Don't Touch Me

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Coordinate physical movement and team traffic flow through a bottleneck under a strict no-contact constraint.

Use it when: Use during in-person team workshops when a group needs to practice rapid process improvement, bottleneck management, and clear role coordination.

Skip it when: Skip if the space is cramped, if the floor is slippery, or if participants cannot safely walk or pivot quickly.

Group arrangement: Two equal lines facing each other across a central bottleneck. If numbers are odd, one person acts as timekeeper and touch monitor.

Timing: Playmeo indicates a fast-paced active challenge; UWT standard 15-minute pacing provides time for rules, planning, three timed runs, and a debrief.

Materials and tools

• 1 flat poly spot or tape mark per participant (4 to 20 total)
• 1 standard hula-hoop (or rope loop approximately 80 cm in diameter)
• 1 digital stopwatch or phone timer
• 1 roll of painter tape (optional, if using taped floor marks)

Before participants arrive

1. Clear a flat floor area at least 8 by 4 meters.
2. Lay two parallel lines of floor spots 6 meters (20 feet) apart, with spots spaced about 1 meter apart along each line.
3. Place the hula-hoop flat on the floor or propped upright exactly midway between the two lines of spots.
4. Assign the stopwatch to the facilitator or an odd-numbered participant.

Say this to open

Welcome. Your goal is for Team A and Team B to swap positions as fast as possible. Everyone must pass through or step into the central hoop before reaching their new spot on the opposite side. However, to count as an official attempt, no participant may touch any other participant at any time. If anyone touches, the clock resets. We will take three official attempts to find your best team time. You have three minutes to plan your first run.

How to run it

1. Form lines and brief the rules 3 minutes

   Divide participants into two equal teams. Ask each person to stand on an assigned spot on their side. State the rules clearly: every person must travel from their starting line to the opposite line, passing through the central hoop along the way. Zero physical contact between any participants is permitted. If an odd person is present, assign them as official touch observer alongside the facilitator.

2. Strategy and initial run 4 minutes

   Give the group 2 minutes to plan their sequence and traffic flow. Then signal the start and start the stopwatch. The timer stops when all participants are stationary on a spot on the opposite side. If accidental contact occurs, stop the clock, reset to starting spots, and restart the run.

3. Iterate and record timed attempts 5 minutes

   Give the group 1 minute to adjust strategy based on bottlenecks. Conduct official attempt 2, record the time, allow another 30 seconds for quick refinement, and run official attempt 3. Announce the fastest clean time achieved.

4. Debrief team coordination 3 minutes

   Gather participants at the center. Ask two focus questions about bottleneck management and communication. Take three to four brief participant reflections to close the session.

Debrief questions

• What specific rule or bottleneck created the biggest constraint on your team speed?
• How did your strategy change between the first attempt and your fastest attempt?
• Who took responsibility for timing the flow through the center, and how did that help avoid collisions?

Finished output: A recorded best completion time across three clean runs without physical contact.

Remote

Don't Touch Me relies directly on physical navigation around a physical bottleneck and cannot be run identically online. For a remote team, use a digital queue challenge: provide a shared digital board with numbered slots and personal avatars, and challenge the team to swap halves in a strict numerical sequence with only one avatar moving at a time while timed.

Hybrid

Hybrid delivery is not recommended because the core mechanic requires shared physical space and navigation. If required, have in-person participants perform the floor challenge while remote participants manage the stopwatch, monitor physical touch violations, and act as process engineers analyzing traffic flow via a wide-angle room camera.

Access and participation choices

• Participants who prefer not to run or pivot quickly can participate by walking at their own pace, serving as official line judges, or running the timer.
• Anyone can opt out of movement by serving as a touch judge without explaining their physical needs.

If the session gets stuck

Participants collide or graze clothing in the center when rushing through the hoop.

Enforce an immediate reset. Remind the group that speed comes from clean sequencing, not from rushing simultaneously into the bottleneck.

The group has an odd number of participants.

Assign the extra person to be the official touch monitor and timekeeper, working alongside the facilitator.

Terms used here

• Poly spot: A flat, non-slip rubber disc used to mark floor positions safely without tripping participants.
• Bottleneck: A narrow point in a route or process that restricts total flow.