Buy three different but similar children’s puzzles with medium sized pieces. Wrap the covers, mix up the puzzles and place a similar quantity of pieces in each box.

Quickly create three teams and give them each a workspace. Announce that there is no more talking, this is a teamwork activity and they need to work in silence. 

Give each team a box and say they need to “complete the picture” as quickly as possible. 

What happens, of course, is that people assume they have all the materials and information they need to get their assignment done.  In addition, a competition often begins between the teams, sometimes they even “hide” their work from each other. If they are really struggling and you are concerned about time, you can give little statements about teamwork as hints (get help when you need it, think outside the box, take time to reflect and create a plan).

                                              Eventually someone realizes what is going on — there is a “Eureka” Moment when s/he lifts his/her head and looks around the room, then tries to communicate to others about what they’ve noticed.

How the group works together from that point on is also very telling — do they readily share, do they move their workspaces together, do they work on each others’ puzzles?  They need to continue to work in silence.