explain the mechanics. State that each slide displays one submitted photo. Participants may submit guesses verbally or via chat. The person pictured must remain silent until someone guesses correctly or until three incorrect guesses have occurred. If nobody guesses within 30 seconds, the pictured person reveals themselves.

### 2. Display photos and collect guesses (9 minutes)

Project the photos one by one. Allow up to 45 seconds per photo. Note the first correct guesser on your tally sheet. Once identified, ask the featured teammate to unmute or speak for 15 seconds to confirm their age, location, or a funny memory from that day. Move promptly to the next photo.

### 3. Announce results and close round (2 minutes)

Tally the points and announce the participant who correctly identified the most colleagues. Thank everyone who shared an image.

### 4. Reflect on unexpected details (2 minutes)

Pose one reflective question to the room. Invite two or three brief observations about what visual clues or era details made recognition easy or difficult.


## Debrief questions

- Which photograph was the hardest to identify, and why?
- What subtle facial expressions or posture gave away someone's identity immediately?
- What historical or fashion details from the photos stood out the most?

**Finished output:** A completed slide review where all submitted photographs have been identified or revealed, with a tally of successful guesses.

## Remote

Run entirely via video call. The host shares the slide deck on screen. Participants type names into the public chat to provide a clear timestamp for who guessed correctly first. The featured colleague unmutes to share their context.

## Hybrid

Display the slide deck both on the in-room projector and via video screen share. To ensure fairness between in-person and remote participants, require all guesses to be submitted into the shared virtual meeting chat window rather than shouted aloud in the physical room.

## Access and participation choices

- Submitting a photograph is entirely optional; participants who do not submit photos participate fully as guessers.
- Participants may submit a photo of a childhood pet, drawing, or favorite childhood toy instead of a personal portrait if they prefer privacy.
- Chat-based guessing ensures people who prefer not to speak aloud can compete equally.

## If the session gets stuck

**Multiple people guess simultaneously out loud, creating confusion over who was first.**

Enforce chat-only guessing so the chat stream serves as an objective timestamp.

**A photo is too obscure and nobody guesses after multiple attempts.**

Provide one small hint, such as the decade or the department the person works in, or count down five seconds and invite the person to reveal themselves.


## Terms used here

- Spotlight: A video conference feature that pins a specific participant's video to the main display for all viewers.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in TeamBuilding.com article '25 Free Online Office Games For Employees' by Grace He.

The original source item was a brief entry ('19. Guess Who Is In The Picture') inside an article compiling 25 free online office activities. UWT structured the activity into a 15-minute facilitation run sheet, introduced chat-based timestamping for fair competition, added alternative submission choices for privacy, and established clear turn pacing.

[TeamBuilding.com](https://teambuilding.com/en/articles/online-office-games)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/25-free-online-office-games-for-employees/