LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® workshops

LEGO Education

From three hours to three days depending on the objective, the workshops always start with the alignment of the participants' skills: regardless of the initial skills, at the end of the first sequence everyone knows how to build, use metaphors and tell a story with LEGO bricks.

Then the workshop establishes a rhythmic dynamic to move the group from individual work towards collective construction. From the models of each participant, it is possible to build a system of representation of the problem and to conduct a shared reflection. This makes it possible to keep everyone's key ideas at the heart of the synergy, for greater commitment to the collective process. 

Depending on the duration of the workshop, it is also possible to manipulate the different parts of the system to simulate scenarios and test strategies, in order to analyse their impact, draw conclusions and identify desirable action plans.  This process reduces the risk of errors during implementation in reality.

It is also a powerful tool for training in decision-making in uncertain and ambiguous contexts.

Fields of application of LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®

The LSP method has proven to be very effective in dealing with:

• Problems of individual and team identity
• Creative reflections on a key theme (including in large groups)
• Product or service innovation problems in UX perspective
• Problems in building a shared vision of a project or mission
• Problems with organizational strategy in its ecosystem (influencers, external agents, stakeholders, etc.)

LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® facilitators

In the LSP method, LEGO bricks are powerful tools that facilitate the emergence of knowledge, speaking out and collaboration. It is first of all a question of opening up to others and then defending and negotiating your point of view, until you reach an agreement to achieve a shared construction. The human being and the relationship are at the heart of the process, provided that we know how to manage its dynamics. In order to ensure a successful workshop it is important to trust professional facilitators who guarantee:

• Mastery of the tool and method
• The construction of a tailor-made workshop 
• Supporting individuals
• Management of group dynamics

The LSP method as a lever for soft skills and involvement in action

The LSP method uses bricks as facilitators of 21st century skills such as communication, collaboration, critical thinking and applied creativity. The bricks are also a tool for involvement in the action.

In more detail, the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY method allows more:

• Creativity: Through a significant number of connections between hands and brain, when building, people stimulate their intuitive and emotional skills in addition to their logical and verbal abilities, which enriches the emergence of conscious and unconscious knowledge and creativity.
• Communication: LEGO bricks are a fun starting point for self-expression and ideas. By relying on the built model, speech becomes easier, because it begins with its description. However, it remains focused, because any presentation must be based on the model, without excessive conceptualization or divagation.
• Collaboration: Telling the group about your model facilitates mutual understanding. When speaking in public, attention is focused on the construction, rather than the person, which makes the experience more pleasant. All thinking is directed at the model, which avoids the risk of reaching the person. More confident, people interact without any obstacles and therefore more effectively.
• Involvement: Starting from individual models to build a collective model allows inclusion from everyone's point of view, which creates a sense of belonging to the collective vision and a lasting commitment to its realization.

LEGO® Serious Play® equipment

Specific kits according to the type of work envisaged:

• Set Exploration LEGO Serious Play
• LEGO Serious Play Discovery Set
• LEGO Serious Play Identity Set
• Set Connections LEGO Serious Play

LEGO® Serious Play® Team Development Workshop

Client: consulting agency in the IT sector

Public: team of agile coaches often seconded to management and with different levels of seniority.

Objectives: get to know each other better to create cohesion; build a common culture around shared values; set rules for working together better; experience the contribution of individual diversity to the team's wealth.

Result: identification of a repository of shared values and construction of a common charter of desired behaviours.

Participants: 6 people

Duration: 6 hours

Team life development workshop "L'autoroute des Coachs Agiles". 2019 images Nadia Benedetti

LEGO® Serious Play® workshop to support the integration of higher education

"My BTS and I, how to become a student and succeed in my studies".

Four half-day LSP workshops per section of approximately 38 students during the integration week.

Audience: 1st year students:

• BTS INTERNATIONAL TRADE
• BTS ASSISTING SME PMI PMI
• BTS MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING
• BTS NEGOTIATION and CLIENT RELATIONSHIP

Objectives: to facilitate presentations and mixing of participants; to initiate individual reflection on the new posture of student versus student; to find new working methods; to create a first experience of working together and experiment with collective intelligence; to learn to communicate and collaborate.

Result: identification of the key factors for the success of the new student posture (priorities, points of vigilance, resources); a concrete commitment to quickly activate in this posture.

Participants: work in groups of 35/38 students, divided into sub-groups of 10 students maximum.

Duration: 3h30

Method: LSP with 2 certified facilitators and 2 co-facilitators to facilitate in subgroups of 10 people. 

Integration workshop "My BTS and I, how to become a student and succeed in my studies". 2019 images Nadia Benedetti

LEGO® Serious Play® workshop for thematic reflection in large groups

"My diversity and me: how do I make a difference in my team?

 LSP workshop as part of the 2 IUT Paris Descartes days on the theme of "Diversity Management".

Audience: students at the end of the 2nd year of the IUT Diversity Management course.

Objectives: To experiment and reflect on the value of individual diversity in the service of the collective.

Result: the definition of the key factors to be taken into account when managing diversity, the definition of a commitment to action to take them into account in their future managerial position.

Participants: 29

Duration: 3 hours.

Method: 2 LSP facilitators and 1 co-facilitator to facilitate in subgroups of 10 people.

Large group workshop "My diversity and me: how do I make a difference in my team?" ©2019 images Nadia Benedetti

NADIA BENEDETTI 

After graduating in marketing in Italy, Nadia moved to France to develop an international career in publishing and educational toys.

A woman in the field, in 15 years of travel she has managed several multicultural, transversal and remote teams. She sees how success depends on the ability to make sense and reinvent oneself in the face of complexity. At the same time, she is experimenting within LEGO Education with the value of play as a major form of learning to motivate people to learn.

After training in coaching, facilitation and neuroscience and with her LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® Facilitator certification, she now supports teams in transformation, so that the latter becomes an opportunity to evolve in the pleasure of the game.

Visit Nadia BENEDETTI's website at www.nadiabenedetti.com

This article was written by Nadia BENEDETTI and is protected by copyright ©2019 Nadia BENEDETTI, as are the images posted. Any reproduction or distribution without the agreement of Nadia BENEDETTI is prohibited.

Further details on the LSP method:

https://www.lego.com/en-us/seriousplay et en particulier https://www.lego.com/en-us/seriousplay/leverage

P. Kristiansen, R. Rasmussen Bâtir une meilleure entreprise en utilisant la méthode LEGO Serious Play, WILEY, New Jersey, 2014