Time Savers

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Identify practical tactics for reducing the daily impact of common workplace time wasters.

Use it when: Use when a team struggles with recurring operational bottlenecks, administrative delays, or unfocused work habits and needs quick peer tactics.

Skip it when: Skip when delays stem from deep structural compliance mandates or severe understaffing that simple behavioral tips cannot influence.

Group arrangement: 3 to 4 parallel teams of 2 to 6 people seated in a circle

Timing: Adjusted to 25 minutes for standard 3-round or 4-round delivery; original source specifies 45 to 60 minutes for up to 30 players.

Materials and tools

• 4 to 5 standard envelopes labeled with one time waster each
• 20 to 30 blank index cards
• 1 pen or pencil per team
• 1 chime or timer

Before participants arrive

1. Write one distinct time waster on the outside of each envelope (e.g., Too many reports to write, Delays in budget approval, Inability to say no, Lack of daily planning).
2. Arrange team seating in a rough circle so envelopes pass easily clockwise from team to team.

Say this to open

Every team faces recurring time sinks. In this game, each table receives an envelope stating one time waster. When the timer starts, you have two minutes to agree on practical tips to beat that problem and write them on a single index card. Mark your team letter on the card, drop it inside the unsealed envelope without reading anyone else's card, and pass it clockwise. At the end, teams will evaluate all submitted tips.

How to run it

1. Form teams and explain rules 3 minutes

   Assign participants to 3 or 4 equal teams. Assign each team an identifier (Team A, Team B, Team C, Team D). Hand one labeled envelope and a small stack of blank index cards to each team. Read the opening script and confirm everyone understands not to look inside the envelopes during writing rounds.

2. Brainstorm round 1 2 minutes

   Start a 2-minute timer. Each team reads the time waster written on the face of their envelope. The team writes practical, short tips on one index card. At the 2-minute chime, teams slip their card inside the envelope and pass the envelope clockwise without looking inside.

3. Brainstorm rounds 2 and 3 5 minutes

   Run two identical rounds of 2 minutes each, with 30 seconds for passing between them. Teams take the newly received envelope, write fresh tips for that envelope's prompt on a new card, insert it, and pass it clockwise. Keep envelopes strictly unsealed and unopened.

4. Evaluate cards and allocate points 5 minutes

   Announce the evaluation round. Teams open their current envelope and spread out all index cards inside. Give teams 4 minutes to compare the ideas and distribute exactly 100 points across the cards based on practical usefulness. Teams write the awarded score directly on each card.

5. Read top recommendations 6 minutes

   Go around the room. Each team reads the time waster on their envelope and reads the highest-scoring tips aloud. Teams tally total points won by their own submitted cards across the room if they want to track friendly competition.

6. Debrief and personal commit 4 minutes

   Lead a brief whole-room debrief using the prompt questions. Ask each participant to choose one specific tip from the session to try this week.

Debrief questions

• Which tip read today is immediately usable with zero budget or permission?
• What common patterns appeared across the strategies for different time wasters?

Finished output: A scored collection of time-saving tips mapped to specific team bottlenecks, with each participant identifying one tip to implement.

Remote

Use breakout rooms for each team and a digital board with hidden sections or separate document folders for each time waster. Teams add their tips to a hidden card during each round. In the evaluation phase, reveal all cards in the folder and have the assigned team add point values totaling 100.

Hybrid

Keep remote attendees together in dedicated digital breakout teams and in-person attendees at physical tables. Use digital cards on a shared board so both local and remote tables evaluate cards uniformly.

Access and participation choices

• Allow participants to choose roles within each team, such as scribe, reader, or timekeeper.
• Any participant may pass on reading aloud during the final reporting step.

If the session gets stuck

A team opens an envelope and reads previous cards during a brainstorming round.

Remind everyone that fresh ideas are scored higher than repeated ones, and ask them to write their own ideas without referencing prior cards.

A team struggles to distribute exactly 100 points.

Provide a quick breakdown: if there are 3 cards, suggest splits like 50-30-20 or 40-35-25 based on relative impact.

Terms used here

• Time-waster envelope: An envelope with a specific operational distraction or bottleneck written on the front.
• Constant-sum scoring: A scoring rule where an evaluating team divides a fixed total of 100 points among competing options.