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: 8dab30164289dfe3c8216ca1ae8106ce2a975c5ffea2afb2ab09a9f191b471d9

# Happy Face

Pairs take on the roles of worker and manager while one partner draws a face with eyes closed and non-dominant hand. The group compares results to examine who asked for or offered guidance during the task.

**Time:** 10 minutes. UWT suggested 10-minute plan based on the original 1-minute drawing sequence and debrief.
**People:** 4 to 24. Pairs; an odd person acts as an extra observer alongside another manager.

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Compare how spontaneous requests for guidance and proactive feedback affect execution during ambiguous tasks.
**Use it when:** Use during communication or management workshops to open a conversation about feedback habits.
**Skip it when:** Skip when the team already experiences high surveillance anxiety or when pair activities feel overly infantilizing for the group context.

## Materials and tools

- One sheet of blank paper per pair
- One pen or pencil per pair
- One timer or stopwatch for the facilitator

## Before participants arrive

1. Distribute one sheet of paper and one pen to each seated pair.
2. Ensure pairs sit facing or next to each other with a clear writing surface.

## Say this to open

Find a partner, ideally someone you do not know well. Decide who is Person A and who is Person B. Person A is the Manager. Person B is the team member doing the task. Person B, take the pen and paper. Your job is to draw a happy face, but with a twist: you will keep your eyes closed throughout the drawing. Managers, your job is to oversee the task and ensure instructions are followed.

## How to run it

### 1. Set up roles and position (2 minutes)

Explain the roles. Person A is the manager. Person B is the drawer. If there is an odd participant, assign them to observe alongside a manager. Instruct Person B to place the pen on the paper and close their eyes or look away from the page. State that once drawing begins, Person B must not look at the sheet.

### 2. Draw face features in two rounds (2 minutes)

Start the first round: announce that Person B has 30 seconds to draw an outline of a face with two eyes and a happy mouth while keeping eyes closed. Call time at 30 seconds. Next, instruct Person B to switch the pen into their other hand. Give them 30 seconds to add a nose and two ears, still without looking. Call time at 30 seconds.

### 3. Reveal and compare drawings (2 minutes)

Tell all drawers to open their eyes and inspect their sheets. Ask the room two quick diagnostic questions: 'How many drawers asked their manager for advice or feedback while drawing?' and 'How many managers offered verbal direction or feedback without being asked?' Ask pairs who received zero feedback to hold up their drawings, then ask pairs who exchanged verbal feedback to hold up theirs.

### 4. Debrief feedback dynamics (4 minutes)

Facilitate a structured debrief with the full room. Take 2 to 3 comments on why drawers stayed silent or why managers hesitated to speak. Connect observations to daily workplace expectations around asking for help versus volunteering guidance.


## Debrief questions

- For drawers: what kept you from asking your manager for guidance while drawing?
- For managers: what prompted you to speak up, or what held you back from directing your partner?
- What is one work task where you assume you should work alone instead of asking for feedback early?

**Finished output:** A set of completed hand-drawn face sheets used to visually contrast supported versus unsupported task execution.

## Remote

Run in main room or pairs in breakout rooms. Person B turns their video camera on facing down toward scratch paper or closes their eyes on camera. Person A speaks guidance via microphone. At time, all drawers show their paper to the webcam.

## Hybrid

Pair in-person participants together and remote participants together in breakout rooms. Remote participants point cameras down or close eyes, holding papers up to the camera during the reveal stage.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants uncomfortable closing eyes may shield their view with a hand or look at the ceiling instead.
- Participants with limited motor control in a non-dominant hand may continue with their primary hand or give verbal instructions to their partner instead.
- Any participant may choose to observe the drawing process rather than draw.

## If the session gets stuck

**Person B peeks while drawing.**

Remind managers gently that their role includes keeping the drawer honest, but accept imperfect compliance without penalizing anyone.

**Pairs assume talking is forbidden because the facilitator did not explicitly say they could talk.**

Highlight that exact assumption in the debrief; note how people often assume silence is required when rules do not mention communication.


## Terms used here

- Non-dominant hand: The hand a person does not typically use for writing or skilled tasks.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in TrainerBubble training materials under the title 'Happy Face - Free Energiser'. Original authorship is unstated.

Retained the core mechanic from TrainerBubble where Person B draws with eyes closed, switches hands, and the group reflects on feedback. Standardized into four timed steps with specific facilitation scripts, accessibility adjustments, remote instructions, and structured debrief questions added by UWT.

[TrainerBubble](https://www.trainerbubble.com/downloads/happy-face-free-energiser)

[TrainerBubble](https://www.trainerbubble.com/downloads/happy-face-free-energiser/?currency=USD)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/happy-face-free-energiser/