Raise Your Hand and Then Again

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Demonstrate the gap between initial compliance and full reach through a physical stretch.

Use it when: Use as a brief physical energizer before goal setting or discussing team effort.

Skip it when: Skip when the group has physical mobility limitations where overhead reaching causes pain, or when exploring effort through physical exertion is mismatched to the session topic.

Group arrangement: Whole group standing or seated

Timing: Relationship Makers Handbook suggests under 5 minutes; UWT structures this to exactly 5 minutes.

Materials and tools

• No special materials.

Before participants arrive

1. Ensure participants have enough vertical clearance to raise their arms without hitting light fixtures or low ceilings.

Say this to open

Let us start with a simple physical prompt. If you are comfortable doing so, raise one hand in the air.

How to run it

1. First hand raise 1 minutes

   Speak the opening script. Wait until hands are up. Observe the posture of the room without correcting anyone.

2. Reach higher 1 minutes

   Ask the group: 'Now, without standing on your toes or leaving your seat, raise that hand higher.' Pause while people extend their shoulders and fingers. Acknowledge the visible change, then ask everyone to lower their arms and shake them out.

3. Explore the contrast 1 minutes

   Ask the group: 'What happened between the first prompt and the second? Why did most of us leave room to stretch higher?' Take 1 or 2 quick verbal responses.

4. Debrief baseline effort 2 minutes

   Facilitate a brief discussion linking the physical stretch to daily working habits using the debrief questions. Take up to 3 short observations from the whole room.

Debrief questions

• Why did we hold back extra reach during the initial request?
• What is the difference between doing what is asked and offering your full capacity?
• Where in our current project might we be operating at our first reach instead of our full reach?

Finished output: A shared team reference point for baseline compliance versus full discretionary effort.

Remote

Run via video conference with cameras on. Participants raise a hand in view of their camera frame. The facilitator checks gallery view during both prompts.

Hybrid

In-person and remote participants raise their hands at the same time. The facilitator addresses the whole room and confirms camera feeds show remote participants stretching on cue.

Access and participation choices

• Anyone unable or preferring not to reach overhead can raise a finger, extend a hand forward horizontally, or use a digital thumbs-up icon.
• Participants may keep hands down and simply observe the dynamic across the room without explanation.

If the session gets stuck

Participants immediately reach as high as possible on round one.

Ask if they strained or locked their joints. Note that even fully extended arms often find an extra inch when challenged.

Someone has a shoulder or arm injury and feels excluded.

Remind the room before starting that a flat palm forward, a single finger, or visual observation is completely acceptable.

Terms used here

• Discretionary effort: The level of effort an individual chooses to exert beyond the minimum required to satisfy a request.