Delivering Happiness Workshop

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Identify core team values, contrast constrained and empowered customer service behaviors, and agree on practical daily workplace habits.

Use it when: Use when a customer-facing or internal support team needs to agree on operating values, improve service problem-solving, and establish concrete teamwork habits.

Skip it when: Skip during an active management restructuring, acute labor disputes, or when leadership is strictly unwilling to grant employee discretion over service rules.

Group arrangement: Pairs, 3 to 6 subgroups of 3 to 5 people, and whole-group circle

Timing: Adapted from the 120-minute WorkshopBank agenda outline. Step minutes sum exactly to 120.

Materials and tools

• 5 to 7 flip charts and marker sets
• Sticky notes (multiple colors)
• Dot stickers for voting (3 per person)
• 100 play money tokens or poker chips per participant
• Printed Culture Commitment Worksheets (1 per participant)
• Printed Customer Service Scenario Cards (at least 1 copy per team)
• Countdown timer
• A small hand-held object for the closing circle (ball or marker)

Before participants arrive

1. Post flip charts around the room listing candidate values: Autonomy, Recognition, Innovation, Fun, Growth, Transparency, Work-Life Balance, Teamwork, Excellence, Flexibility, Trust, Authenticity, Adventure, Learning, Impact.
2. Distribute 100 play money tokens to each seat.
3. Place Culture Commitment Worksheets, Customer Service Scenario Cards, sticky notes, and markers on work tables.

Say this to open

Welcome. Today we examine how our internal team culture shapes the service we provide to others. We will test our values, roleplay constrained versus empowered problem-solving, and leave with personal commitments.

How to run it

1. Welcome and Happiness Snapshots 15 minutes

   Introduce the session using the opening script. Form pairs. If total attendance is odd, form one trio with two-minute turns. Each partner takes 3 minutes to answer: 'Tell me about a time when a company or service provider made you genuinely happy. What specifically did they do?' Switch after 3 minutes. Invite up to 3 volunteers to share their partner's story with the full room.

2. Values Auction 20 minutes

   Give each participant 100 play money tokens. Explain that they can place their tokens across the posted values, spreading them or putting all 100 on one value. Participants take 5 minutes to walk around and deposit tokens. Tally the top 5 values and post them prominently. Run a 10-minute debrief comparing these choices to daily organizational practices.

3. Commitment Reflection 15 minutes

   Participants write answers individually for 3 minutes to two questions: 'What makes you stay on this team?' and 'What would need to change for you to feel fully committed?' Form 3 to 6 teams of 3 to 5 people. Aim for groups of 4, adding trios or groups of 5 to absorb remainders so all groups stay between 3 and 5 people. Teams spend 8 minutes sharing reflections and picking 1 main theme. Hear 1 theme each from up to 4 teams (4 minutes).

4. Customer Service Improv 26 minutes

   Keep existing teams (maximum 6 teams). Give each team 1 Scenario Card from the 6 available scenarios. Teams take 4 minutes to plan a 60-second roleplay following rigid corporate policy. Each team performs in turn (up to 6 teams, 9 minutes total). Teams then take 4 minutes to reimagine the scene with full authority to solve the issue. Teams perform their empowered scenes (9 minutes total).

5. Empowerment Debrief 10 minutes

   Debrief the improv scenes with the room using two specific prompts: 'What specific policy, approval rule, or habit currently stops us from resolving customer issues directly?' and 'What manageable discretion could we grant safely?' Take up to 6 contributions total across 10 minutes, alternating between front-line friction points and practical low-risk fixes.

6. Happiness Hacks Exchange 14 minutes

   Everyone writes 1 concrete idea on a sticky note to make daily work more supportive or connected (3 minutes). Participants post notes on a flip chart. Hand out 3 dot stickers per person for a 4-minute silent gallery walk. Tally the top 3 ideas and ask for a volunteer champion for each in the remaining 7 minutes.

7. Culture Commitments 10 minutes

   Distribute the Culture Commitment Worksheet. Give 5 minutes of quiet time for each person to write one start, one stop, and one continue commitment. Participants turn to a neighbor and share their chosen commitments for 5 minutes. Displaying the worksheet on the room wall is voluntary.

8. Pass the Purpose and Close 10 minutes

   Form a circle. Take 1 minute to explain the rule: participants may share a short phrase or say 'pass' without penalty. Pass a small object around the circle. When holding it, participants complete: 'The deeper purpose of my work is...' Cap individual shares at 15 seconds to allow up to 24 people to participate within 7 minutes. Take 2 minutes for a brief final close.

Debrief questions

• Which values received the highest investment across the room, and where are our actual daily practices out of step with them?
• What specific policy, approval rule, or habit currently stops us from resolving customer or teammate issues directly?
• Which single happiness hack or commitment can this team realistically put into practice by next week?

Finished output: A ranked tally of core team values, a prioritized list of team happiness hacks with designated champions, and completed individual start/stop/continue commitment sheets.

Remote

Run pairs and small teams in breakout rooms. Use a shared digital whiteboard for the Values Auction with digital counters, and dot stamps for the Happiness Hacks. Spotlight acting groups during improv rounds. In the closing round, the facilitator calls on participants sequentially while keeping passing easy.

Hybrid

All participants use the same digital whiteboard for auction tokens and happiness hacks. In-room teams roleplay at the room microphone while remote participants perform in spotlight. For the closing circle, the facilitator calls on remote participants by turn order, alternating between in-person passes and remote names on screen.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may read or describe customer service scenarios instead of acting them out.
• Posting commitment sheets on the wall is optional; personal copies may be kept private.
• Passing is permitted without question during speaking and closing rounds.

If the session gets stuck

Participants show skepticism about empowerment because firm organizational constraints exist.

Acknowledge real limits directly. Ask: 'Within the limits we cannot change today, what is one specific action we do have discretion to take?'

Some participants feel uncomfortable acting in front of peers during the improv step.

Invite those participants to serve as the narrator, read lines while seated, or summarize the customer resolution steps verbally.

Terms used here

• Happiness Hack: A low-cost, immediate habit or small routine intended to improve team connection and day-to-day morale.