--- title: "Finding Swing Workshop" description: "An intact team evaluates collaboration across five core dimensions using a rowing metaphor. They review team habits, post blockers and builders, and write a shared operational charter with clear review dates." last_updated: "2026-09-07" canonical: "https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/finding-swing-workshop-workshopbank/" --- # Finding Swing Workshop An intact team evaluates collaboration across five core dimensions using a rowing metaphor. They review team habits, post blockers and builders, and write a shared operational charter with clear review dates. **Time:** 120 minutes. Matches the 120-minute source run time across six structured phases. **People:** 8 to 16. Whole-room plenary combined with small groups of 3 to 5 people for scenario analysis. ## Choose this exercise **Purpose:** Assess an intact team across five collaboration dimensions and produce agreed behavioral commitments for daily work. **Use it when:** Use with an intact working team of 8 to 16 people seeking to align on coordination norms, recover from friction, or improve handoffs. **Skip it when:** Skip for newly gathered cohorts with no shared workflow, or during active disciplinary investigations where public score reflection is unsafe. ## Materials and tools - Printed Finding Swing Framework handout (1 per participant) - Printed Swing Assessment Cards (1 set of 5 cards per participant) - Printed Boat Challenge Scenario Cards (1 per small group) - Printed Team Commitment Charter poster or large flipchart template (1 for the room) - Sticky notes (3 per participant, single neutral color) - Pens (1 per participant) - Flipchart easel, blank flipchart paper pads, and markers - Dot stickers for voting (2 per participant: 1 for blocker, 1 for builder) - Masking tape ## Before participants arrive 1. Draw 5 vertical columns on a flipchart sheet labeled Trust, Ego Surrender, Shared Rhythm, Willingness to Sacrifice, and Honest Communication. 2. Prepare two adjacent flipchart sheets titled Swing Blockers and Swing Builders. 3. Post the blank Team Commitment Charter template on a wall or easel. 4. Place 1 framework handout, 1 set of assessment cards, 3 sticky notes, and a pen at each seat. ## Say this to open In 1936, nine working-class young men from the American West rowed together to win Olympic gold against elite crews. They relied on a state rowers call swing. Swing happens when crew members stop acting as separate individuals and pull together so smoothly that the boat lifts and glides with less drag. Swing cannot be forced by raw effort alone. It appears when individual ego yields to trust and shared rhythm. Take thirty seconds of quiet reflection to recall a moment when our team felt in swing and work clicked. We will hear from three or four volunteers before we assess our current baseline. ## How to run it ### 1. Introduce Swing and Past Moments (10 minutes) Speak the opening script. Give the room 30 seconds of quiet reflection. Invite 3 or 4 volunteers to share brief examples of times the team felt in sync. Stop after 4 shares to preserve the schedule. ### 2. Examine the Five Dimensions (15 minutes) Present the 5 dimensions on the framework handout: Trust, Ego Surrender, Shared Rhythm, Willingness to Sacrifice, and Honest Communication. Give participants 2 minutes to read the self-checks silently. Run a quick show of hands: ask who sees opportunity for team growth in at least 2 dimensions. ### 3. Rate Dimensions and Map Scores (25 minutes) Ask participants to score the team silently from 1 to 10 on each card for 8 minutes. Writing notes is optional. On count of three for each dimension, participants call out or hold up their score. Record all numbers in the flipchart columns. Calculate the range and rough median. Where numbers diverge by more than 3 points, invite neutral observations about the differing experiences without debate. ### 4. Analyze Boat Challenge Scenarios (25 minutes) Divide participants into small groups of 3 to 5. Give each group 1 Scenario Card. Groups review the situation and discuss remedies for 12 minutes. Bring the room back together. Give each group up to 3 minutes to present their scenario and one clear practice that would help the crew regain swing. ### 5. Map Swing Blockers and Builders (20 minutes) Select the dimension with the lowest score or widest variation. Give participants 4 minutes to write up to 3 sticky notes: 1 workflow blocker, 1 existing builder, and 1 untried helpful action. Each person takes up to 30 seconds to post and read their notes. Group related notes into clusters. Give everyone 2 dot stickers to mark the most urgent blocker and strongest builder. ### 6. Build Team Charter and Confirm Next Steps (25 minutes) Take the top-voted dimension and draft the Team Commitment Charter on the wall template. Agree on 1 start behavior, 1 stop behavior, 1 continue behavior, observable indicators of progress, a check-in date 3 to 4 weeks away, and a meeting owner. Participants who wish to do so sign or initial the charter to close the session. ## Debrief questions - Looking at our numeric score variation, where did our daily experiences diverge the most, and why? - What specific operational obstacle makes our chosen focus dimension hardest to protect during high workload? - What is the first observable sign within the next 7 days that will show our team is using the new charter agreement? **Finished output:** A completed Team Commitment Charter detailing specific start, stop, and continue behaviors, observable indicators of progress, an accountability owner, and a review date 3 to 4 weeks out. ## Remote Use video conferencing and an online collaboration whiteboard. Complete steps 1 and 2 in plenary. In Step 3, participants submit numerical scores into an anonymous digital form or a hidden board column, and the facilitator tallies the range and average on screen. Form breakout rooms of 3 to 5 people for Step 4 using digital scenario cards. In Step 5, post virtual sticky notes on Blocker and Builder columns, cluster them, and use digital voting stamps. In Step 6, write the charter together on the digital whiteboard. Team members can type their name or initial the document if they choose. ## Hybrid Keep whole-room scoring visible on a shared digital board projected in the room. Remote participants submit scores and sticky notes directly to the digital board while in-person participants post physical cards that a designated co-facilitator mirrors online. For Step 4, place remote attendees in their own breakout group while in-person attendees form room pods. Ensure plenary microphone coverage so remote speakers are heard clearly during step debriefs. ## Access and participation choices - Participants may pass during verbal sharing rounds or submit written notes to the facilitator to read aloud anonymously. - Scoring and note submission can be done privately without public defense. - Signing or initialing the final charter is voluntary; participants may choose to observe without adding their signature. ## If the session gets stuck **Participants score the team unrealistically high across all categories to avoid awkward conversations.