--- title: "Bucket List" description: "Participants write a personal list of goals they want to accomplish within their current role, project, or work context, then exchange advice and mutual support in pairs." last_updated: "2026-09-07" canonical: "https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/bucket-list/" --- # Bucket List Participants write a personal list of goals they want to accomplish within their current role, project, or work context, then exchange advice and mutual support in pairs. **Time:** 15 minutes. UWT suggested 15-minute standard corporate/team adaptation based on 5 to 10 minute drafting from source evidence. **People:** 4 to 24. Individual drafting followed by pairs and brief whole-room debrief ## Choose this exercise **Purpose:** Identify individual professional goals and discover peer support opportunities across a group. **Use it when:** Use during team onboarding, professional development planning, or retrospective sessions when members need to clarify personal milestones. **Skip it when:** Skip during urgent crisis response or high-conflict sessions where personal forward-looking goal setting is out of place. ## Materials and tools - One sheet of blank paper or a notebook per participant - One pen or pencil per participant - Countdown timer ## Before participants arrive 1. Ensure all participants have writing materials or a personal digital text document ready. ## Say this to open A bucket list is traditionally a list of things you want to achieve in your lifetime. Today, we are focusing that concept directly on your current role. You will list three to five specific things you want to accomplish or learn while in this position, along with an estimated timeframe for each. After writing, you will share one or two items with a partner to explore ways you might support each other. You choose what to share. ## How to run it ### 1. Introduce and frame (2 minutes) Explain the concept of a role-specific bucket list. Clarify that items should be accomplishments, skills, or experiences they want within their current position or project, complete with a rough timeframe. Provide one neutral example: 'Lead a cross-team review by Q3' or 'Learn basic SQL querying before the end of the year.' ### 2. Individual drafting (5 minutes) Start a 5-minute timer. Participants work silently to write 3 to 5 goals for their current role, noting a target date or timeframe for each. Note that this list remains their own and they will only share items they feel comfortable discussing. ### 3. Pair exchange and support (5 minutes) Ask participants to pair up. Each person takes 2.5 minutes to share one or two items from their list. The listening partner offers ideas, relevant contacts, advice, or offers of support. Signal halfway so partners switch speaking roles. If there is an odd number of participants, form one group of three and allocate equal speaking time. ### 4. Debrief and wrap-up (3 minutes) Bring the whole room together. Invite 2 to 3 voluntary comments on useful ideas or mutual support uncovered during the conversations. Close the activity by encouraging participants to keep their list visible at their desk. ## Debrief questions - What is one concrete way a colleague could help you reach an item on your list? - What common themes or shared aspirations did you notice across your conversations? **Finished output:** A written individual list of 3 to 5 role-specific milestones with peer feedback and support ideas. ## Remote Run individual drafting on personal notepads or private documents. Create breakout rooms of 2 participants for 5 minutes. Use broadcast messages to signal the switch at 2.5 minutes. Return to the main room for debrief via raised hands or chat. ## Hybrid Pair in-person participants with in-person colleagues, and remote participants with remote colleagues via video breakout rooms. Bring everyone together to the shared audio room for the whole-room debrief. ## Access and participation choices - Participants may type or write in any format or language they prefer. - Participants choose which goals to disclose to their partner and may keep any private. - Anyone who prefers not to write personal goals may list generic team capabilities or observe and act as a peer advisor. ## If the session gets stuck **Participants write broad life goals instead of workplace objectives.** Remind the group during the introduction that the scope is limited to their current role, project, or organization. **One partner dominates the pair discussion.** Announce a clear halfway chime at 2.5 minutes so partners switch roles promptly. ## Terms used here - Bucket list: A list of achievements, experiences, or milestones a person hopes to accomplish within a specific period. ## Sources and adaptation Observed in ESL Active and TrainerBubble as an idiom-based energizer adapting the popular movie/idiomatic concept to personal or professional goal lists. Retained the core concept from TrainerBubble of applying the bucket list idiom to professional goals within a current role, as well as the language/concept framing noted in ESL Active. UWT added explicit pair timing, choice-based sharing guardrails, remote and hybrid facilitation plans, and debrief questions. [ESL Active](https://eslactive.com/activities/bucket-list/) [TrainerBubble](https://www.trainerbubble.com/downloads/bucket-list/) Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/bucket-list/