Totem
Teambuilding Exercise:
In
the past, a totem pole was carved several reasons. For example,
to honor a deceased elder who was important to the carver, to
show the number of rights and names a person had acquired over
his or her lifetime, or to document an encounter with the supernatural.
Today, totems are carved not only for those reasons, but to also
tell the story about the person commissioning the pole.
Each
group was given a
list of totem symbols and each group member was assigned
the task of designing a totem figure that best represents their
strengths in the group. Once the drawings were completed, they
were taped one on top of the other to create the group's totem
pole. The exercise was desgined in order for group members to
discover their group's strengths and weaknesses.