** Remind the room that polite scoring conceals friction. Ask: 'What would an honest partner or customer say is our biggest friction point right now?' **Sticky notes contain complaints aimed at specific people instead of team workflows.** Intervene immediately and rephrase the comment into an operational habit. Ask: 'What shared ground rule or handoff standard would resolve this pattern across the whole team?' ## Terms used here - Swing: In rowing, the state where crew members pull together in total rhythm, allowing the boat to glide smoothly with minimal resistance. - Coxswain: The crew member who steers the boat, sets the stroke cadence, and gives direct, unvarnished feedback on alignment. ## Participant material: Finding Swing Framework Handout THE FIVE CONDITIONS FOR SWING 1. Trust Every team member trusts that colleagues will deliver full effort and competence on their assigned responsibilities without micromanagement. Self-Check: Can you rely on your peers without checking up on them? 2. Ego Surrender Individual pursuit of personal recognition yields to collective momentum. No single stroke matters unless it moves the boat. Self-Check: Are you willing to let another person take the visible credit if the team succeeds? 3. Shared Rhythm Workflow, meetings, handoffs, and deadlines operate on an agreed cadence that respects everyone's pacing. Self-Check: Do our handoffs feel smooth and predictable, or chaotic and abrupt? 4. Willingness to Sacrifice Team members actively step in to shoulder hard work or shifting priorities when a colleague or the overall mission requires it. Self-Check: Do we absorb overflow when a teammate is swamped, or stick strictly to job descriptions? 5. Honest Communication Issues, friction, and mistakes are called out plainly, objectively, and promptly without avoidance. Self-Check: Do we address problems directly in the room, or wait for sidebar conversations? ## Participant material: Swing Assessment Cards SWING ASSESSMENT CARD Dimension: _______________________ My Score (1 = Complete absence, 10 = Flawless execution): [ ] Observable Evidence for this score (What specific team behaviors did you see over the last 30 days?): - - One concrete action that would increase this score by 1 point: - ## Participant material: Boat Challenge Scenario Cards SCENARIO A: The Star Performer A specialist on your team consistently delivers high-quality outputs but works erratic hours, ignores shared status boards, and skips handoff briefings. Other team members regularly adjust their schedules at the last minute to catch up. The specialist feels strong technical output excuses the lack of coordination. Task: Which swing conditions are missing? What concrete behavioral boundary must the team establish? SCENARIO B: The Polite Silence Your project is falling 3 weeks behind schedule because handoffs are delayed. In weekly team status calls, everyone claims their track is green. Nobody names the handoff bottleneck because they do not want to embarrass the lead, who is visibly overwhelmed. Problems only get discussed in backchannel direct messages. Task: Which swing conditions are missing? What team protocol would surface this work safely? SCENARIO C: The Uneven Pull Two team members regularly work late into the night resolving system tickets, while two peers in identical roles log off precisely at 5:00 PM regardless of outstanding urgent issues. Resentment is brewing, leading to sarcastic remarks during standup meetings. No formal workload rebalancing has been requested. Task: Which swing conditions are missing? What team rule would resolve the imbalance? ## Participant material: Team Commitment Charter TEAM COMMITMENT CHARTER Selected Dimension: _____________________________________ Why this dimension is critical for our swing now: _____________________________________________________________________ 1. START DOING (Specific, observable behavior): _____________________________________________________________________ 2. STOP DOING (Specific, observable behavior): _____________________________________________________________________ 3. CONTINUE DOING (Current working practice to protect): _____________________________________________________________________ Observable Signs of Progress (How we know it is working): _____________________________________________________________________ Accountability Check-in Date: ________________________ Check-in Meeting Owner: ______________________________ Signatures or Initials of Commitment (Optional): [Participant Signatures] ## Sources and adaptation Observed in WorkshopBank as 'Finding Swing Workshop', referencing the historical narrative of the 1936 US Olympic rowing team popularized by Daniel James Brown and cited by Satya Nadella. Retained the 120-minute 6-step core sequence, the 1936 Olympic crew metaphor, the five dimensions of swing, the assessment scoring format, sticky-note blocker and builder analysis, and the team charter from WorkshopBank. UWT adjusted small group configurations to 3 to 5 participants to handle any cohort size between 8 and 16, made charter signing and public verbal disclosure optional, removed references to unlisted recording equipment, simplified remote score aggregation to standard forms or whiteboards, and supplied complete printable scenario cards and worksheets. [WorkshopBank](https://workshopbank.com/tools/finding-swing-workshop) Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/finding-swing-workshop-workshopbank/